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diff --git a/old/120-0.txt b/old/120-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index edce9a0..0000000 --- a/old/120-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7482 +0,0 @@ -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 *** -TREASURE ISLAND - -by Robert Louis Stevenson - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - -To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste -the following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for -numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his -affectionate friend, the author. - - - - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - --So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! - - - CONTENTS - - PART ONE - The Old Buccaneer - - I. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE ADMIRAL BENBOW . . . . 11 - II. BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS . . . . . . 17 - III. THE BLACK SPOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - IV. THE SEA-CHEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 - V. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN . . . . . . . . . . 36 - VI. THE CAPTAIN’S PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 - - PART TWO - The Sea Cook - - VII. I GO TO BRISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 - VIII. AT THE SIGN OF THE SPY-GLASS . . . . . . . 54 - IX. POWDER AND ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - X. THE VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 - XI. WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE-BARREL . . . . . . 70 - XII. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 - - PART THREE - My Shore Adventure - - XIII. HOW I BEGAN MY SHORE ADVENTURE . . . . . . 82 - XIV. THE FIRST BLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 - XV. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 - - PART FOUR - The Stockade - - XVI. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED . . . . . . . . 100 - XVII. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - THE JOLLY-BOAT’S LAST TRIP . . . . . . . . 105 - XVIII. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - END OF THE FIRST DAY’S FIGHTING . . . . . 109 - XIX. NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: - THE GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE . . . . . . . 114 - XX. SILVER’S EMBASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 - XXI. THE ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 - - PART FIVE - My Sea Adventure - - XXII. HOW I BEGAN MY SEA ADVENTURE . . . . . . . 132 - XXIII. THE EBB-TIDE RUNS . . . . . . . . . . . 138 - XXIV. THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE . . . . . . . . 143 - XXV. I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER . . . . . . . . . 148 - XXVI. ISRAEL HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 - XXVII. “PIECES OF EIGHT” . . . . . . . . . . . 161 - - PART SIX - Captain Silver - - XXVIII. IN THE ENEMY’S CAMP . . . . . . . . . . 168 - XXIX. THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN . . . . . . . . . . . 176 - XXX. ON PAROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 - XXXI. THE TREASURE-HUNT--FLINT’S POINTER . . . . 189 - XXXII. THE TREASURE-HUNT--THE VOICE AMONG - THE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 - XXXIII. THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN . . . . . . . . 201 - XXXIV. AND LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - - - - -PART ONE--The Old Buccaneer - - - - -I -The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow - - -Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having -asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from -the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the -island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I -take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when -my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the -sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof. - -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the -inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow--a -tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the -shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with -black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid -white. I remember him looking round the cove and whistling to himself -as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so -often afterwards: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and -broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of -stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, -called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, -he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still -looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard. - -“This is a handy cove,” says he at length; “and a pleasant sittyated -grog-shop. Much company, mate?” - -My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. - -“Well, then,” said he, “this is the berth for me. Here you, matey,” he -cried to the man who trundled the barrow; “bring up alongside and help -up my chest. I’ll stay here a bit,” he continued. “I’m a plain man; rum -and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch -ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I -see what you’re at--there”; and he threw down three or four gold pieces -on the threshold. “You can tell me when I’ve worked through that,” says -he, looking as fierce as a commander. - -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none -of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like -a mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came -with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at -the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the -coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as -lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And -that was all we could learn of our guest. - -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or -upon the cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner -of the parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly -he would not speak when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and -blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came -about our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when he came back -from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the -road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind -that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was -desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the Admiral Benbow -(as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) he -would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such -was present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for -I was, in a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day -and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I -would only keep my “weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg” - and let him know the moment he appeared. Often enough when the first -of the month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he would only -blow through his nose at me and stare me down, but before the week was -out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and -repeat his orders to look out for “the seafaring man with one leg.” - -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On -stormy nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and -the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a -thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg -would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; now he was a monstrous -kind of a creature who had never had but the one leg, and that in the -middle of his body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and -ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I paid pretty dear for -my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies. - -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one -leg, I was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who -knew him. There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water -than his head would carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his -wicked, old, wild sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call -for glasses round and force all the trembling company to listen to his -stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have heard the house -shaking with “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum,” all the neighbours joining -in for dear life, with the fear of death upon them, and each singing -louder than the other to avoid remark. For in these fits he was the most -overriding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on the table for -silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, -or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was not -following his story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he -had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories -they were--about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and -the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his -own account he must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men -that God ever allowed upon the sea, and the language in which he told -these stories shocked our plain country people almost as much as the -crimes that he described. My father was always saying the inn would be -ruined, for people would soon cease coming there to be tyrannized over -and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I really believe his -presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on looking -back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet country -life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a “true sea-dog” and a “real old salt” and -such like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England -terrible at sea. - -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week -after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had -been long exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to -insist on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through -his nose so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared my poor -father out of the room. I have seen him wringing his hands after such a -rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the terror he lived in must have -greatly hastened his early and unhappy death. - -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his -dress but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his -hat having fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it -was a great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his -coat, which he patched himself upstairs in his room, and which, before -the end, was nothing but patches. He never wrote or received a letter, -and he never spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these, for the -most part, only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us had -ever seen open. - -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor -father was far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came -late one afternoon to see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my -mother, and went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse should -come down from the hamlet, for we had no stabling at the old Benbow. I -followed him in, and I remember observing the contrast the neat, bright -doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his bright, black eyes and -pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, and above all, -with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, -far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he--the captain, -that is--began to pipe up his eternal song: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -At first I had supposed “the dead man’s chest” to be that identical big -box of his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled -in my nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this -time we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it -was new, that night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it -did not produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite -angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on -a new cure for the rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually -brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his hand upon -the table before him in a way we all knew to mean silence. The voices -stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey’s; he went on as before speaking -clear and kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or -two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, -glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, -“Silence, there, between decks!” - -“Were you addressing me, sir?” says the doctor; and when the ruffian had -told him, with another oath, that this was so, “I have only one thing to -say to you, sir,” replies the doctor, “that if you keep on drinking rum, -the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” - -The old fellow’s fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened -a sailor’s clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, -threatened to pin the doctor to the wall. - -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his -shoulder and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the -room might hear, but perfectly calm and steady: “If you do not put that -knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall -hang at the next assizes.” - -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon -knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like -a beaten dog. - -“And now, sir,” continued the doctor, “since I now know there’s such a -fellow in my district, you may count I’ll have an eye upon you day and -night. I’m not a doctor only; I’m a magistrate; and if I catch a breath -of complaint against you, if it’s only for a piece of incivility like -tonight’s, I’ll take effectual means to have you hunted down and routed -out of this. Let that suffice.” - -Soon after, Dr. Livesey’s horse came to the door and he rode away, but -the captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. - - - - -II -Black Dog Appears and Disappears - - -It was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the -mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you -will see, of his affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard -frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor -father was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my mother -and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without -paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - -It was one January morning, very early--a pinching, frosty morning--the -cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, -the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to -seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and set out down the -beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat, -his brass telescope under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I -remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and -the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort -of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the -breakfast-table against the captain’s return when the parlour door -opened and a man stepped in on whom I had never set my eyes before. He -was a pale, tallowy creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and -though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a fighter. I -had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one leg or two, and I -remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a -smack of the sea about him too. - -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but -as I was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table -and motioned me to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my -hand. - -“Come here, sonny,” says he. “Come nearer here.” - -I took a step nearer. - -“Is this here table for my mate Bill?” he asked with a kind of leer. - -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who -stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - -“Well,” said he, “my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like -as not. He has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, -particularly in drink, has my mate Bill. We’ll put it, for argument -like, that your captain has a cut on one cheek--and we’ll put it, if you -like, that that cheek’s the right one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my -mate Bill in this here house?” - -I told him he was out walking. - -“Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?” - -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was -likely to return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, -“Ah,” said he, “this’ll be as good as drink to my mate Bill.” - -The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all -pleasant, and I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was -mistaken, even supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of -mine, I thought; and besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The -stranger kept hanging about just inside the inn door, peering round the -corner like a cat waiting for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into -the road, but he immediately called me back, and as I did not obey quick -enough for his fancy, a most horrible change came over his tallowy face, -and he ordered me in with an oath that made me jump. As soon as I -was back again he returned to his former manner, half fawning, half -sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and he had -taken quite a fancy to me. “I have a son of my own,” said he, “as like -you as two blocks, and he’s all the pride of my ’art. But the great -thing for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you had sailed -along of Bill, you wouldn’t have stood there to be spoke to twice--not -you. That was never Bill’s way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. -And here, sure enough, is my mate Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, -bless his old ’art, to be sure. You and me’ll just go back into the -parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we’ll give Bill a little -surprise--bless his ’art, I say again.” - -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me -behind him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I -was very uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my -fears to observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He -cleared the hilt of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; -and all the time we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt -what we used to call a lump in the throat. - -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without -looking to the right or left, and marched straight across the room to -where his breakfast awaited him. - -“Bill,” said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make -bold and big. - -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had -gone out of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a -man who sees a ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything -can be; and upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn -so old and sick. - -“Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely,” said -the stranger. - -The captain made a sort of gasp. - -“Black Dog!” said he. - -“And who else?” returned the other, getting more at his ease. “Black -Dog as ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral -Benbow inn. Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since -I lost them two talons,” holding up his mutilated hand. - -“Now, look here,” said the captain; “you’ve run me down; here I am; -well, then, speak up; what is it?” - -“That’s you, Bill,” returned Black Dog, “you’re in the right of it, -Billy. I’ll have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I’ve took -such a liking to; and we’ll sit down, if you please, and talk square, -like old shipmates.” - -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side -of the captain’s breakfast-table--Black Dog next to the door and -sitting sideways so as to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I -thought, on his retreat. - -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. “None of your keyholes for -me, sonny,” he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. - -For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear -nothing but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, -and I could pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - -“No, no, no, no; and an end of it!” he cried once. And again, “If it -comes to swinging, swing all, say I.” - -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and -other noises--the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel -followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black -Dog in full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn -cutlasses, and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just -at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous -cut, which would certainly have split him to the chine had it not been -intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You may see the -notch on the lower side of the frame to this day. - -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black -Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and -disappeared over the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for -his part, stood staring at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he -passed his hand over his eyes several times and at last turned back into -the house. - -“Jim,” says he, “rum”; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught -himself with one hand against the wall. - -“Are you hurt?” cried I. - -“Rum,” he repeated. “I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!” - -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen -out, and I broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still -getting in my own way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running -in, beheld the captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same -instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting, came running -downstairs to help me. Between us we raised his head. He was breathing -very loud and hard, but his eyes were closed and his face a horrible -colour. - -“Dear, deary me,” cried my mother, “what a disgrace upon the house! And -your poor father sick!” - -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any -other thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with -the stranger. I got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his -throat, but his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. -It was a happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor Livesey -came in, on his visit to my father. - -“Oh, doctor,” we cried, “what shall we do? Where is he wounded?” - -“Wounded? A fiddle-stick’s end!” said the doctor. “No more wounded than -you or I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, -just you run upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing -about it. For my part, I must do my best to save this fellow’s trebly -worthless life; Jim, you get me a basin.” - -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the -captain’s sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed -in several places. “Here’s luck,” “A fair wind,” and “Billy Bones his -fancy,” were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm; and up -near the shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows and a man hanging from -it--done, as I thought, with great spirit. - -“Prophetic,” said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. -“And now, Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we’ll have a look at -the colour of your blood. Jim,” he said, “are you afraid of blood?” - -“No, sir,” said I. - -“Well, then,” said he, “you hold the basin”; and with that he took his -lancet and opened a vein. - -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes -and looked mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with -an unmistakable frown; then his glance fell upon me, and he looked -relieved. But suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise -himself, crying, “Where’s Black Dog?” - -“There is no Black Dog here,” said the doctor, “except what you have -on your own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, -precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, -dragged you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones--” - -“That’s not my name,” he interrupted. - -“Much I care,” returned the doctor. “It’s the name of a buccaneer of my -acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I -have to say to you is this; one glass of rum won’t kill you, but if -you take one you’ll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you -don’t break off short, you’ll die--do you understand that?--die, and go -to your own place, like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. -I’ll help you to your bed for once.” - -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and -laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he -were almost fainting. - -“Now, mind you,” said the doctor, “I clear my conscience--the name of -rum for you is death.” - -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the -arm. - -“This is nothing,” he said as soon as he had closed the door. “I have -drawn blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week -where he is--that is the best thing for him and you; but another stroke -would settle him.” - - - - -III -The Black Spot - - -About noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks -and medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little -higher, and he seemed both weak and excited. - -“Jim,” he said, “you’re the only one here that’s worth anything, and you -know I’ve been always good to you. Never a month but I’ve given you a -silver fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I’m pretty low, -and deserted by all; and Jim, you’ll bring me one noggin of rum, now, -won’t you, matey?” - -“The doctor--” I began. - -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. -“Doctors is all swabs,” he said; “and that doctor there, why, what do -he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates -dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the -sea with earthquakes--what to the doctor know of lands like that?--and I -lived on rum, I tell you. It’s been meat and drink, and man and wife, -to me; and if I’m not to have my rum now I’m a poor old hulk on a lee -shore, my blood’ll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab”; and he ran on -again for a while with curses. “Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges,” - he continued in the pleading tone. “I can’t keep ’em still, not I. I -haven’t had a drop this blessed day. That doctor’s a fool, I tell you. -If I don’t have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some -on ’em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as -plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that -has lived rough, and I’ll raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass -wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim.” - -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, -who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by -the doctor’s words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer -of a bribe. - -“I want none of your money,” said I, “but what you owe my father. I’ll -get you one glass, and no more.” - -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. - -“Aye, aye,” said he, “that’s some better, sure enough. And now, matey, -did that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?” - -“A week at least,” said I. - -“Thunder!” he cried. “A week! I can’t do that; they’d have the black -spot on me by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me -this blessed moment; lubbers as couldn’t keep what they got, and want to -nail what is another’s. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? -But I’m a saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost it -neither; and I’ll trick ’em again. I’m not afraid on ’em. I’ll shake out -another reef, matey, and daddle ’em again.” - -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, -holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and -moving his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they -were in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in -which they were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting -position on the edge. - -“That doctor’s done me,” he murmured. “My ears is singing. Lay me back.” - -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his -former place, where he lay for a while silent. - -“Jim,” he said at length, “you saw that seafaring man today?” - -“Black Dog?” I asked. - -“Ah! Black Dog,” says he. “_He’s_ a bad ’un; but there’s worse that put him -on. Now, if I can’t get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind -you, it’s my old sea-chest they’re after; you get on a horse--you can, -can’t you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to--well, yes, -I will!--to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all -hands--magistrates and sich--and he’ll lay ’em aboard at the Admiral -Benbow--all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, all on ’em that’s left. I was -first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and I’m the on’y one as knows -the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I -was to now, you see. But you won’t peach unless they get the black spot -on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man with -one leg, Jim--him above all.” - -“But what is the black spot, captain?” I asked. - -“That’s a summons, mate. I’ll tell you if they get that. But you keep -your weather-eye open, Jim, and I’ll share with you equals, upon my -honour.” - -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I -had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, -“If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it’s me,” he fell at last into a heavy, -swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all -gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to -the doctor, for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of -his confessions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my poor -father died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters -on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the -arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on -in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of -the captain, far less to be afraid of him. - -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, -though he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of -rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through -his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral -he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, -to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, -we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly -taken up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after -my father’s death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he -seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up -and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, -and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man -on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my -belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was -more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than -ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his -cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But with all that, -he minded people less and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather -wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a -different air, a kind of country love-song that he must have learned in -his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. - -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three -o’clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door -for a moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone -drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped -before him with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and -nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge -old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively -deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. -He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd -sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, “Will any kind friend -inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in -the gracious defence of his native country, England--and God bless King -George!--where or in what part of this country he may now be?” - -“You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man,” said I. - -“I hear a voice,” said he, “a young voice. Will you give me your hand, -my kind young friend, and lead me in?” - -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature -gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I -struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with -a single action of his arm. - -“Now, boy,” he said, “take me in to the captain.” - -“Sir,” said I, “upon my word I dare not.” - -“Oh,” he sneered, “that’s it! Take me in straight or I’ll break your -arm.” - -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - -“Sir,” said I, “it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he -used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman--” - -“Come, now, march,” interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, -and cold, and ugly as that blind man’s. It cowed me more than the pain, -and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and -towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed -with rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist -and leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. “Lead me -straight up to him, and when I’m in view, cry out, ‘Here’s a friend -for you, Bill.’ If you don’t, I’ll do this,” and with that he gave me a -twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I -was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of -the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he -had ordered in a trembling voice. - -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of -him and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so -much of terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I -do not believe he had enough force left in his body. - -“Now, Bill, sit where you are,” said the beggar. “If I can’t see, I can -hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. -Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right.” - -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the -hollow of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain’s, -which closed upon it instantly. - -“And now that’s done,” said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly -left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, -skipped out of the parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood -motionless, I could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our -senses, but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his -wrist, which I was still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked -sharply into the palm. - -“Ten o’clock!” he cried. “Six hours. We’ll do them yet,” and he sprang -to his feet. - -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying -for a moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole -height face foremost to the floor. - -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. -The captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious -thing to understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of -late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I -burst into a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and -the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart. - - - - -IV -The Sea-chest - - -I lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and -perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once -in a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money--if -he had any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our -captain’s shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black -Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in -payment of the dead man’s debts. The captain’s order to mount at -once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone -and unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed -impossible for either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall -of coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled -us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by -approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain -on the parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind beggar -hovering near at hand and ready to return, there were moments when, as -the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. Something must speedily -be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth together -and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than done. -Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and -the frosty fog. - -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the -other side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was -in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his -appearance and whither he had presumably returned. We were not many -minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each -other and hearken. But there was no unusual sound--nothing but the low -wash of the ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall -never forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and -windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely -to get in that quarter. For--you would have thought men would have been -ashamed of themselves--no soul would consent to return with us to the -Admiral Benbow. The more we told of our troubles, the more--man, woman, -and child--they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of -Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well enough known to -some there and carried a great weight of terror. Some of the men who -had been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, -besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and taking them to -be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a little -lugger in what we called Kitt’s Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain’s was enough to frighten them to death. And the -short and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several -who were willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey’s, which lay in another -direction, not one would help us to defend the inn. - -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other -hand, a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother -made them a speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that -belonged to her fatherless boy; “If none of the rest of you dare,” - she said, “Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we came, and small -thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. We’ll have that chest -open, if we die for it. And I’ll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, -to bring back our lawful money in.” - -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried -out at our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with -us. All they would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were -attacked, and to promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were -pursued on our return, while one lad was to ride forward to the doctor’s -in search of armed assistance. - -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon -this dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered -redly through the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, -for it was plain, before we came forth again, that all would be as -bright as day, and our departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. -We slipped along the hedges, noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear -anything to increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of the -Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. - -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the -dark, alone in the house with the dead captain’s body. Then my mother -got a candle in the bar, and holding each other’s hands, we advanced -into the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes -open and one arm stretched out. - -“Draw down the blind, Jim,” whispered my mother; “they might come and -watch outside. And now,” said she when I had done so, “we have to get -the key off _that;_ and who’s to touch it, I should like to know!” and she -gave a kind of sob as she said the words. - -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there -was a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not -doubt that this was the _black spot;_ and taking it up, I found written -on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You -have till ten tonight.” - -“He had till ten, Mother,” said I; and just as I said it, our old clock -began striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news -was good, for it was only six. - -“Now, Jim,” she said, “that key.” - -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, -and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away -at the end, his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a -tinder box were all that they contained, and I began to despair. - -“Perhaps it’s round his neck,” suggested my mother. - -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and -there, sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with -his own gully, we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with -hope and hurried upstairs without delay to the little room where he had -slept so long and where his box had stood since the day of his arrival. - -It was like any other seaman’s chest on the outside, the initial “B” - burned on the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat -smashed and broken as by long, rough usage. - -“Give me the key,” said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, -she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. - -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing -was to be seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully -brushed and folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under -that, the miscellany began--a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of -tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an -old Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of -foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six -curious West Indian shells. I have often wondered since why he should -have carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and -hunted life. - -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and -the trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there -was an old boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My -mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last -things in the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like -papers, and a canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of -gold. - -“I’ll show these rogues that I’m an honest woman,” said my mother. “I’ll -have my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley’s bag.” And -she began to count over the amount of the captain’s score from the -sailor’s bag into the one that I was holding. - -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries -and sizes--doubloons, and louis d’ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, -and I know not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, -too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother -knew how to make her count. - -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her -arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my -heart into my mouth--the tap-tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the -frozen road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. -Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then we could hear the handle -being turned and the bolt rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; -and then there was a long time of silence both within and without. -At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable joy and -gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be heard. - -“Mother,” said I, “take the whole and let’s be going,” for I was sure -the bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole -hornet’s nest about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had -bolted it, none could tell who had never met that terrible blind man. - -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a -fraction more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be -content with less. It was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she -knew her rights and she would have them; and she was still arguing with -me when a little low whistle sounded a good way off upon the hill. That -was enough, and more than enough, for both of us. - -“I’ll take what I have,” she said, jumping to her feet. - -“And I’ll take this to square the count,” said I, picking up the oilskin -packet. - -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by -the empty chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full -retreat. We had not started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly -dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the high ground on -either side; and it was only in the exact bottom of the dell and round -the tavern door that a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the -first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very -little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into the -moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running -came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a -light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of -the newcomers carried a lantern. - -“My dear,” said my mother suddenly, “take the money and run on. I am -going to faint.” - -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the -cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty -and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were -just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering -as she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh -and fell on my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to do it -at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but I managed to drag her -down the bank and a little way under the arch. Farther I could not move -her, for the bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. -So there we had to stay--my mother almost entirely exposed and both of -us within earshot of the inn. - - - - -V -The Last of the Blind Man - - -My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not -remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering -my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our -door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven -or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along -the road and the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran -together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the -middle man of this trio was the blind beggar. The next moment his voice -showed me that I was right. - -“Down with the door!” he cried. - -“Aye, aye, sir!” answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the -Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see -them pause, and hear speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were -surprised to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the blind -man again issued his commands. His voice sounded louder and higher, as -if he were afire with eagerness and rage. - -“In, in, in!” he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the -formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a -voice shouting from the house, “Bill’s dead.” - -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - -“Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and -get the chest,” he cried. - -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the -house must have shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of -astonishment arose; the window of the captain’s room was thrown open -with a slam and a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out into the -moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed the blind beggar on the -road below him. - -“Pew,” he cried, “they’ve been before us. Someone’s turned the chest out -alow and aloft.” - -“Is it there?” roared Pew. - -“The money’s there.” - -The blind man cursed the money. - -“Flint’s fist, I mean,” he cried. - -“We don’t see it here nohow,” returned the man. - -“Here, you below there, is it on Bill?” cried the blind man again. - -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search -the captain’s body, came to the door of the inn. “Bill’s been overhauled -a’ready,” said he; “nothin’ left.” - -“It’s these people of the inn--it’s that boy. I wish I had put his eyes -out!” cried the blind man, Pew. “There were no time ago--they had the -door bolted when I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find ’em.” - -“Sure enough, they left their glim here,” said the fellow from the -window. - -“Scatter and find ’em! Rout the house out!” reiterated Pew, striking -with his stick upon the road. - -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet -pounding to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the -very rocks re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on -the road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just -the same whistle that had alarmed my mother and myself over the dead -captain’s money was once more clearly audible through the night, -but this time twice repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man’s -trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault, but I now found -that it was a signal from the hillside towards the hamlet, and from its -effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of approaching danger. - -“There’s Dirk again,” said one. “Twice! We’ll have to budge, mates.” - -“Budge, you skulk!” cried Pew. “Dirk was a fool and a coward from the -first--you wouldn’t mind him. They must be close by; they can’t be far; -you have your hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver -my soul,” he cried, “if I had eyes!” - -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began -to look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, -and with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest -stood irresolute on the road. - -“You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You’d -be as rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it’s here, and -you stand there skulking. There wasn’t one of you dared face Bill, and -I did it--a blind man! And I’m to lose my chance for you! I’m to be a -poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a -coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit you would catch -them still.” - -“Hang it, Pew, we’ve got the doubloons!” grumbled one. - -“They might have hid the blessed thing,” said another. “Take the -Georges, Pew, and don’t stand here squalling.” - -Squalling was the word for it; Pew’s anger rose so high at these -objections till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, -he struck at them right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded -heavily on more than one. - -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him -in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from -his grasp. - -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, -another sound came from the top of the hill on the side of the -hamlet--the tramp of horses galloping. Almost at the same time a -pistol-shot, flash and report, came from the hedge side. And that was -plainly the last signal of danger, for the buccaneers turned at once -and ran, separating in every direction, one seaward along the cove, one -slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a sign of -them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer panic -or out of revenge for his ill words and blows I know not; but there he -remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping -and calling for his comrades. Finally he took a wrong turn and ran a few -steps past me, towards the hamlet, crying, “Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk,” - and other names, “you won’t leave old Pew, mates--not old Pew!” - -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders -came in sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. - -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for -the ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a -second and made another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the -nearest of the coming horses. - -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that -rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him -and passed by. He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face -and moved no more. - -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any -rate, horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, -tailing out behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to -Dr. Livesey’s; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the -way, and with whom he had had the intelligence to return at once. Some -news of the lugger in Kitt’s Hole had found its way to Supervisor Dance -and set him forth that night in our direction, and to that circumstance -my mother and I owed our preservation from death. - -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up -to the hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her -back again, and she was none the worse for her terror, though she still -continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the meantime the -supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt’s Hole; but his men -had to dismount and grope down the dingle, leading, and sometimes -supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it was -no great matter for surprise that when they got down to the Hole the -lugger was already under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A -voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get -some lead in him, and at the same time a bullet whistled close by his -arm. Soon after, the lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance -stood there, as he said, “like a fish out of water,” and all he could do -was to dispatch a man to B---- to warn the cutter. “And that,” said he, -“is just about as good as nothing. They’ve got off clean, and there’s -an end. Only,” he added, “I’m glad I trod on Master Pew’s corns,” for by -this time he had heard my story. - -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a -house in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down -by these fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; -and though nothing had actually been taken away except the captain’s -money-bag and a little silver from the till, I could see at once that we -were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of the scene. - -“They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were -they after? More money, I suppose?” - -“No, sir; not money, I think,” replied I. “In fact, sir, I believe I -have the thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should -like to get it put in safety.” - -“To be sure, boy; quite right,” said he. “I’ll take it, if you like.” - -“I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey--” I began. - -“Perfectly right,” he interrupted very cheerily, “perfectly right--a -gentleman and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as -well ride round there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew’s -dead, when all’s done; not that I regret it, but he’s dead, you see, and -people will make it out against an officer of his Majesty’s revenue, -if make it out they can. Now, I’ll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I’ll -take you along.” - -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet -where the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they -were all in the saddle. - -“Dogger,” said Mr. Dance, “you have a good horse; take up this lad -behind you.” - -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger’s belt, the supervisor -gave the word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road -to Dr. Livesey’s house. - - - - -VI -The Captain’s Papers - - -We rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey’s door. The -house was all dark to the front. - -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup -to descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. - -“Is Dr. Livesey in?” I asked. - -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the -hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - -“So there we go, boys,” said Mr. Dance. - -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with -Dogger’s stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, -moonlit avenue to where the white line of the hall buildings looked on -either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking -me along with him, was admitted at a word into the house. - -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a -great library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, -where the squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a -bright fire. - -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six -feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready -face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His -eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of -some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high. - -“Come in, Mr. Dance,” says he, very stately and condescending. - -“Good evening, Dance,” says the doctor with a nod. “And good evening to -you, friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?” - -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a -lesson; and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward -and looked at each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and -interest. When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. -Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried “Bravo!” and -broke his long pipe against the grate. Long before it was done, Mr. -Trelawney (that, you will remember, was the squire’s name) had got up -from his seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, as if to -hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig and sat there looking -very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll. - -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - -“Mr. Dance,” said the squire, “you are a very noble fellow. And as for -riding down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of -virtue, sir, like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, -I perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some -ale.” - -“And so, Jim,” said the doctor, “you have the thing that they were -after, have you?” - -“Here it is, sir,” said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open -it; but instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his -coat. - -“Squire,” said he, “when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be -off on his Majesty’s service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to -sleep at my house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up -the cold pie and let him sup.” - -“As you will, Livesey,” said the squire; “Hawkins has earned better than -cold pie.” - -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made -a hearty supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was -further complimented and at last dismissed. - -“And now, squire,” said the doctor. - -“And now, Livesey,” said the squire in the same breath. - -“One at a time, one at a time,” laughed Dr. Livesey. “You have heard of -this Flint, I suppose?” - -“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the -bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. -The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, -I was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I’ve seen his top-sails with -these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I -sailed with put back--put back, sir, into Port of Spain.” - -“Well, I’ve heard of him myself, in England,” said the doctor. “But the -point is, had he money?” - -“Money!” cried the squire. “Have you heard the story? What were these -villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what -would they risk their rascal carcasses but money?” - -“That we shall soon know,” replied the doctor. “But you are so -confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. -What I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket -some clue to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount -to much?” - -“Amount, sir!” cried the squire. “It will amount to this: If we have the -clue you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and -Hawkins here along, and I’ll have that treasure if I search a year.” - -“Very well,” said the doctor. “Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we’ll -open the packet”; and he laid it before him on the table. - -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his -instrument case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It -contained two things--a book and a sealed paper. - -“First of all we’ll try the book,” observed the doctor. - -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened -it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the -side-table, where I had been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. -On the first page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a man -with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or practice. One was the -same as the tattoo mark, “Billy Bones his fancy”; then there was “Mr. W. -Bones, mate,” “No more rum,” “Off Palm Key he got itt,” and some other -snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. I could not help -wondering who it was that had “got itt,” and what “itt” was that he got. -A knife in his back as like as not. - -“Not much instruction there,” said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. - -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of -entries. There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a -sum of money, as in common account-books, but instead of explanatory -writing, only a varying number of crosses between the two. On the 12th -of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy pounds had plainly become -due to someone, and there was nothing but six crosses to explain the -cause. In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, -as “Offe Caraccas,” or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, as “62o -17′ 20″, 19o 2′ 40″.” - -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate -entries growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total -had been made out after five or six wrong additions, and these words -appended, “Bones, his pile.” - -“I can’t make head or tail of this,” said Dr. Livesey. - -“The thing is as clear as noonday,” cried the squire. “This is the -black-hearted hound’s account-book. These crosses stand for the names of -ships or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel’s -share, and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something -clearer. ‘Offe Caraccas,’ now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel -boarded off that coast. God help the poor souls that manned her--coral -long ago.” - -“Right!” said the doctor. “See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And -the amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank.” - -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted -in the blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, -English, and Spanish moneys to a common value. - -“Thrifty man!” cried the doctor. “He wasn’t the one to be cheated.” - -“And now,” said the squire, “for the other.” - -The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of -seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain’s -pocket. The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out -the map of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of -hills and bays and inlets, and every particular that would be needed -to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine -miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon -standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the -centre part marked “The Spy-glass.” There were several additions of a -later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on the north -part of the island, one in the southwest--and beside this last, in -the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the -captain’s tottery characters, these words: “Bulk of treasure here.” - -Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - - Ten feet. - - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - J.F. - -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled -the squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. - -“Livesey,” said the squire, “you will give up this wretched practice -at once. Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks’ time--three -weeks!--two weeks--ten days--we’ll have the best ship, sir, and the -choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make -a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are ship’s doctor; I am -admiral. We’ll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We’ll have favourable -winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding the -spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever -after.” - -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “I’ll go with you; and I’ll go bail for -it, so will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There’s only one -man I’m afraid of.” - -“And who’s that?” cried the squire. “Name the dog, sir!” - -“You,” replied the doctor; “for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not -the only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the -inn tonight--bold, desperate blades, for sure--and the rest who stayed -aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and all, -through thick and thin, bound that they’ll get that money. We must none -of us go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the -meanwhile; you’ll take Joyce and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and -from first to last, not one of us must breathe a word of what we’ve -found.” - -“Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll -be as silent as the grave.” - - - - -PART TWO--The Sea-cook - - - - -VII -I Go to Bristol - - -It was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, -and none of our first plans--not even Dr. Livesey’s, of keeping me -beside him--could be carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go -to London for a physician to take charge of his practice; the squire was -hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on at the hall under the charge of -old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams -and the most charming anticipations of strange islands and adventures. -I brooded by the hour together over the map, all the details of which -I well remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper’s room, I -approached that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I -explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that -tall hill they call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most -wonderful and changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with -savages, with whom we fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that -hunted us, but in all my fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and -tragic as our actual adventures. - -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed -to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, “To be opened, in the case of his -absence, by Tom Redruth or young Hawkins.” Obeying this order, we -found, or rather I found--for the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading -anything but print--the following important news: - - _Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17--._ - - Dear Livesey--As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two - hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. - - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for--treasure, I mean. - -“Redruth,” said I, interrupting the letter, “Dr. Livesey will not like -that. The squire has been talking, after all.” - -“Well, who’s a better right?” growled the gamekeeper. “A pretty rum go -if squire ain’t to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.” - -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: - - Blandly himself found the HISPANIOLA, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the HISPANIOLA - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high--the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - - So far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure--riggers and what not--were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - - I wished a round score of men--in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French--and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - - I was monstrously touched--so would you have - been--and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship’s cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country’s service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable--not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - John Trelawney - - _Postscript._--I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don’t turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master--a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o’-war fashion on board the good ship - HISPANIOLA. - - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker’s account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - J. T. - - P.P.S.--Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - J. T. - -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half -beside myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old -Tom Redruth, who could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the -under-gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; but such -was not the squire’s pleasure, and the squire’s pleasure was like law -among them all. Nobody but old Redruth would have dared so much as even -to grumble. - -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and -there I found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had -so long been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked -cease from troubling. The squire had had everything repaired, and the -public rooms and the sign repainted, and had added some furniture--above -all a beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found her a boy -as an apprentice also so that she should not want help while I was gone. - -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my -situation. I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, -not at all of the home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this -clumsy stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my mother, I -had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I led that boy a dog’s life, -for as he was new to the work, I had a hundred opportunities of setting -him right and putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were -afoot again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the -cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral -Benbow--since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last -thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode along the beach -with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope. -Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out of sight. - -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was -wedged in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the -swift motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from -the very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down dale through -stage after stage, for when I was awakened at last it was by a punch -in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to find that we were standing still -before a large building in a city street and that the day had already -broken a long time. - -“Where are we?” I asked. - -“Bristol,” said Tom. “Get down.” - -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to -superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and -our way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great -multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors -were singing at their work, in another there were men aloft, high over -my head, hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a spider’s. -Though I had lived by the shore all my life, I seemed never to have been -near the sea till then. The smell of tar and salt was something new. -I saw the most wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over the -ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, and -whiskers curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, -clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could -not have been more delighted. - -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping -boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown -island, and to seek for buried treasure! - -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front -of a large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a -sea-officer, in stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on -his face and a capital imitation of a sailor’s walk. - -“Here you are,” he cried, “and the doctor came last night from London. -Bravo! The ship’s company complete!” - -“Oh, sir,” cried I, “when do we sail?” - -“Sail!” says he. “We sail tomorrow!” - - - - -VIII -At the Sign of the Spy-glass - - -When I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John -Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily -find the place by following the line of the docks and keeping a bright -lookout for a little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I -set off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the ships and -seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of people and carts and -bales, for the dock was now at its busiest, until I found the tavern in -question. - -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was -newly painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly -sanded. There was a street on each side and an open door on both, which -made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of -tobacco smoke. - -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that -I hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was -sure he must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, -and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with -wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall -and strong, with a face as big as a ham--plain and pale, but intelligent -and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling -as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the -shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. - -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in -Squire Trelawney’s letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might -prove to be the very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at -the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen -the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew -what a buccaneer was like--a very different creature, according to me, -from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up -to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. - -“Mr. Silver, sir?” I asked, holding out the note. - -“Yes, my lad,” said he; “such is my name, to be sure. And who may you -be?” And then as he saw the squire’s letter, he seemed to me to give -something almost like a start. - -“Oh!” said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. “I see. You are our -new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you.” - -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made -for the door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a -moment. But his hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at -glance. It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come -first to the Admiral Benbow. - -“Oh,” I cried, “stop him! It’s Black Dog!” - -“I don’t care two coppers who he is,” cried Silver. “But he hasn’t paid -his score. Harry, run and catch him.” - -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in -pursuit. - -“If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score,” cried Silver; and -then, relinquishing my hand, “Who did you say he was?” he asked. “Black -what?” - -“Dog, sir,” said I. “Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? -He was one of them.” - -“So?” cried Silver. “In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those -swabs, was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here.” - -The man whom he called Morgan--an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced -sailor--came forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. - -“Now, Morgan,” said Long John very sternly, “you never clapped your eyes -on that Black--Black Dog before, did you, now?” - -“Not I, sir,” said Morgan with a salute. - -“You didn’t know his name, did you?” - -“No, sir.” - -“By the powers, Tom Morgan, it’s as good for you!” exclaimed the -landlord. “If you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would -never have put another foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what -was he saying to you?” - -“I don’t rightly know, sir,” answered Morgan. - -“Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?” - cried Long John. “Don’t rightly know, don’t you! Perhaps you don’t -happen to rightly know who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what -was he jawing--v’yages, cap’ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?” - -“We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,” answered Morgan. - -“Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may -lay to that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom.” - -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a -confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, “He’s -quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on’y stupid. And now,” he ran on again, -aloud, “let’s see--Black Dog? No, I don’t know the name, not I. Yet I -kind of think I’ve--yes, I’ve seen the swab. He used to come here with a -blind beggar, he used.” - -“That he did, you may be sure,” said I. “I knew that blind man too. His -name was Pew.” - -“It was!” cried Silver, now quite excited. “Pew! That were his name for -certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, -now, there’ll be news for Cap’n Trelawney! Ben’s a good runner; few -seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by -the powers! He talked o’ keel-hauling, did he? I’LL keel-haul him!” - -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and -down the tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving -such a show of excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge -or a Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on -finding Black Dog at the Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But -he was too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the time -the two men had come back out of breath and confessed that they had lost -the track in a crowd, and been scolded like thieves, I would have gone -bail for the innocence of Long John Silver. - -“See here, now, Hawkins,” said he, “here’s a blessed hard thing on a -man like me, now, ain’t it? There’s Cap’n Trelawney--what’s he to think? -Here I have this confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house -drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and -here I let him give us all the slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, -Hawkins, you do me justice with the cap’n. You’re a lad, you are, but -you’re as smart as paint. I see that when you first come in. Now, here -it is: What could I do, with this old timber I hobble on? When I was an -A B master mariner I’d have come up alongside of him, hand over hand, -and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now--” - -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he -had remembered something. - -“The score!” he burst out. “Three goes o’ rum! Why, shiver my timbers, -if I hadn’t forgotten my score!” - -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. -I could not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, -until the tavern rang again. - -“Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!” he said at last, wiping his -cheeks. “You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I’ll take my davy -I should be rated ship’s boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This -won’t do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I’ll put on my old cockerel hat, -and step along of you to Cap’n Trelawney, and report this here affair. -For mind you, it’s serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me’s come -out of it with what I should make so bold as to call credit. Nor you -neither, says you; not smart--none of the pair of us smart. But dash my -buttons! That was a good un about my score.” - -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not -see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. - -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting -companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, -their rig, tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going -forward--how one was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third -making ready for sea--and every now and then telling me some little -anecdote of ships or seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had -learned it perfectly. I began to see that here was one of the best of -possible shipmates. - -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, -finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go -aboard the schooner on a visit of inspection. - -Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit -and the most perfect truth. “That was how it were, now, weren’t it, -Hawkins?” he would say, now and again, and I could always bear him -entirely out. - -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all -agreed there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, -Long John took up his crutch and departed. - -“All hands aboard by four this afternoon,” shouted the squire after him. - -“Aye, aye, sir,” cried the cook, in the passage. - -“Well, squire,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t put much faith in your -discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits -me.” - -“The man’s a perfect trump,” declared the squire. - -“And now,” added the doctor, “Jim may come on board with us, may he -not?” - -“To be sure he may,” says squire. “Take your hat, Hawkins, and we’ll see -the ship.” - - - - -IX -Powder and Arms - - -The Hispaniola lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and -round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated -underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, -we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the -mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a -squint. He and the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon -observed that things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and the -captain. - -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on -board and was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the -cabin when a sailor followed us. - -“Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you,” said he. - -“I am always at the captain’s orders. Show him in,” said the squire. - -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and -shut the door behind him. - -“Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all -shipshape and seaworthy?” - -“Well, sir,” said the captain, “better speak plain, I believe, even at -the risk of offence. I don’t like this cruise; I don’t like the men; and -I don’t like my officer. That’s short and sweet.” - -“Perhaps, sir, you don’t like the ship?” inquired the squire, very -angry, as I could see. - -“I can’t speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried,” said the -captain. “She seems a clever craft; more I can’t say.” - -“Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?” says the -squire. - -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - -“Stay a bit,” said he, “stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but -to produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too -little, and I’m bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. -You don’t, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?” - -“I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship -for that gentleman where he should bid me,” said the captain. “So far -so good. But now I find that every man before the mast knows more than I -do. I don’t call that fair, now, do you?” - -“No,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t.” - -“Next,” said the captain, “I learn we are going after treasure--hear -it from my own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don’t -like treasure voyages on any account, and I don’t like them, above all, -when they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the -secret has been told to the parrot.” - -“Silver’s parrot?” asked the squire. - -“It’s a way of speaking,” said the captain. “Blabbed, I mean. It’s my -belief neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I’ll tell -you my way of it--life or death, and a close run.” - -“That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough,” replied Dr. Livesey. -“We take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, -you say you don’t like the crew. Are they not good seamen?” - -“I don’t like them, sir,” returned Captain Smollett. “And I think I -should have had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that.” - -“Perhaps you should,” replied the doctor. “My friend should, perhaps, -have taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was -unintentional. And you don’t like Mr. Arrow?” - -“I don’t, sir. I believe he’s a good seaman, but he’s too free with -the crew to be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to -himself--shouldn’t drink with the men before the mast!” - -“Do you mean he drinks?” cried the squire. - -“No, sir,” replied the captain, “only that he’s too familiar.” - -“Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?” asked the doctor. -“Tell us what you want.” - -“Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?” - -“Like iron,” answered the squire. - -“Very good,” said the captain. “Then, as you’ve heard me very patiently, -saying things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are -putting the powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good -place under the cabin; why not put them there?--first point. Then, you -are bringing four of your own people with you, and they tell me some of -them are to be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here beside -the cabin?--second point.” - -“Any more?” asked Mr. Trelawney. - -“One more,” said the captain. “There’s been too much blabbing already.” - -“Far too much,” agreed the doctor. - -“I’ll tell you what I’ve heard myself,” continued Captain Smollett: -“that you have a map of an island, that there’s crosses on the map to -show where treasure is, and that the island lies--” And then he named -the latitude and longitude exactly. - -“I never told that,” cried the squire, “to a soul!” - -“The hands know it, sir,” returned the captain. - -“Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins,” cried the squire. - -“It doesn’t much matter who it was,” replied the doctor. And I could -see that neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney’s -protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet -in this case I believe he was really right and that nobody had told the -situation of the island. - -“Well, gentlemen,” continued the captain, “I don’t know who has this -map; but I make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. -Arrow. Otherwise I would ask you to let me resign.” - -“I see,” said the doctor. “You wish us to keep this matter dark and to -make a garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend’s -own people, and provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other -words, you fear a mutiny.” - -“Sir,” said Captain Smollett, “with no intention to take offence, I -deny your right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be -justified in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As -for Mr. Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the -same; all may be for what I know. But I am responsible for the ship’s -safety and the life of every man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, -as I think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain precautions -or let me resign my berth. And that’s all.” - -“Captain Smollett,” began the doctor with a smile, “did ever you hear -the fable of the mountain and the mouse? You’ll excuse me, I dare say, -but you remind me of that fable. When you came in here, I’ll stake my -wig, you meant more than this.” - -“Doctor,” said the captain, “you are smart. When I came in here I meant -to get discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a -word.” - -“No more I would,” cried the squire. “Had Livesey not been here I should -have seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you -desire, but I think the worse of you.” - -“That’s as you please, sir,” said the captain. “You’ll find I do my -duty.” - -And with that he took his leave. - -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “contrary to all my notions, I believed -you have managed to get two honest men on board with you--that man and -John Silver.” - -“Silver, if you like,” cried the squire; “but as for that intolerable -humbug, I declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright -un-English.” - -“Well,” says the doctor, “we shall see.” - -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and -powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood -by superintending. - -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been -overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the -after-part of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to -the galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had -been originally meant that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the -doctor, and the squire were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and -I were to get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain were to sleep -on deck in the companion, which had been enlarged on each side till you -might almost have called it a round-house. Very low it was still, of -course; but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even the mate -seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been doubtful -as to the crew, but that is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had -not long the benefit of his opinion. - -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when -the last man or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a -shore-boat. - -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as -he saw what was doing, “So ho, mates!” says he. “What’s this?” - -“We’re a-changing of the powder, Jack,” answers one. - -“Why, by the powers,” cried Long John, “if we do, we’ll miss the morning -tide!” - -“My orders!” said the captain shortly. “You may go below, my man. Hands -will want supper.” - -“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he -disappeared at once in the direction of his galley. - -“That’s a good man, captain,” said the doctor. - -“Very likely, sir,” replied Captain Smollett. “Easy with that, -men--easy,” he ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and -then suddenly observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, -a long brass nine, “Here you, ship’s boy,” he cried, “out o’ that! Off -with you to the cook and get some work.” - -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the -doctor, “I’ll have no favourites on my ship.” - -I assure you I was quite of the squire’s way of thinking, and hated the -captain deeply. - - - - -X -The Voyage - - -All that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their -place, and boatfuls of the squire’s friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, -coming off to wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had -a night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; and I was -dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe -and the crew began to man the capstan-bars. I might have been twice -as weary, yet I would not have left the deck, all was so new and -interesting to me--the brief commands, the shrill note of the whistle, -the men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship’s lanterns. - -“Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave,” cried one voice. - -“The old one,” cried another. - -“Aye, aye, mates,” said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch -under his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so -well: - -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest--” - -And then the whole crew bore chorus:-- - -“Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -And at the third “Ho!” drove the bars before them with a will. - -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral -Benbow in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping -in the chorus. But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging -dripping at the bows; soon the sails began to draw, and the land and -shipping to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to -snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her voyage to the -Isle of Treasure. - -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly -prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable -seamen, and the captain thoroughly understood his business. But before -we came the length of Treasure Island, two or three things had happened -which require to be known. - -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had -feared. He had no command among the men, and people did what they -pleased with him. But that was by no means the worst of it, for after a -day or two at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, -stuttering tongue, and other marks of drunkenness. Time after time -he was ordered below in disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; -sometimes he lay all day long in his little bunk at one side of the -companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober and -attend to his work at least passably. - -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That -was the ship’s mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to -solve it; and when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if -he were drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted -anything but water. - -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst -the men, but it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself -outright, so nobody was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark -night, with a head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - -“Overboard!” said the captain. “Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble -of putting him in irons.” - -But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to -advance one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest -man aboard, and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as -mate. Mr. Trelawney had followed the sea, and his knowledge made him -very useful, for he often took a watch himself in easy weather. And the -coxswain, Israel Hands, was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who -could be trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of -his name leads me on to speak of our ship’s cook, Barbecue, as the men -called him. - -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have -both hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the -foot of the crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding -to every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe -ashore. Still more strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather -cross the deck. He had a line or two rigged up to help him across the -widest spaces--Long John’s earrings, they were called; and he would hand -himself from one place to another, now using the crutch, now trailing it -alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet some -of the men who had sailed with him before expressed their pity to see -him so reduced. - -“He’s no common man, Barbecue,” said the coxswain to me. “He had good -schooling in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; -and brave--a lion’s nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple -four and knock their heads together--him unarmed.” - -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking -to each and doing everybody some particular service. To me he was -unweariedly kind, and always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept -as clean as a new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in -a cage in one corner. - -“Come away, Hawkins,” he would say; “come and have a yarn with John. -Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the -news. Here’s Cap’n Flint--I calls my parrot Cap’n Flint, after the -famous buccaneer--here’s Cap’n Flint predicting success to our v’yage. -Wasn’t you, Cap’n?” - -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, “Pieces of eight! Pieces -of eight! Pieces of eight!” till you wondered that it was not out of -breath, or till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. - -“Now, that bird,” he would say, “is, maybe, two hundred years -old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if anybody’s seen more -wickedness, it must be the devil himself. She’s sailed with England, -the great Cap’n England, the pirate. She’s been at Madagascar, and at -Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. She was at the -fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It’s there she learned ‘Pieces -of eight,’ and little wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of ’em, -Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the _Viceroy of the Indies_ out of -Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a babby. But -you smelt powder--didn’t you, Cap’n?” - -“Stand by to go about,” the parrot would scream. - -“Ah, she’s a handsome craft, she is,” the cook would say, and give her -sugar from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and -swear straight on, passing belief for wickedness. “There,” John would -add, “you can’t touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here’s this poor old -innocent bird o’ mine swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may -lay to that. She would swear the same, in a manner of speaking, before -chaplain.” And John would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had -that made me think he was the best of men. - -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty -distant terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the -matter; he despised the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke -but when he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a -word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, that he seemed to have -been wrong about the crew, that some of them were as brisk as he wanted -to see and all had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken a -downright fancy to her. “She’ll lie a point nearer the wind than a man -has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But,” he would add, -“all I say is, we’re not home again, and I don’t like the cruise.” - -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, -chin in air. - -“A trifle more of that man,” he would say, “and I shall explode.” - -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the -HISPANIOLA. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have -been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief -there was never a ship’s company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. -Double grog was going on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, -as, for instance, if the squire heard it was any man’s birthday, and -always a barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for anyone to -help himself that had a fancy. - -“Never knew good come of it yet,” the captain said to Dr. Livesey. -“Spoil forecastle hands, make devils. That’s my belief.” - -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had -not been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all -have perished by the hand of treachery. - -This was how it came about. - -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after--I -am not allowed to be more plain--and now we were running down for it -with a bright lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our -outward voyage by the largest computation; some time that night, or at -latest before noon of the morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. -We were heading S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. -The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with -a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the -bravest spirits because we were now so near an end of the first part of -our adventure. - -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way -to my berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on -deck. The watch was all forward looking out for the island. The man at -the helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently -to himself, and that was the only sound excepting the swish of the sea -against the bows and around the sides of the ship. - -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an -apple left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of -the waters and the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen -asleep or was on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with -rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders -against it, and I was just about to jump up when the man began to speak. -It was Silver’s voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would -not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and -listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen -words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended -upon me alone. - - - - -XI -What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel - - -“No, not I,” said Silver. “Flint was cap’n; I was quartermaster, along -of my timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his -deadlights. It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of -college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but he was hanged -like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was -Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their -ships--ROYAL FORTUNE and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, so let -her stay, I says. So it was with the CASSANDRA, as brought us all safe -home from Malabar, after England took the _Viceroy of the Indies;_ so -it was with the old WALRUS, Flint’s old ship, as I’ve seen amuck with -the red blood and fit to sink with gold.” - -“Ah!” cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and -evidently full of admiration. “He was the flower of the flock, was -Flint!” - -“Davis was a man too, by all accounts,” said Silver. “I never sailed -along of him; first with England, then with Flint, that’s my story; -and now here on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine -hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain’t bad -for a man before the mast--all safe in bank. ’Tain’t earning now, it’s -saving does it, you may lay to that. Where’s all England’s men now? I -dunno. Where’s Flint’s? Why, most on ’em aboard here, and glad to get -the duff--been begging before that, some on ’em. Old Pew, as had lost -his sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve hundred pound in -a year, like a lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he’s dead now -and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, -the man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and -starved at that, by the powers!” - -“Well, it ain’t much use, after all,” said the young seaman. - -“’Tain’t much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, nor nothing,” - cried Silver. “But now, you look here: you’re young, you are, but you’re -as smart as paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I’ll talk -to you like a man.” - -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue -addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used -to myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed -him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was -overheard. - -“Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk -swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise -is done, why, it’s hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings -in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to -sea again in their shirts. But that’s not the course I lay. I puts it -all away, some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by reason -of suspicion. I’m fifty, mark you; once back from this cruise, I set up -gentleman in earnest. Time enough too, says you. Ah, but I’ve lived easy -in the meantime, never denied myself o’ nothing heart desires, and slep’ -soft and ate dainty all my days but when at sea. And how did I begin? -Before the mast, like you!” - -“Well,” said the other, “but all the other money’s gone now, ain’t it? -You daren’t show face in Bristol after this.” - -“Why, where might you suppose it was?” asked Silver derisively. - -“At Bristol, in banks and places,” answered his companion. - -“It were,” said the cook; “it were when we weighed anchor. But my old -missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill -and rigging; and the old girl’s off to meet me. I would tell you where, -for I trust you, but it’d make jealousy among the mates.” - -“And can you trust your missis?” asked the other. - -“Gentlemen of fortune,” returned the cook, “usually trusts little among -themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with -me, I have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable--one as knows me, I -mean--it won’t be in the same world with old John. There was some that -was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own -self was feared of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest -crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil himself would have been feared to go -to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, I’m not a boasting man, and you -seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, -LAMBS wasn’t the word for Flint’s old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of -yourself in old John’s ship.” - -“Well, I tell you now,” replied the lad, “I didn’t half a quarter like -the job till I had this talk with you, John; but there’s my hand on it -now.” - -“And a brave lad you were, and smart too,” answered Silver, shaking -hands so heartily that all the barrel shook, “and a finer figurehead for -a gentleman of fortune I never clapped my eyes on.” - -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a -“gentleman of fortune” they plainly meant neither more nor less than a -common pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last -act in the corruption of one of the honest hands--perhaps of the last -one left aboard. But on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver -giving a little whistle, a third man strolled up and sat down by the -party. - -“Dick’s square,” said Silver. - -“Oh, I know’d Dick was square,” returned the voice of the coxswain, -Israel Hands. “He’s no fool, is Dick.” And he turned his quid and spat. -“But look here,” he went on, “here’s what I want to know, Barbecue: how -long are we a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I’ve had -a’most enough o’ Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by thunder! -I want to go into that cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and -that.” - -“Israel,” said Silver, “your head ain’t much account, nor ever was. But -you’re able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. -Now, here’s what I say: you’ll berth forward, and you’ll live hard, and -you’ll speak soft, and you’ll keep sober till I give the word; and you -may lay to that, my son.” - -“Well, I don’t say no, do I?” growled the coxswain. “What I say is, -when? That’s what I say.” - -“When! By the powers!” cried Silver. “Well now, if you want to know, -I’ll tell you when. The last moment I can manage, and that’s when. -Here’s a first-rate seaman, Cap’n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for -us. Here’s this squire and doctor with a map and such--I don’t know -where it is, do I? No more do you, says you. Well then, I mean this -squire and doctor shall find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, -by the powers. Then we’ll see. If I was sure of you all, sons of double -Dutchmen, I’d have Cap’n Smollett navigate us half-way back again before -I struck.” - -“Why, we’re all seamen aboard here, I should think,” said the lad Dick. - -“We’re all forecastle hands, you mean,” snapped Silver. “We can steer -a course, but who’s to set one? That’s what all you gentlemen split on, -first and last. If I had my way, I’d have Cap’n Smollett work us back -into the trades at least; then we’d have no blessed miscalculations and -a spoonful of water a day. But I know the sort you are. I’ll finish with -’em at the island, as soon’s the blunt’s on board, and a pity it is. But -you’re never happy till you’re drunk. Split my sides, I’ve a sick heart -to sail with the likes of you!” - -“Easy all, Long John,” cried Israel. “Who’s a-crossin’ of you?” - -“Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And -how many brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?” cried Silver. -“And all for this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen -a thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on’y lay your course, and a -p’int to windward, you would ride in carriages, you would. But not you! -I know you. You’ll have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang.” - -“Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there’s others -as could hand and steer as well as you,” said Israel. “They liked a bit -o’ fun, they did. They wasn’t so high and dry, nohow, but took their -fling, like jolly companions every one.” - -“So?” says Silver. “Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, -and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, -they was a sweet crew, they was! On’y, where are they?” - -“But,” asked Dick, “when we do lay ’em athwart, what are we to do with -’em, anyhow?” - -“There’s the man for me!” cried the cook admiringly. “That’s what I call -business. Well, what would you think? Put ’em ashore like maroons? That -would have been England’s way. Or cut ’em down like that much pork? That -would have been Flint’s, or Billy Bones’s.” - -“Billy was the man for that,” said Israel. “‘Dead men don’t bite,’ says -he. Well, he’s dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; -and if ever a rough hand come to port, it was Billy.” - -“Right you are,” said Silver; “rough and ready. But mark you here, -I’m an easy man--I’m quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it’s -serious. Dooty is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I’m in -Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don’t want none of these sea-lawyers -in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. -Wait is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let her rip!” - -“John,” cries the coxswain, “you’re a man!” - -“You’ll say so, Israel when you see,” said Silver. “Only one thing I -claim--I claim Trelawney. I’ll wring his calf’s head off his body with -these hands, Dick!” he added, breaking off. “You just jump up, like a -sweet lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like.” - -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for -it if I had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. -I heard Dick begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and -the voice of Hands exclaimed, “Oh, stow that! Don’t you get sucking of -that bilge, John. Let’s have a go of the rum.” - -“Dick,” said Silver, “I trust you. I’ve a gauge on the keg, mind. -There’s the key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up.” - -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must -have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. - -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke -straight on in the cook’s ear. It was but a word or two that I could -catch, and yet I gathered some important news, for besides other scraps -that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: “Not -another man of them’ll jine.” Hence there were still faithful men on -board. - -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and -drank--one “To luck,” another with a “Here’s to old Flint,” and Silver -himself saying, in a kind of song, “Here’s to ourselves, and hold your -luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff.” - -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking -up, I found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and -shining white on the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time -the voice of the lookout shouted, “Land ho!” - - - - -XII -Council of War - - -There was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people -tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an -instant outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double -towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join -Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the weather bow. - -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted -almost simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the -south-west of us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, -and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was -still buried in the fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure. - -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my -horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of -Captain Smollett issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple of -points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the -island on the east. - -“And now, men,” said the captain, when all was sheeted home, “has any -one of you ever seen that land ahead?” - -“I have, sir,” said Silver. “I’ve watered there with a trader I was cook -in.” - -“The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?” asked the -captain. - -“Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for -pirates once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. -That hill to the nor’ard they calls the Foremast Hill; there are three -hills in a row running south’ard--fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the -main--that’s the big un, with the cloud on it--they usually calls -the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the -anchorage cleaning, for it’s there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking -your pardon.” - -“I have a chart here,” says Captain Smollett. “See if that’s the place.” - -Long John’s eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the -fresh look of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This -was not the map we found in Billy Bones’s chest, but an accurate copy, -complete in all things--names and heights and soundings--with the single -exception of the red crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have -been his annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - -“Yes, sir,” said he, “this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily -drawed out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too -ignorant, I reckon. Aye, here it is: ‘Capt. Kidd’s Anchorage’--just -the name my shipmate called it. There’s a strong current runs along the -south, and then away nor’ard up the west coast. Right you was, sir,” - says he, “to haul your wind and keep the weather of the island. -Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter and careen, and there -ain’t no better place for that in these waters.” - -“Thank you, my man,” says Captain Smollett. “I’ll ask you later on to -give us a help. You may go.” - -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge -of the island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing -nearer to myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his -council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a -horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal -a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm. - -“Ah,” says he, “this here is a sweet spot, this island--a sweet spot for -a lad to get ashore on. You’ll bathe, and you’ll climb trees, and you’ll -hunt goats, you will; and you’ll get aloft on them hills like a goat -yourself. Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber -leg, I was. It’s a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you -may lay to that. When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask -old John, and he’ll put up a snack for you to take along.” - -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off -forward and went below. - -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on -the quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst -not interrupt them openly. While I was still casting about in my -thoughts to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his -side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave to tobacco, had -meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as I was near enough to speak -and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, “Doctor, let me speak. Get -the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence to -send for me. I have terrible news.” - -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master -of himself. - -“Thank you, Jim,” said he quite loudly, “that was all I wanted to know,” - as if he had asked me a question. - -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They -spoke together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised -his voice, or so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey -had communicated my request, for the next thing that I heard was the -captain giving an order to Job Anderson, and all hands were piped on -deck. - -“My lads,” said Captain Smollett, “I’ve a word to say to you. This -land that we have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. -Trelawney, being a very open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just -asked me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that every man on -board had done his duty, alow and aloft, as I never ask to see it done -better, why, he and I and the doctor are going below to the cabin to -drink YOUR health and luck, and you’ll have grog served out for you to -drink OUR health and luck. I’ll tell you what I think of this: I think -it handsome. And if you think as I do, you’ll give a good sea-cheer for -the gentleman that does it.” - -The cheer followed--that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full -and hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were -plotting for our blood. - -“One more cheer for Cap’n Smollett,” cried Long John when the first had -subsided. - -And this also was given with a will. - -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, -word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. - -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine -and some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig -on his lap, and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern -window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon -shining behind on the ship’s wake. - -“Now, Hawkins,” said the squire, “you have something to say. Speak up.” - -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole -details of Silver’s conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, -nor did any one of the three of them make so much as a movement, but -they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - -“Jim,” said Dr. Livesey, “take a seat.” - -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of -wine, filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, -and each with a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for -my luck and courage. - -“Now, captain,” said the squire, “you were right, and I was wrong. I own -myself an ass, and I await your orders.” - -“No more an ass than I, sir,” returned the captain. “I never heard of a -crew that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that -had an eye in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But -this crew,” he added, “beats me.” - -“Captain,” said the doctor, “with your permission, that’s Silver. A very -remarkable man.” - -“He’d look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir,” returned the captain. -“But this is talk; this don’t lead to anything. I see three or four -points, and with Mr. Trelawney’s permission, I’ll name them.” - -“You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak,” says Mr. Trelawney -grandly. - -“First point,” began Mr. Smollett. “We must go on, because we can’t turn -back. If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second -point, we have time before us--at least until this treasure’s found. -Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it’s got to come -to blows sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the -forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they -least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home servants, Mr. -Trelawney?” - -“As upon myself,” declared the squire. - -“Three,” reckoned the captain; “ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins -here. Now, about the honest hands?” - -“Most likely Trelawney’s own men,” said the doctor; “those he had picked -up for himself before he lit on Silver.” - -“Nay,” replied the squire. “Hands was one of mine.” - -“I did think I could have trusted Hands,” added the captain. - -“And to think that they’re all Englishmen!” broke out the squire. “Sir, -I could find it in my heart to blow the ship up.” - -“Well, gentlemen,” said the captain, “the best that I can say is not -much. We must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It’s -trying on a man, I know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But -there’s no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a -wind, that’s my view.” - -“Jim here,” said the doctor, “can help us more than anyone. The men are -not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad.” - -“Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you,” added the squire. - -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether -helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed -through me that safety came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there -were only seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and -out of these seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on our side were -six to their nineteen. - - - - -PART THREE--My Shore Adventure - - - - -XIII -How I Began My Shore Adventure - - -The appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was -altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had -made a great deal of way during the night and were now lying becalmed -about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. -Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface. This even tint -was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, -and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others--some -singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring was uniform and sad. -The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. -All were strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or four -hundred feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in -configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly -cut off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - -The HISPANIOLA was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms -were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the -whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had -to cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my -eyes, for though I was a good enough sailor when there was way on, this -standing still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never -learned to stand without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an -empty stomach. - -Perhaps it was this--perhaps it was the look of the island, with its -grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we -could both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach--at -least, although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were -fishing and crying all around us, and you would have thought anyone -would have been glad to get to land after being so long at sea, my heart -sank, as the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look onward, I -hated the very thought of Treasure Island. - -We had a dreary morning’s work before us, for there was no sign of any -wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped -three or four miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow -passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of -the boats, where I had, of course, no business. The heat was sweltering, -and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command -of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order, he grumbled as -loud as the worst. - -“Well,” he said with an oath, “it’s not forever.” - -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone -briskly and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the -island had relaxed the cords of discipline. - -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. -He knew the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the -chains got everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never -hesitated once. - -“There’s a strong scour with the ebb,” he said, “and this here passage -has been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade.” - -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of -a mile from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on -the other. The bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up -clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a -minute they were down again and all was once more silent. - -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming -right down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops -standing round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one -there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this -pond, as you might call it; and the foliage round that part of the shore -had a kind of poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see nothing -of the house or stockade, for they were quite buried among trees; and if -it had not been for the chart on the companion, we might have been the -first that had ever anchored there since the island arose out of the -seas. - -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the -surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks -outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage--a smell of -sodden leaves and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing -and sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg. - -“I don’t know about treasure,” he said, “but I’ll stake my wig there’s -fever here.” - -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly -threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling -together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and -grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught -the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, -it was plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long -John was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in -good advice, and as for example no man could have shown a better. He -fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility; he was all -smiles to everyone. If an order were given, John would be on his crutch -in an instant, with the cheeriest “Aye, aye, sir!” in the world; and -when there was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after another, as -if to conceal the discontent of the rest. - -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious -anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - -We held a council in the cabin. - -“Sir,” said the captain, “if I risk another order, the whole ship’ll -come about our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough -answer, do I not? Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two -shakes; if I don’t, Silver will see there’s something under that, and -the game’s up. Now, we’ve only one man to rely on.” - -“And who is that?” asked the squire. - -“Silver, sir,” returned the captain; “he’s as anxious as you and I to -smother things up. This is a tiff; he’d soon talk ’em out of it if he -had the chance, and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. -Let’s allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we’ll fight -the ship. If they none of them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God -defend the right. If some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver’ll bring -’em aboard again as mild as lambs.” - -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; -Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received -the news with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, -and then the captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - -“My lads,” said he, “we’ve had a hot day and are all tired and out of -sorts. A turn ashore’ll hurt nobody--the boats are still in the water; -you can take the gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the -afternoon. I’ll fire a gun half an hour before sundown.” - -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their -shins over treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out -of their sulks in a moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a -faraway hill and sent the birds once more flying and squalling round the -anchorage. - -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight -in a moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as -well he did so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as -have pretended not to understand the situation. It was as plain as day. -Silver was the captain, and a mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The -honest hands--and I was soon to see it proved that there were such on -board--must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, I suppose the -truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the example of the -ringleaders--only some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in -the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one thing -to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a -number of innocent men. - -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on -board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. - -Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions -that contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by -Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and -since only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party -had no present need of my assistance. It occurred to me at once to go -ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and curled up in the -fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost at the same moment she -shoved off. - -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you, Jim? -Keep your head down.” But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply -over and called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I -began to regret what I had done. - -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start -and being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of -her consort, and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I -had caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into the nearest -thicket while Silver and the rest were still a hundred yards behind. - -“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting. - -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking -through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. - - - - -XIV -The First Blow - - -I was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to -enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land -that I was in. - -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, -outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an -open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with -a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak -in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the far side of -the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining -vividly in the sun. - -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was -uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front -of me but dumb brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the -trees. Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and -there I saw snakes, and one raised his head from a ledge of rock and -hissed at me with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did -I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that the noise was the famous -rattle. - -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees--live, or -evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should be called--which grew -low along the sand like brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the -foliage compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of -one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it went, until -it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest -of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh was -steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled -through the haze. - -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; -a wild duck flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the -whole surface of the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and -circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be -drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon -I heard the very distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I -continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest -live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. - -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized -to be Silver’s, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while -in a stream, only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound -they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no -distinct word came to my hearing. - -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, -for not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves -began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the -swamp. - -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since -I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the -least I could do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my -plain and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage, under the -favourable ambush of the crouching trees. - -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by -the sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that -still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders. - -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at -last, raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear -down into a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about -with trees, where Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to -face in conversation. - -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the -ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was -lifted to the other man’s in a kind of appeal. - -“Mate,” he was saying, “it’s because I thinks gold dust of you--gold -dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn’t took to you like pitch, do -you think I’d have been here a-warning of you? All’s up--you can’t make -nor mend; it’s to save your neck that I’m a-speaking, and if one of the -wild uns knew it, where’d I be, Tom--now, tell me, where’d I be?” - -“Silver,” said the other man--and I observed he was not only red in the -face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a -taut rope--“Silver,” says he, “you’re old, and you’re honest, or has the -name for it; and you’ve money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn’t; -and you’re brave, or I’m mistook. And will you tell me you’ll let -yourself be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure -as God sees me, I’d sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty--” - -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found -one of the honest hands--well, here, at that same moment, came news of -another. Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound -like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and then one -horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a -score of times; the whole troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening -heaven, with a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell was -still ringing in my brain, silence had re-established its empire, and -only the rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the distant -surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had -not winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, -watching his companion like a snake about to spring. - -“John!” said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - -“Hands off!” cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with -the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - -“Hands off, if you like, John Silver,” said the other. “It’s a black -conscience that can make you feared of me. But in heaven’s name, tell -me, what was that?” - -“That?” returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye -a mere pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. -“That? Oh, I reckon that’ll be Alan.” - -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - -“Alan!” he cried. “Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, -John Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine, but you’re mate of mine -no more. If I die like a dog, I’ll die in my dooty. You’ve killed Alan, -have you? Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you.” - -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook -and set off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. -With a cry John seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of -his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. -It struck poor Tom, point foremost, and with stunning violence, right -between the shoulders in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he -gave a sort of gasp, and fell. - -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like -enough, to judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he -had no time given him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without -leg or crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had twice buried -his knife up to the hilt in that defenceless body. From my place of -ambush, I could hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the -next little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling -mist; Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going -round and round and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells -ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear. - -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, -his crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom -lay motionless upon the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, -cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass. -Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining mercilessly on the -steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce -persuade myself that murder had been actually done and a human life -cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and -blew upon it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated -air. I could not tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but -it instantly awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be -discovered. They had already slain two of the honest people; after Tom -and Alan, might not I come next? - -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what -speed and silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the -wood. As I did so, I could hear hails coming and going between the old -buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings. As -soon as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran before, scarce -minding the direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the -murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me until it turned into -a kind of frenzy. - -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, -how should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still -smoking from their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring -my neck like a snipe’s? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to -them of my alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, -I thought. Good-bye to the HISPANIOLA; good-bye to the squire, the -doctor, and the captain! There was nothing left for me but death by -starvation or death by the hands of the mutineers. - -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any -notice, I had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two -peaks and had got into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew -more widely apart and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and -dimensions. Mingled with these were a few scattered pines, some fifty, -some nearer seventy, feet high. The air too smelt more freshly than down -beside the marsh. - -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. - - - - -XV -The Man of the Island - - -From the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of -gravel was dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. -My eyes turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap -with great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether -bear or man or monkey, I could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and -shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition brought -me to a stand. - -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, -before me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer -the dangers that I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared -less terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, and I turned -on my heel, and looking sharply behind me over my shoulder, began to -retrace my steps in the direction of the boats. - -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to -head me off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I -rose, I could see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an -adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running -manlike on two legs, but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping -almost double as it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt -about that. - -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of -calling for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, -had somewhat reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in -proportion. I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method of -escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed -into my mind. As soon as I remembered I was not defenceless, courage -glowed again in my heart and I set my face resolutely for this man of -the island and walked briskly towards him. - -He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must -have been watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his -direction he reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, -drew back, came forward again, and at last, to my wonder and -confusion, threw himself on his knees and held out his clasped hands in -supplication. - -At that I once more stopped. - -“Who are you?” I asked. - -“Ben Gunn,” he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, -like a rusty lock. “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a -Christian these three years.” - -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his -features were even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was -burnt by the sun; even his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked -quite startling in so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen -or fancied, he was the chief for raggedness. He was clothed with tatters -of old ship’s canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary patchwork -was all held together by a system of the most various and incongruous -fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. -About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which was the -one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. - -“Three years!” I cried. “Were you shipwrecked?” - -“Nay, mate,” said he; “marooned.” - -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of -punishment common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender -is put ashore with a little powder and shot and left behind on some -desolate and distant island. - -“Marooned three years agone,” he continued, “and lived on goats since -then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can -do for himself. But, mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You -mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, -many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of cheese--toasted, mostly--and woke -up again, and here I were.” - -“If ever I can get aboard again,” said I, “you shall have cheese by the -stone.” - -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing -my hands, looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of -his speech, showing a childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow -creature. But at my last words he perked up into a kind of startled -slyness. - -“If ever you can get aboard again, says you?” he repeated. “Why, now, -who’s to hinder you?” - -“Not you, I know,” was my reply. - -“And right you was,” he cried. “Now you--what do you call yourself, -mate?” - -“Jim,” I told him. - -“Jim, Jim,” says he, quite pleased apparently. “Well, now, Jim, I’ve -lived that rough as you’d be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you -wouldn’t think I had had a pious mother--to look at me?” he asked. - -“Why, no, not in particular,” I answered. - -“Ah, well,” said he, “but I had--_re_markable pious. And I was a civil, -pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn’t -tell one word from another. And here’s what it come to, Jim, and it -begun with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That’s what it -begun with, but it went further’n that; and so my mother told me, and -predicked the whole, she did, the pious woman! But it were Providence -that put me here. I’ve thought it all out in this here lonely island, -and I’m back on piety. You don’t catch me tasting rum so much, but just -a thimbleful for luck, of course, the first chance I have. I’m bound -I’ll be good, and I see the way to. And, Jim”--looking all round him and -lowering his voice to a whisper--“I’m rich.” - -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and -I suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the -statement hotly: “Rich! Rich! I says. And I’ll tell you what: I’ll make -a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you’ll bless your stars, you will, you was -the first that found me!” - -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he -tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly -before my eyes. - -“Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain’t Flint’s ship?” he asked. - -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found -an ally, and I answered him at once. - -“It’s not Flint’s ship, and Flint is dead; but I’ll tell you true, as -you ask me--there are some of Flint’s hands aboard; worse luck for the -rest of us.” - -“Not a man--with one--leg?” he gasped. - -“Silver?” I asked. - -“Ah, Silver!” says he. “That were his name.” - -“He’s the cook, and the ringleader too.” - -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a -wring. - -“If you was sent by Long John,” he said, “I’m as good as pork, and I -know it. But where was you, do you suppose?” - -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him -the whole story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found -ourselves. He heard me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he -patted me on the head. - -“You’re a good lad, Jim,” he said; “and you’re all in a clove hitch, -ain’t you? Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn--Ben Gunn’s the man -to do it. Would you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove -a liberal-minded one in case of help--him being in a clove hitch, as you -remark?” - -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - -“Aye, but you see,” returned Ben Gunn, “I didn’t mean giving me a gate -to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that’s not my mark, -Jim. What I mean is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say -one thousand pounds out of money that’s as good as a man’s own already?” - -“I am sure he would,” said I. “As it was, all hands were to share.” - -“AND a passage home?” he added with a look of great shrewdness. - -“Why,” I cried, “the squire’s a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of -the others, we should want you to help work the vessel home.” - -“Ah,” said he, “so you would.” And he seemed very much relieved. - -“Now, I’ll tell you what,” he went on. “So much I’ll tell you, and no -more. I were in Flint’s ship when he buried the treasure; he and -six along--six strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us -standing off and on in the old WALRUS. One fine day up went the signal, -and here come Flint by himself in a little boat, and his head done up in -a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked about -the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and the six all dead--dead -and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was -battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways--him against six. Billy -Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him -where the treasure was. ‘Ah,’ says he, ‘you can go ashore, if you like, -and stay,’ he says; ‘but as for the ship, she’ll beat up for more, by -thunder!’ That’s what he said. - -“Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this -island. ‘Boys,’ said I, ‘here’s Flint’s treasure; let’s land and find -it.’ The cap’n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a -mind and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had -the worse word for me, until one fine morning all hands went aboard. ‘As -for you, Benjamin Gunn,’ says they, ‘here’s a musket,’ they says, ‘and -a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flint’s money for -yourself,’ they says. - -“Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian -diet from that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I -look like a man before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren’t, neither, I -says.” - -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - -“Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim,” he went on. “Nor he -weren’t, neither--that’s the words. Three years he were the man of this -island, light and dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe -think upon a prayer (says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of -his old mother, so be as she’s alive (you’ll say); but the most part -of Gunn’s time (this is what you’ll say)--the most part of his time was -took up with another matter. And then you’ll give him a nip, like I do.” - -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - -“Then,” he continued, “then you’ll up, and you’ll say this: Gunn is a -good man (you’ll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence--a -precious sight, mind that--in a gen’leman born than in these gen’leman -of fortune, having been one hisself.” - -“Well,” I said, “I don’t understand one word that you’ve been saying. -But that’s neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?” - -“Ah,” said he, “that’s the hitch, for sure. Well, there’s my boat, that -I made with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst -come to the worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!” he broke out. -“What’s that?” - -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the -echoes of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - -“They have begun to fight!” I cried. “Follow me.” - -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, -while close at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily -and lightly. - -“Left, left,” says he; “keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the -trees with you! Theer’s where I killed my first goat. They don’t come -down here now; they’re all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear -of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And there’s the cetemery”--cemetery, he must have -meant. “You see the mounds? I come here and prayed, nows and thens, when -I thought maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren’t quite a chapel, -but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you, Ben Gunn was -short-handed--no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, you says.” - -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. - -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley -of small arms. - -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I -beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. - - - - -PART FOUR--The Stockade - - - - -XVI -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned - - -It was about half past one--three bells in the sea phrase--that the two -boats went ashore from the HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I -were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, -we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with -us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and -to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that Jim -Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest. - -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for -his safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even -chance if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was -bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; -if ever a man smelt fever and dysentery, it was in that abominable -anchorage. The six scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in the -forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made fast and a man sitting -in each, hard by where the river runs in. One of them was whistling -“Lillibullero.” - -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go -ashore with the jolly-boat in quest of information. - -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, -in the direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were -left guarding their boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; -“Lillibullero” stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what -they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all might have turned -out differently; but they had their orders, I suppose, and decided to -sit quietly where they were and hark back again to “Lillibullero.” - -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it -between us; even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. -I jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk -handkerchief under my hat for coolness’ sake and a brace of pistols -ready primed for safety. - -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a -knoll. Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a -stout loghouse fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed -for musketry on either side. All round this they had cleared a wide -space, and then the thing was completed by a paling six feet high, -without door or opening, too strong to pull down without time and labour -and too open to shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house had -them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like -partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; for, short of a -complete surprise, they might have held the place against a regiment. - -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good -enough place of it in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms -and ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been -one thing overlooked--we had no water. I was thinking this over when -there came ringing over the island the cry of a man at the point of -death. I was not new to violent death--I have served his Royal Highness -the Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy--but I know -my pulse went dot and carry one. “Jim Hawkins is gone,” was my first -thought. - -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been -a doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made -up my mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and -jumped on board the jolly-boat. - -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the -boat was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. - -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as -white as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! -And one of the six forecastle hands was little better. - -“There’s a man,” says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, “new to -this work. He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. -Another touch of the rudder and that man would join us.” - -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details -of its accomplishment. - -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, -with three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter -brought the boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work -loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a -cask of cognac, and my invaluable medicine chest. - -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the -latter hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. - -“Mr. Hands,” he said, “here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. -If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man’s -dead.” - -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one -and all tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us -on the rear. But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred -galley, they went about ship at once, and a head popped out again on -deck. - -“Down, dog!” cries the captain. - -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of -these six very faint-hearted seamen. - -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat -loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, -and we made for shore again as fast as oars could take us. - -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. “Lillibullero” - was dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the -little point, one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a -mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver -and the others might be close at hand, and all might very well be lost -by trying for too much. - -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to -provision the block house. All three made the first journey, heavily -laden, and tossed our stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to -guard them--one man, to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets--Hunter -and I returned to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. So -we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the whole cargo was -bestowed, when the two servants took up their position in the block -house, and I, with all my power, sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. - -That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it -really was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the -advantage of arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before -they could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves -we should be able to give a good account of a half-dozen at least. - -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness -gone from him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to -loading the boat for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the -cargo, with only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me -and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the arms and powder we dropped -overboard in two fathoms and a half of water, so that we could see -the bright steel shining far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy -bottom. - -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging -round to her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the -direction of the two gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and -Hunter, who were well to the eastward, it warned our party to be off. - -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the -boat, which we then brought round to the ship’s counter, to be handier -for Captain Smollett. - -“Now, men,” said he, “do you hear me?” - -There was no answer from the forecastle. - -“It’s to you, Abraham Gray--it’s to you I am speaking.” - -Still no reply. - -“Gray,” resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, “I am leaving this ship, -and I order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at -bottom, and I dare say not one of the lot of you’s as bad as he makes -out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join -me in.” - -There was a pause. - -“Come, my fine fellow,” continued the captain; “don’t hang so long in -stays. I’m risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every -second.” - -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham -Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the -captain like a dog to the whistle. - -“I’m with you, sir,” said he. - -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we -had shoved off and given way. - -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. - - - - -XXVII -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip - - -This fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the -first place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely -overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and -the captain--over six feet high, was already more than she was meant -to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was -lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches -and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a -hundred yards. - -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more -evenly. All the same, we were afraid to breathe. - -In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong rippling current -running westward through the basin, and then south’ard and seaward down -the straits by which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples -were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we -were swept out of our true course and away from our proper landing-place -behind the point. If we let the current have its way we should come -ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any moment. - -“I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,” said I to the captain. -I was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. -“The tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?” - -“Not without swamping the boat,” said he. “You must bear up, sir, if you -please--bear up until you see you’re gaining.” - -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward -until I had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the -way we ought to go. - -“We’ll never get ashore at this rate,” said I. - -“If it’s the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it,” - returned the captain. “We must keep upstream. You see, sir,” he went on, -“if once we dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it’s hard to say -where we should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the -gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, and then we can -dodge back along the shore.” - -“The current’s less a’ready, sir,” said the man Gray, who was sitting in -the fore-sheets; “you can ease her off a bit.” - -“Thank you, my man,” said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we -had all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. - -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a -little changed. - -“The gun!” said he. - -“I have thought of that,” said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a -bombardment of the fort. “They could never get the gun ashore, and if -they did, they could never haul it through the woods.” - -“Look astern, doctor,” replied the captain. - -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were -the five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called -the stout tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but -it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the -powder for the gun had been left behind, and a stroke with an axe would -put it all into the possession of the evil ones abroad. - -“Israel was Flint’s gunner,” said Gray hoarsely. - -At any risk, we put the boat’s head direct for the landing-place. By -this time we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept -steerage way even at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could -keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was that with the -course I now held we turned our broadside instead of our stern to the -HISPANIOLA and offered a target like a barn door. - -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands -plumping down a round-shot on the deck. - -“Who’s the best shot?” asked the captain. - -“Mr. Trelawney, out and away,” said I. - -“Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? -Hands, if possible,” said the captain. - -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. - -“Now,” cried the captain, “easy with that gun, sir, or you’ll swamp the -boat. All hands stand by to trim her when he aims.” - -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the -other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we -did not ship a drop. - -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, -who was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most -exposed. However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he -stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of the other four -who fell. - -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a -great number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction -I saw the other pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling -into their places in the boats. - -“Here come the gigs, sir,” said I. - -“Give way, then,” cried the captain. “We mustn’t mind if we swamp her -now. If we can’t get ashore, all’s up.” - -“Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir,” I added; “the crew of the -other most likely going round by shore to cut us off.” - -“They’ll have a hot run, sir,” returned the captain. “Jack ashore, you -know. It’s not them I mind; it’s the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady’s -maid couldn’t miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we’ll -hold water.” - -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so -overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were -now close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the -ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering -trees. The gig was no longer to be feared; the little point had already -concealed it from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed -us, was now making reparation and delaying our assailants. The one -source of danger was the gun. - -“If I durst,” said the captain, “I’d stop and pick off another man.” - -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They -had never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not -dead, and I could see him trying to crawl away. - -“Ready!” cried the squire. - -“Hold!” cried the captain, quick as an echo. - -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily -under water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was -the first that Jim heard, the sound of the squire’s shot not having -reached him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I -fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind of it may have -contributed to our disaster. - -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of -water, leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. -The other three took complete headers, and came up again drenched and -bubbling. - -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade -ashore in safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to -make things worse, only two guns out of five remained in a state for -service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my head, by -a sort of instinct. As for the captain, he had carried his over his -shoulder by a bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The other -three had gone down with the boat. - -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the -woods along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from -the stockade in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, -if Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the -sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce -was a doubtful case--a pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush -one’s clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving -behind us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and -provisions. - - - - -XVIII -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting - - -We made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from -the stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers -rang nearer. Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the -cracking of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my -priming. - -“Captain,” said I, “Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his -own is useless.” - -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since -the beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all -was fit for service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I -handed him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his -hand, knit his brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was -plain from every line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade -in front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south -side, and almost at the same time, seven mutineers--Job Anderson, the -boatswain, at their head--appeared in full cry at the southwestern -corner. - -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the -squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to -fire. The four shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did -the business: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without -hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to -the fallen enemy. He was stone dead--shot through the heart. - -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a -pistol cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor -Tom Redruth stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire -and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable -we only wasted powder. Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor -Tom. - -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an -eye that all was over. - -I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers -once more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the -poor old gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and -bleeding, into the log-house. - -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, -fear, or even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till -now, when we had laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like -a Trojan behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order -silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of our party by a score -of years; and now, sullen, old, serviceable servant, it was he that was -to die. - -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, -crying like a child. - -“Be I going, doctor?” he asked. - -“Tom, my man,” said I, “you’re going home.” - -“I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first,” he replied. - -“Tom,” said the squire, “say you forgive me, won’t you?” - -“Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?” was the answer. -“Howsoever, so be it, amen!” - -After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read -a prayer. “It’s the custom, sir,” he added apologetically. And not long -after, without another word, he passed away. - -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully -swollen about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various -stores--the British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, -the log-book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree -lying felled and trimmed in the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter -he had set it up at the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed -and made an angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had with his own hand -bent and run up the colours. - -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set -about counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an -eye on Tom’s passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came -forward with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - -“Don’t you take on, sir,” he said, shaking the squire’s hand. “All’s -well with him; no fear for a hand that’s been shot down in his duty to -captain and owner. It mayn’t be good divinity, but it’s a fact.” - -Then he pulled me aside. - -“Dr. Livesey,” he said, “in how many weeks do you and squire expect the -consort?” - -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we -were not back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but -neither sooner nor later. “You can calculate for yourself,” I said. - -“Why, yes,” returned the captain, scratching his head; “and making a -large allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we -were pretty close hauled.” - -“How do you mean?” I asked. - -“It’s a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That’s what I mean,” - replied the captain. “As for powder and shot, we’ll do. But the rations -are short, very short--so short, Dr. Livesey, that we’re perhaps as well -without that extra mouth.” - -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the -roof of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. - -“Oho!” said the captain. “Blaze away! You’ve little enough powder -already, my lads.” - -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside -the stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. - -“Captain,” said the squire, “the house is quite invisible from the ship. -It must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it -in?” - -“Strike my colours!” cried the captain. “No, sir, not I”; and as soon -as he had said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was -not only a piece of stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy -besides and showed our enemies that we despised their cannonade. - -All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew -over or fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had -to fire so high that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft -sand. We had no ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the -roof of the log-house and out again through the floor, we soon got used -to that sort of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - -“There is one good thing about all this,” observed the captain; “the -wood in front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our -stores should be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork.” - -Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole -out of the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were -bolder than we fancied or they put more trust in Israel’s gunnery. For -four or five of them were busy carrying off our stores and wading out -with them to one of the gigs that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to -hold her steady against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in -command; and every man of them was now provided with a musket from some -secret magazine of their own. - -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: - - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship’s - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter’s mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner’s servants, landsmen--being all that is left - faithful of the ship’s company--with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner’s servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy-- - -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins’ fate. - -A hail on the land side. - -“Somebody hailing us,” said Hunter, who was on guard. - -“Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?” came the cries. - -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come -climbing over the stockade. - - - - -XIX -Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade - - -As soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the -arm, and sat down. - -“Now,” said he, “there’s your friends, sure enough.” - -“Far more likely it’s the mutineers,” I answered. - -“That!” he cried. “Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but -gen’lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don’t make -no doubt of that. No, that’s your friends. There’s been blows too, and I -reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in -the old stockade, as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was -the man to have a headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were -never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on’y Silver--Silver was that -genteel.” - -“Well,” said I, “that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that -I should hurry on and join my friends.” - -“Nay, mate,” returned Ben, “not you. You’re a good boy, or I’m mistook; -but you’re on’y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn’t -bring me there, where you’re going--not rum wouldn’t, till I see your -born gen’leman and gets it on his word of honour. And you won’t forget -my words; ‘A precious sight (that’s what you’ll say), a precious sight -more confidence’--and then nips him.” - -And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. - -“And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just -wheer you found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing -in his hand, and he’s to come alone. Oh! And you’ll say this: ‘Ben -Gunn,’ says you, ‘has reasons of his own.’” - -“Well,” said I, “I believe I understand. You have something to propose, -and you wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you’re to be found -where I found you. Is that all?” - -“And when? says you,” he added. “Why, from about noon observation to -about six bells.” - -“Good,” said I, “and now may I go?” - -“You won’t forget?” he inquired anxiously. “Precious sight, and reasons -of his own, says you. Reasons of his own; that’s the mainstay; as -between man and man. Well, then”--still holding me--“I reckon you can -go, Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn’t go for to sell -Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn’t draw it from you? No, says you. And if -them pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you say but there’d be widders -in the morning?” - -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing -through the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where -we two were talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels -in a different direction. - -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and -balls kept crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to -hiding-place, always pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying -missiles. But towards the end of the bombardment, though still I durst -not venture in the direction of the stockade, where the balls fell -oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and -after a long detour to the east, crept down among the shore-side trees. - -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the -woods and ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was -far out, and great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat -of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - -The HISPANIOLA still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there -was the Jolly Roger--the black flag of piracy--flying from her peak. -Even as I looked, there came another red flash and another report that -sent the echoes clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through the -air. It was the last of the cannonade. - -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men -were demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade--the -poor jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the -river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point -and the ship one of the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I -had seen so gloomy, shouting at the oars like children. But there was a -sound in their voices which suggested rum. - -At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty -far down on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, -and is joined at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my -feet, I saw, some distance further down the spit and rising from among -low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in -colour. It occurred to me that this might be the white rock of which Ben -Gunn had spoken and that some day or other a boat might be wanted and I -should know where to look for one. - -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or -shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the -faithful party. - -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was -made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter -stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the -surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, and under this porch -the little spring welled up into an artificial basin of a rather odd -kind--no other than a great ship’s kettle of iron, with the bottom -knocked out, and sunk “to her bearings,” as the captain said, among the -sand. - -Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one -corner there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old -rusty iron basket to contain the fire. - -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been -cleared of timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps -what a fine and lofty grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had -been washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the trees; only -where the streamlet ran down from the kettle a thick bed of moss and -some ferns and little creeping bushes were still green among the sand. -Very close around the stockade--too close for defence, they said--the -wood still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the land side, but -towards the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. - -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every -chink of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain -of fine sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our -suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all -the world like porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole -in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way -out, and the rest eddied about the house and kept us coughing and piping -the eye. - -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage -for a cut he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor -old Tom Redruth, still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, -under the Union Jack. - -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the -blues, but Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were -called up before him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and -Gray and I for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired -though we all were, two were sent out for firewood; two more were set to -dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at -the door; and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping up -our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to -rest his eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he -did so, he had a word for me. - -“That man Smollett,” he said once, “is a better man than I am. And when -I say that it means a deal, Jim.” - -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on -one side, and looked at me. - -“Is this Ben Gunn a man?” he asked. - -“I do not know, sir,” said I. “I am not very sure whether he’s sane.” - -“If there’s any doubt about the matter, he is,” returned the doctor. “A -man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, -can’t expect to appear as sane as you or me. It doesn’t lie in human -nature. Was it cheese you said he had a fancy for?” - -“Yes, sir, cheese,” I answered. - -“Well, Jim,” says he, “just see the good that comes of being dainty in -your food. You’ve seen my snuff-box, haven’t you? And you never saw me -take snuff, the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of -Parmesan cheese--a cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, that’s -for Ben Gunn!” - -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round -him for a while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had -been got in, but not enough for the captain’s fancy, and he shook his -head over it and told us we “must get back to this tomorrow rather -livelier.” Then, when we had eaten our pork and each had a good stiff -glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got together in a corner to -discuss our prospects. - -It appears they were at their wits’ end what to do, the stores being so -low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. -But our best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until -they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the HISPANIOLA. From -nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, -and one at least--the man shot beside the gun--severely wounded, if he -were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we were to take it, -saving our own lives, with the extremest care. And besides that, we had -two able allies--rum and the climate. - -As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear -them roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, -the doctor staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh -and unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on their backs -before a week. - -“So,” he added, “if we are not all shot down first they’ll be glad to -be packing in the schooner. It’s always a ship, and they can get to -buccaneering again, I suppose.” - -“First ship that ever I lost,” said Captain Smollett. - -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was -not till after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the -pile of firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a -bustle and the sound of voices. - -“Flag of truce!” I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with -a cry of surprise, “Silver himself!” - -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the -wall. - - - - -XX -Silver’s Embassy - - -Sure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them -waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, -standing placidly by. - -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever -was abroad in--a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright -and cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in -the sun. But where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in -shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled -during the night out of the morass. The chill and the vapour taken -together told a poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, -feverish, unhealthy spot. - -“Keep indoors, men,” said the captain. “Ten to one this is a trick.” - -Then he hailed the buccaneer. - -“Who goes? Stand, or we fire.” - -“Flag of truce,” cried Silver. - -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way -of a treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to -us, “Doctor’s watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, -if you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to -load muskets. Lively, men, and careful.” - -And then he turned again to the mutineers. - -“And what do you want with your flag of truce?” he cried. - -This time it was the other man who replied. - -“Cap’n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms,” he shouted. - -“Cap’n Silver! Don’t know him. Who’s he?” cried the captain. And we -could hear him adding to himself, “Cap’n, is it? My heart, and here’s -promotion!” - -Long John answered for himself. “Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me -cap’n, after your desertion, sir”--laying a particular emphasis upon the -word “desertion.” “We’re willing to submit, if we can come to terms, -and no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap’n Smollett, to let me -safe and sound out of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o’ -shot before a gun is fired.” - -“My man,” said Captain Smollett, “I have not the slightest desire to -talk to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that’s all. If -there’s any treachery, it’ll be on your side, and the Lord help you.” - -“That’s enough, Cap’n,” shouted Long John cheerily. “A word from you’s -enough. I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that.” - -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold -Silver back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the -captain’s answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the -back as if the idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the -stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour -and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the -other side. - -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on -to be of the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted -my eastern loophole and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated -himself on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his head in his -hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as it bubbled out of the old iron -kettle in the sand. He was whistling “Come, Lasses and Lads.” - -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the -steepness of the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he -and his crutch were as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it -like a man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, whom -he saluted in the handsomest style. He was tricked out in his best; -an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, hung as low as to his -knees, and a fine laced hat was set on the back of his head. - -“Here you are, my man,” said the captain, raising his head. “You had -better sit down.” - -“You ain’t a-going to let me inside, Cap’n?” complained Long John. “It’s -a main cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand.” - -“Why, Silver,” said the captain, “if you had pleased to be an honest -man, you might have been sitting in your galley. It’s your own doing. -You’re either my ship’s cook--and then you were treated handsome--or -Cap’n Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!” - -“Well, well, Cap’n,” returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was -bidden on the sand, “you’ll have to give me a hand up again, that’s all. -A sweet pretty place you have of it here. Ah, there’s Jim! The top of -the morning to you, Jim. Doctor, here’s my service. Why, there you all -are together like a happy family, in a manner of speaking.” - -“If you have anything to say, my man, better say it,” said the captain. - -“Right you were, Cap’n Smollett,” replied Silver. “Dooty is dooty, to be -sure. Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last -night. I don’t deny it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a -handspike-end. And I’ll not deny neither but what some of my people was -shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I was shook myself; maybe that’s -why I’m here for terms. But you mark me, Cap’n, it won’t do twice, by -thunder! We’ll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so on the -rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind’s eye. But I’ll -tell you I was sober; I was on’y dog tired; and if I’d awoke a second -sooner, I’d ’a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn’t dead when I got -round to him, not he.” - -“Well?” says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have -guessed it from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben -Gunn’s last words came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had -paid the buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk together round -their fire, and I reckoned up with glee that we had only fourteen -enemies to deal with. - -“Well, here it is,” said Silver. “We want that treasure, and we’ll have -it--that’s our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; -and that’s yours. You have a chart, haven’t you?” - -“That’s as may be,” replied the captain. - -“Oh, well, you have, I know that,” returned Long John. “You needn’t be -so husky with a man; there ain’t a particle of service in that, and you -may lay to it. What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant -you no harm, myself.” - -“That won’t do with me, my man,” interrupted the captain. “We know -exactly what you meant to do, and we don’t care, for now, you see, you -can’t do it.” - -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. - -“If Abe Gray--” Silver broke out. - -“Avast there!” cried Mr. Smollett. “Gray told me nothing, and I asked -him nothing; and what’s more, I would see you and him and this whole -island blown clean out of the water into blazes first. So there’s my -mind for you, my man, on that.” - -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been -growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. - -“Like enough,” said he. “I would set no limits to what gentlemen might -consider shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein’ as how -you are about to take a pipe, Cap’n, I’ll make so free as do likewise.” - -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently -smoking for quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now -stopping their tobacco, now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as -the play to see them. - -“Now,” resumed Silver, “here it is. You give us the chart to get the -treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in -while asleep. You do that, and we’ll offer you a choice. Either you come -aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I’ll give you my -affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or -if that ain’t to your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having -old scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, you can. We’ll -divide stores with you, man for man; and I’ll give my affy-davy, as -before to speak the first ship I sight, and send ’em here to pick you -up. Now, you’ll own that’s talking. Handsomer you couldn’t look to get, -now you. And I hope”--raising his voice--“that all hands in this here -block house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to -all.” - -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his -pipe in the palm of his left hand. - -“Is that all?” he asked. - -“Every last word, by thunder!” answered John. “Refuse that, and you’ve -seen the last of me but musket-balls.” - -“Very good,” said the captain. “Now you’ll hear me. If you’ll come up -one by one, unarmed, I’ll engage to clap you all in irons and take you -home to a fair trial in England. If you won’t, my name is Alexander -Smollett, I’ve flown my sovereign’s colours, and I’ll see you all -to Davy Jones. You can’t find the treasure. You can’t sail the -ship--there’s not a man among you fit to sail the ship. You can’t fight -us--Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship’s in irons, Master -Silver; you’re on a lee shore, and so you’ll find. I stand here and tell -you so; and they’re the last good words you’ll get from me, for in the -name of heaven, I’ll put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. -Tramp, my lad. Bundle out of this, please, hand over hand, and double -quick.” - -Silver’s face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He -shook the fire out of his pipe. - -“Give me a hand up!” he cried. - -“Not I,” returned the captain. - -“Who’ll give me a hand up?” he roared. - -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled -along the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself -again upon his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - -“There!” he cried. “That’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, -I’ll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by -thunder, laugh! Before an hour’s out, ye’ll laugh upon the other side. -Them that die’ll be the lucky ones.” - -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was -helped across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with -the flag of truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the -trees. - - - - -XXI -The Attack - - -As soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely -watching him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a -man of us at his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen -him angry. - -“Quarters!” he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, -“Gray,” he said, “I’ll put your name in the log; you’ve stood by your -duty like a seaman. Mr. Trelawney, I’m surprised at you, sir. Doctor, -I thought you had worn the king’s coat! If that was how you served at -Fontenoy, sir, you’d have been better in your berth.” - -The doctor’s watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy -loading the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be -certain, and a flea in his ear, as the saying is. - -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. - -“My lads,” said he, “I’ve given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in -red-hot on purpose; and before the hour’s out, as he said, we shall be -boarded. We’re outnumbered, I needn’t tell you that, but we fight in -shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought with discipline. -I’ve no manner of doubt that we can drub them, if you choose.” - -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. - -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two -loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the -north side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven -of us; the firewood had been built into four piles--tables, you might -say--one about the middle of each side, and on each of these tables some -ammunition and four loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the -defenders. In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - -“Toss out the fire,” said the captain; “the chill is past, and we -mustn’t have smoke in our eyes.” - -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the -embers smothered among sand. - -“Hawkins hasn’t had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to -your post to eat it,” continued Captain Smollett. “Lively, now, my lad; -you’ll want it before you’ve done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy -to all hands.” - -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the -plan of the defence. - -“Doctor, you will take the door,” he resumed. “See, and don’t expose -yourself; keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east -side, there. Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you -are the best shot--you and Gray will take this long north side, with the -five loopholes; it’s there the danger is. If they can get up to it and -fire in upon us through our own ports, things would begin to look dirty. -Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at the shooting; we’ll stand -by to load and bear a hand.” - -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had -climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the -clearing and drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking -and the resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats -were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the -shoulders; and we stood there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and -anxiety. - -An hour passed away. - -“Hang them!” said the captain. “This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, -whistle for a wind.” - -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - -“If you please, sir,” said Joyce, “if I see anyone, am I to fire?” - -“I told you so!” cried the captain. - -“Thank you, sir,” returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, -straining ears and eyes--the musketeers with their pieces balanced in -their hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his -mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket -and fired. The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and -repeated from without in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like -a string of geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several bullets -struck the log-house, but not one entered; and as the smoke cleared away -and vanished, the stockade and the woods around it looked as quiet and -empty as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket-barrel -betrayed the presence of our foes. - -“Did you hit your man?” asked the captain. - -“No, sir,” replied Joyce. “I believe not, sir.” - -“Next best thing to tell the truth,” muttered Captain Smollett. “Load -his gun, Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?” - -“I know precisely,” said Dr. Livesey. “Three shots were fired on this -side. I saw the three flashes--two close together--one farther to the -west.” - -“Three!” repeated the captain. “And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?” - -But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the -north--seven by the squire’s computation, eight or nine according to -Gray. From the east and west only a single shot had been fired. It was -plain, therefore, that the attack would be developed from the north and -that on the other three sides we were only to be annoyed by a show of -hostilities. But Captain Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If -the mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, they would -take possession of any unprotected loophole and shoot us down like rats -in our own stronghold. - -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud -huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side -and ran straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once -more opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway -and knocked the doctor’s musket into bits. - -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired -again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, -two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened -than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly -disappeared among the trees. - -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing -inside our defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight -men, each evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though -useless fire on the log-house. - -The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, -shouting as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to -encourage them. Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the -marksmen that not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the -four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle -loophole. - -“At ’em, all hands--all hands!” he roared in a voice of thunder. - -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter’s musket by the -muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, -and with one stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. -Meanwhile a third, running unharmed all around the house, appeared -suddenly in the doorway and fell with his cutlass on the doctor. - -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under -cover, at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could -not return a blow. - -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative -safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, -and one loud groan rang in my ears. - -“Out, lads, out, and fight ’em in the open! Cutlasses!” cried the -captain. - -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time -snatching another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly -felt. I dashed out of the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was -close behind, I knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing -his assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell upon him, beat -down his guard and sent him sprawling on his back with a great slash -across the face. - -“Round the house, lads! Round the house!” cried the captain; and even in -the hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. - -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, -ran round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face -with Anderson. He roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, -flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow -still hung impending, leaped in a trice upon one side, and missing my -foot in the soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. - -When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been -already swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red -night-cap, with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and -thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I -found my feet again all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red -night-cap still half-way over, another still just showing his head above -the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath of time, the fight was -over and the victory was ours. - -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere -he had time to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a -loophole in the very act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, -the pistol still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor -had disposed of at a blow. Of the four who had scaled the palisade, one -only remained unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the -field, was now clambering out again with the fear of death upon him. - -“Fire--fire from the house!” cried the doctor. “And you, lads, back into -cover.” - -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder -made good his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In -three seconds nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who -had fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. - -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors -would soon be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment -the fire might recommence. - -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at -a glance the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his -loophole, stunned; Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move -again; while right in the centre, the squire was supporting the captain, -one as pale as the other. - -“The captain’s wounded,” said Mr. Trelawney. - -“Have they run?” asked Mr. Smollett. - -“All that could, you may be bound,” returned the doctor; “but there’s -five of them will never run again.” - -“Five!” cried the captain. “Come, that’s better. Five against three -leaves us four to nine. That’s better odds than we had at starting. We -were seven to nineteen then, or thought we were, and that’s as bad to -bear.” * - -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. -Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But -this was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. - - - - -PART FIVE--My Sea Adventure - - - - -XXII -How I Began My Sea Adventure - - -There was no return of the mutineers--not so much as another shot out of -the woods. They had “got their rations for that day,” as the captain put -it, and we had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the -wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the -danger, and even outside we could hardly tell what we were at, for -horror of the loud groans that reached us from the doctor’s patients. - -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still -breathed--that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, -Hunter, and Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good -as dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor’s knife, and Hunter, -do what we could, never recovered consciousness in this world. He -lingered all day, breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his -apoplectic fit, but the bones of his chest had been crushed by the -blow and his skull fractured in falling, and some time in the following -night, without sign or sound, he went to his Maker. - -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. -No organ was fatally injured. Anderson’s ball--for it was Job that -shot him first--had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not -badly; the second had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. -He was sure to recover, the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for -weeks to come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as speak -when he could help it. - -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor -Livesey patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the -bargain. - -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain’s side awhile -in consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts’ content, it -being then a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, -girt on a cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over -his shoulder crossed the palisade on the north side and set off briskly -through the trees. - -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to -be out of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out -of his mouth and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck -he was at this occurrence. - -“Why, in the name of Davy Jones,” said he, “is Dr. Livesey mad?” - -“Why no,” says I. “He’s about the last of this crew for that, I take -it.” - -“Well, shipmate,” said Gray, “mad he may not be; but if HE’S not, you -mark my words, I am.” - -“I take it,” replied I, “the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, -he’s going now to see Ben Gunn.” - -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being -stifling hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze -with midday sun, I began to get another thought into my head, which was -not by any means so right. What I began to do was to envy the doctor -walking in the cool shadow of the woods with the birds about him and the -pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes -stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many poor -dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the place that was -almost as strong as fear. - -All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up -the things from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger -and stronger, till at last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then -observing me, I took the first step towards my escapade and filled both -pockets of my coat with biscuit. - -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, -over-bold act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in -my power. These biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at -least, from starving till far on in the next day. - -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already -had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. - -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I -was to go down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east -from the open sea, find the white rock I had observed last evening, and -ascertain whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, -a thing quite worth doing, as I still believe. But as I was certain I -should not be allowed to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take -French leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that was so bad -a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong. But I was only a boy, -and I had made my mind up. - -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The -squire and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the -coast was clear, I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the -thickest of the trees, and before my absence was observed I was out of -cry of my companions. - -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two -sound men to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards -saving all of us. - -I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was -determined to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of -observation from the anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, -although still warm and sunny. As I continued to thread the tall woods, -I could hear from far before me not only the continuous thunder of the -surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which -showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. Soon cool -draughts of air began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came forth -into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny -to the horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the -beach. - -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might -blaze overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and -blue, but still these great rollers would be running along all the -external coast, thundering and thundering by day and night; and I scarce -believe there is one spot in the island where a man would be out of -earshot of their noise. - -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking -I was now got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick -bushes and crept warily up to the ridge of the spit. - -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though -it had the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already -at an end; it had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south -and south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under -lee of Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when first we entered -it. The HISPANIOLA, in that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from -the truck to the waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets--him I could -always recognize--while a couple of men were leaning over the stern -bulwarks, one of them with a red cap--the very rogue that I had seen -some hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were -talking and laughing, though at that distance--upwards of a mile--I -could, of course, hear no word of what was said. All at once there began -the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, -though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought -I could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon -her master’s wrist. - -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man -with the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. - -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, -and as the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. -I saw I must lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. - -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of -a mile further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up -with it, crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost -come when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was -an exceedingly small hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick -underwood about knee-deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the -centre of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat-skins, like what -the gipsies carry about with them in England. - -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was -Ben Gunn’s boat--home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, -lop-sided framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of -goat-skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even -for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a -full-sized man. There was one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of -stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but -I have seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn’s -boat than by saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever -made by man. But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly -possessed, for it was exceedingly light and portable. - -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had -enough of truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another -notion and become so obstinately fond of it that I would have carried -it out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was -to slip out under cover of the night, cut the HISPANIOLA adrift, and let -her go ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the -mutineers, after their repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer their -hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; this, I thought, it would be -a fine thing to prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their -watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be done with little -risk. - -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It -was a night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried -all heaven. As the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, -absolute blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, -I shouldered the coracle and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow -where I had supped, there were but two points visible on the whole -anchorage. - -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay -carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the -darkness, indicated the position of the anchored ship. She had swung -round to the ebb--her bow was now towards me--the only lights on board -were in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a reflection on the fog of -the strong rays that flowed from the stern window. - -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt -of swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I -came to the edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, -with some strength and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the -surface. - - - - -XXIII -The Ebb-tide Runs - - -The coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was done with -her--was a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both -buoyant and clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, -lop-sided craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made more -leeway than anything else, and turning round and round was the manoeuvre -she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was “queer -to handle till you knew her way.” - -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the -one I was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, -and I am very sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the -tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping -me down; and there lay the HISPANIOLA right in the fairway, hardly to be -missed. - -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than -darkness, then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next -moment, as it seemed (for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the -current of the ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she -pulled upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the -rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. -One cut with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go humming down the -tide. - -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut -hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to -one, if I were so foolhardy as to cut the HISPANIOLA from her anchor, I -and the coracle would be knocked clean out of the water. - -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again -particularly favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But -the light airs which had begun blowing from the south-east and south -had hauled round after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was -meditating, a puff came, caught the HISPANIOLA, and forced her up into -the current; and to my great joy, I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, -and the hand by which I held it dip for a second under water. - -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, -and cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. -Then I lay quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be -once more lightened by a breath of wind. - -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but -to say truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts -that I had scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to -do, I began to pay more heed. - -One I recognized for the coxswain’s, Israel Hands, that had been Flint’s -gunner in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red -night-cap. Both men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still -drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken -cry, opened the stern window and threw out something, which I divined to -be an empty bottle. But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they -were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and every now and -then there came forth such an explosion as I thought was sure to end -in blows. But each time the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled -lower for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn passed -away without result. - -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly -through the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning -sailor’s song, with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, -and seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the singer. I had -heard it on the voyage more than once and remembered these words: - - “But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five.” - -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a -company that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from -what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed -on. - -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the -dark; I felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough -effort, cut the last fibres through. - -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost -instantly swept against the bows of the HISPANIOLA. At the same time, -the schooner began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, -across the current. - -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and -since I found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved -straight astern. At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and -just as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light cord -that was trailing overboard across the stern bulwarks. Instantly I -grasped it. - -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere -instinct, but once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity -began to get the upper hand, and I determined I should have one look -through the cabin window. - -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near -enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded -the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin. - -By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty -swiftly through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with -the camp-fire. The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading -the innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I -got my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen -had taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; and it was -only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me -Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a -hand upon the other’s throat. - -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near -overboard. I could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, -encrimsoned faces swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my -eyes to let them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished -company about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so -often: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very -moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, when I was surprised by a sudden -lurch of the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed -to change her course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. - -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing -over with a sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The -HISPANIOLA herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled -along, seemed to stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a -little against the blackness of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I -made sure she also was wheeling to the southward. - -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, -right behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned -at right angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and -the little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever -muttering louder, it went spinning through the narrows for the open sea. - -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, -perhaps, through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one -shout followed another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on -the companion ladder and I knew that the two drunkards had at last been -interrupted in their quarrel and awakened to a sense of their disaster. - -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly -recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I -made sure we must fall into some bar of raging breakers, where all my -troubles would be ended speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to -die, I could not bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the -billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to -expect death at the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a -numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of -my terrors, until sleep at last supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle -I lay and dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - - - - -XXIV -The Cruise of the Coracle - - -It was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west -end of Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind -the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to -the sea in formidable cliffs. - -Haulbowline Head and Mizzenmast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare -and dark, the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and -fringed with great masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a -mile to seaward, and it was my first thought to paddle in and land. - -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers -spouted and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and -falling, succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw myself, -if I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending -my strength in vain to scale the beetling crags. - -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or -letting themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge -slimy monsters--soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness--two -or three score of them together, making the rocks to echo with their -barkings. - -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. -But the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the -high running of the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that -landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to confront -such perils. - -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North -of Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide -a long stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes -another cape--Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart--buried -in tall green pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. - -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward -along the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my -position that I was already under its influence, I preferred to leave -Haulbowline Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to -land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady -and gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the -current, and the billows rose and fell unbroken. - -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, -it is surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could -ride. Often, as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye -above the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; -yet the coracle would but bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and -subside on the other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at -paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will -produce violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly -moved before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, -ran straight down a slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and -struck her nose, with a spout of spray, deep into the side of the next -wave. - -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old -position, whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led -me as softly as before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be -interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no way influence her -course, what hope had I left of reaching land? - -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. -First, moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my -sea-cap; then, getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself -to study how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks -from shore or from a vessel’s deck, was for all the world like any range -of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The -coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to -speak, her way through these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes -and higher, toppling summits of the wave. - -“Well, now,” thought I to myself, “it is plain I must lie where I am and -not disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle -over the side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove -or two towards land.” No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on -my elbows in the most trying attitude, and every now and again gave a -weak stroke or two to turn her head to shore. - -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as -we drew near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly -miss that point, I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, -indeed, close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops swaying together -in the breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without -fail. - -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow -of the sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the -sea-water that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, -combined to make my throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the -trees so near at hand had almost made me sick with longing, but the -current had soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach of sea -opened out, I beheld a sight that changed the nature of my thoughts. - -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the HISPANIOLA -under sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was -so distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad -or sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, -surprise had taken entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing -but stare and wonder. - -The HISPANIOLA was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful -white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first -sighted her, all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about -north-west, and I presumed the men on board were going round the island -on their way back to the anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more -and more to the westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and were -going about in chase. At last, however, she fell right into the wind’s -eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there awhile helpless, with her -sails shivering. - -“Clumsy fellows,” said I; “they must still be drunk as owls.” And I -thought how Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. - -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another -tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead -in the wind’s eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and -down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA sailed by swoops -and dashes, and at each repetition ended as she had begun, with idly -flapping canvas. It became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if -so, where were the men? Either they were dead drunk or had deserted her, -I thought, and perhaps if I could get on board I might return the vessel -to her captain. - -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. -As for the latter’s sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she -hung each time so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if -she did not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made -sure that I could overhaul her. The scheme had an air of adventure -that inspired me, and the thought of the water breaker beside the fore -companion doubled my growing courage. - -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but -this time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and -caution, to paddle after the unsteered HISPANIOLA. Once I shipped a sea -so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like -a bird, but gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my -coracle among the waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and -a dash of foam in my face. - -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten -on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her -decks. I could not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men -were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do -what I chose with the ship. - -For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for -me--standing still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all -the time. Each time she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these -brought her in a moment right to the wind again. I have said this was -the worst thing possible for me, for helpless as she looked in this -situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon and the blocks trundling -and banging on the deck, she still continued to run away from me, not -only with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount of her -leeway, which was naturally great. - -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, -very low, and the current gradually turning her, the HISPANIOLA revolved -slowly round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the -cabin window still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning -on into the day. The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was -stock-still but for the current. - -For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my -efforts, I began once more to overhaul the chase. - -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; -she filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming -like a swallow. - -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. -Round she came, till she was broadside on to me--round still till she -had covered a half and then two thirds and then three quarters of the -distance that separated us. I could see the waves boiling white under -her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me from my low station in the -coracle. - -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to -think--scarce time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one -swell when the schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was -over my head. I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping the coracle under -water. With one hand I caught the jib-boom, while my foot was lodged -between the stay and the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a -dull blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon and struck the -coracle and that I was left without retreat on the HISPANIOLA. - - - - -XXV -I Strike the Jolly Roger - - -I had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib -flapped and filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The -schooner trembled to her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the -other sails still drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, -crawled back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. - -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was -still drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. -Not a soul was to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since -the mutiny, bore the print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by -the neck, tumbled to and fro like a live thing in the scuppers. - -Suddenly the HISPANIOLA came right into the wind. The jibs behind me -cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening -heave and shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, -the sheet groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff -as a handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and -his teeth showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against -the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on -the deck, his face as white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. - -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the -sails filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to -and fro till the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too -there would come a cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy -blow of the ship’s bows against the swell; so much heavier weather was -made of it by this great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided -coracle, now gone to the bottom of the sea. - -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but--what was -ghastly to behold--neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing -grin was anyway disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, Hands -appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down upon the -deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body canting -towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid -from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed -ringlet of one whisker. - -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark -blood upon the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each -other in their drunken wrath. - -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship -was still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed -himself back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, -which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw -hung open went right to my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had -overheard from the apple barrel, all pity left me. - -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - -“Come aboard, Mr. Hands,” I said ironically. - -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express -surprise. All he could do was to utter one word, “Brandy.” - -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it -once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion -stairs into the cabin. - -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the -lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor -was thick with mud where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after -wading in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in -clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. -Dozens of empty bottles clinked together in corners to the rolling of -the ship. One of the doctor’s medical books lay open on the table, half -of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for pipelights. In the midst of all -this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles -a most surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, -since the mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and -for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch -of raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down -my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain’s -reach, went forward to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of -water, and then, and not till then, gave Hands the brandy. - -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. - -“Aye,” said he, “by thunder, but I wanted some o’ that!” - -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - -“Much hurt?” I asked him. - -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - -“If that doctor was aboard,” he said, “I’d be right enough in a couple -of turns, but I don’t have no manner of luck, you see, and that’s what’s -the matter with me. As for that swab, he’s good and dead, he is,” he -added, indicating the man with the red cap. “He warn’t no seaman anyhow. -And where mought you have come from?” - -“Well,” said I, “I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, -Mr. Hands; and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further -notice.” - -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had -come back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still -continued to slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. - -“By the by,” I continued, “I can’t have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by -your leave, I’ll strike ’em. Better none than these.” - -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their -cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - -“God save the king!” said I, waving my cap. “And there’s an end to -Captain Silver!” - -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. - -“I reckon,” he said at last, “I reckon, Cap’n Hawkins, you’ll kind of -want to get ashore now. S’pose we talks.” - -“Why, yes,” says I, “with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on.” And I went -back to my meal with a good appetite. - -“This man,” he began, nodding feebly at the corpse “--O’Brien were his -name, a rank Irelander--this man and me got the canvas on her, meaning -for to sail her back. Well, HE’S dead now, he is--as dead as bilge; and -who’s to sail this ship, I don’t see. Without I gives you a hint, you -ain’t that man, as far’s I can tell. Now, look here, you gives me food -and drink and a old scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and -I’ll tell you how to sail her, and that’s about square all round, I take -it.” - -“I’ll tell you one thing,” says I: “I’m not going back to Captain Kidd’s -anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there.” - -“To be sure you did,” he cried. “Why, I ain’t sich an infernal lubber -after all. I can see, can’t I? I’ve tried my fling, I have, and I’ve -lost, and it’s you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven’t no -ch’ice, not I! I’d help you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! -So I would.” - -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our -bargain on the spot. In three minutes I had the HISPANIOLA sailing -easily before the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good -hopes of turning the northern point ere noon and beating down again as -far as North Inlet before high water, when we might beach her safely and -wait till the subsiding tide permitted us to land. - -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a -soft silk handkerchief of my mother’s. With this, and with my aid, Hands -bound up the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after -he had eaten a little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he -began to pick up visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, -and looked in every way another man. - -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the -coast of the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. -Soon we were past the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, -sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again -and had turned the corner of the rocky hill that ends the island on the -north. - -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, -sunshiny weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now -plenty of water and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had -smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I -had made. I should, I think, have had nothing left me to desire but for -the eyes of the coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck -and the odd smile that appeared continually on his face. It was a smile -that had in it something both of pain and weakness--a haggard old man’s -smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of -treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and watched, and -watched me at my work. - - - - -XXVI -Israel Hands - - -The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run -so much the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth -of the North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not -beach her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our -hands. The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good many -trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another meal. - -“Cap’n,” said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, “here’s -my old shipmate, O’Brien; s’pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain’t -partic’lar as a rule, and I don’t take no blame for settling his hash, -but I don’t reckon him ornamental now, do you?” - -“I’m not strong enough, and I don’t like the job; and there he lies, for -me,” said I. - -“This here’s an unlucky ship, this HISPANIOLA, Jim,” he went on, -blinking. “There’s a power of men been killed in this HISPANIOLA--a -sight o’ poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to -Bristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here -O’Brien now--he’s dead, ain’t he? Well now, I’m no scholar, and you’re a -lad as can read and figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a -dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?” - -“You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know -that already,” I replied. “O’Brien there is in another world, and may be -watching us.” - -“Ah!” says he. “Well, that’s unfort’nate--appears as if killing parties -was a waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don’t reckon for much, by what -I’ve seen. I’ll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you’ve spoke -up free, and I’ll take it kind if you’d step down into that there cabin -and get me a--well, a--shiver my timbers! I can’t hit the name on ’t; -well, you get me a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy’s too strong -for my head.” - -Now, the coxswain’s hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the -notion of his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The -whole story was a pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much was -plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never -met mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a look -to the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O’Brien. All the -time he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most guilty, -embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he was bent on -some deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw where -my advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily -conceal my suspicions to the end. - -“Some wine?” I said. “Far better. Will you have white or red?” - -“Well, I reckon it’s about the blessed same to me, shipmate,” he -replied; “so it’s strong, and plenty of it, what’s the odds?” - -“All right,” I answered. “I’ll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I’ll have -to dig for it.” - -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, -slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the -forecastle ladder, and popped my head out of the fore companion. I -knew he would not expect to see me there, yet I took every precaution -possible, and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved too true. - -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his -leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved--for I could hear -him stifle a groan--yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed -himself across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the port -scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a -short dirk, discoloured to the hilt with blood. He looked upon it for -a moment, thrusting forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, -and then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled -back again into his old place against the bulwark. - -This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was -now armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, -it was plain that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do -afterwards--whether he would try to crawl right across the island from -North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or whether he would fire Long -Tom, trusting that his own comrades might come first to help him--was, -of course, more than I could say. - -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that -our interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of -the schooner. We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a -sheltered place, and so that, when the time came, she could be got off -again with as little labour and danger as might be; and until that was -done I considered that my life would certainly be spared. - -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been -idle with my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more -into my shoes, and laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, -with this for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with -his eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He -looked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like -a man who had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his -favourite toast of “Here’s luck!” Then he lay quiet for a little, and -then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - -“Cut me a junk o’ that,” says he, “for I haven’t no knife and hardly -strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I’ve missed -stays! Cut me a quid, as’ll likely be the last, lad, for I’m for my long -home, and no mistake.” - -“Well,” said I, “I’ll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought -myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man.” - -“Why?” said he. “Now, you tell me why.” - -“Why?” I cried. “You were asking me just now about the dead. You’ve -broken your trust; you’ve lived in sin and lies and blood; there’s a man -you killed lying at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God’s -mercy, Mr. Hands, that’s why.” - -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden -in his pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, -for his part, took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most -unusual solemnity. - -“For thirty years,” he said, “I’ve sailed the seas and seen good and -bad, better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, -knives going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come -o’ goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don’t bite; -them’s my views--amen, so be it. And now, you look here,” he added, -suddenly changing his tone, “we’ve had about enough of this foolery. The -tide’s made good enough by now. You just take my orders, Cap’n Hawkins, -and we’ll sail slap in and be done with it.” - -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was -delicate, the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow -and shoal, but lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicely -handled to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am -very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, for we went about and about -and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a certainty and a neatness that -were a pleasure to behold. - -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The -shores of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern -anchorage, but the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in -truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern -end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It -had been a great vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to -the injuries of the weather that it was hung about with great webs of -dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes had taken root and -now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us -that the anchorage was calm. - -“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship -in. Fine flat sand, never a cat’s paw, trees all around of it, and -flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship.” - -“And once beached,” I inquired, “how shall we get her off again?” - -“Why, so,” he replied: “you take a line ashore there on the other side -at low water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, -take a turn around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high -water, all hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet -as natur’. And now, boy, you stand by. We’re near the bit now, and she’s -too much way on her. Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard -a little--steady--steady!” - -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a -sudden, he cried, “Now, my hearty, luff!” And I put the helm hard up, -and the HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, -wooded shore. - -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the -watch I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then -I was still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I -had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and stood craning over -the starboard bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading wide before -the bows. I might have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a -sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head. Perhaps I -had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye; -perhaps it was an instinct like a cat’s; but, sure enough, when I looked -round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, with the dirk in -his right hand. - -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine -was the shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging -bully’s. At the same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt -sideways towards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which -sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck -Hands across the chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead. - -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me -trapped, with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast -I stopped, drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had -already turned and was once more coming directly after me, and drew the -trigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither flash nor sound; -the priming was useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my neglect. -Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons? Then -I should not have been as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled -hair tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign -with his haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor -indeed much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I -saw plainly: I must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily -hold me boxed into the bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed -me in the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of the -blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this side of eternity. -I placed my palms against the main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, -and waited, every nerve upon the stretch. - -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed -in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such -a game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, -but never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as -now. Still, as I say, it was a boy’s game, and I thought I could hold -my own at it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my -courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few darting -thoughts on what would be the end of the affair, and while I saw -certainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw no hope of any -ultimate escape. - -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA struck, -staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a -blow, canted over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle -of forty-five degrees and about a puncheon of water splashed into the -scupper holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. - -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost -together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still -spread out, tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my -head came against the coxswain’s foot with a crack that made my teeth -rattle. Blow and all, I was the first afoot again, for Hands had got -involved with the dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the -deck no place for running on; I had to find some new way of escape, -and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost touching me. Quick as -thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, -and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot -below me as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands -with his mouth open and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of -surprise and disappointment. - -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the -priming of my pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to -make assurance doubly sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other -and recharge it afresh from the beginning. - -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice -going against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled -himself heavily into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began -slowly and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and groans -to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had quietly finished my -arrangements before he was much more than a third of the way up. Then, -with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him. - -“One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I, “and I’ll blow your brains out! Dead -men don’t bite, you know,” I added with a chuckle. - -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was -trying to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my -new-found security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he -spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. -In order to speak he had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all -else he remained unmoved. - -“Jim,” says he, “I reckon we’re fouled, you and me, and we’ll have to -sign articles. I’d have had you but for that there lurch, but I don’t -have no luck, not I; and I reckon I’ll have to strike, which comes hard, -you see, for a master mariner to a ship’s younker like you, Jim.” - -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock -upon a wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his -shoulder. Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow -and then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the -mast. In the horrid pain and surprise of the moment--I scarce can say -it was by my own volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious -aim--both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They -did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain loosed his grasp -upon the shrouds and plunged head first into the water. - - - - -XXVII -“Pieces of Eight” - - -Owing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, -and from my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the -surface of the bay. Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence -nearer to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to -the surface in a lather of foam and blood and then sank again for good. -As the water settled, I could see him lying huddled together on the -clean, bright sand in the shadow of the vessel’s sides. A fish or two -whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the water, he -appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was dead -enough, for all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish -in the very place where he had designed my slaughter. - -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and -terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, -where it had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot -iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, -for these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the -horror I had upon my mind of falling from the cross-trees into that -still green water, beside the body of the coxswain. - -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to -cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted -down to a more natural time, and I was once more in possession of -myself. - -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too -hard or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly -enough, that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come -the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere -pinch of skin, and this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the -faster, to be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked to the -mast by my coat and shirt. - -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the -deck by the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have -again ventured, shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from -which Israel had so lately fallen. - -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal -and still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it -greatly gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the -ship was now, in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from -its last passenger--the dead man, O’Brien. - -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay -like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how -different from life’s colour or life’s comeliness! In that position -I could easily have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical -adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the dead, I took him -by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran and with one good heave, -tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap -came off and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the splash -subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side, both wavering -with the tremulous movement of the water. O’Brien, though still quite a -young man, was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the -knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and -fro over both. - -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was -within so few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines -upon the western shore began to reach right across the anchorage and -fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and -though it was well warded off by the hill with the two peaks upon the -east, the cordage had begun to sing a little softly to itself and the -idle sails to rattle to and fro. - -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and -brought tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of -course, when the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and -the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought -this made it still more dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I -half feared to meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The -peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon -the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, -that was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the -HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. - -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow--the last rays, -I remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright as -jewels on the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the -tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more -on her beam-ends. - -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and -holding the cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself -drop softly overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was -firm and covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, -leaving the HISPANIOLA on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide -upon the surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly -down and the breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence -empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers -and ready for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing -nearer my fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my -achievements. Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the -recapture of the HISPANIOLA was a clenching answer, and I hoped that -even Captain Smollett would confess I had not lost my time. - -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for -the block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly -of the rivers which drain into Captain Kidd’s anchorage ran from the -two-peaked hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction -that I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood was pretty -open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner -of that hill, and not long after waded to the mid-calf across the -watercourse. - -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; -and I walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk -had come nigh hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the -two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as -I judged, the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring -fire. And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show himself so -careless. For if I could see this radiance, might it not reach the eyes -of Silver himself where he camped upon the shore among the marshes? - -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself -even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the -Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few -and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among -bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer -of moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after -I saw something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and -knew the moon had risen. - -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my -journey, and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near -to the stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before -it, I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a -trifle warily. It would have been a poor end of my adventures to get -shot down by my own party in mistake. - -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here -and there in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and -right in front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among -the trees. It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little -darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - -At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western -end was already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house -itself, still lay in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks -of light. On the other side of the house an immense fire had burned -itself into clear embers and shed a steady, red reverberation, -contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of the moon. There was not -a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror -also. It had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, -by the captain’s orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to -fear that something had gone wrong while I was absent. - -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a -convenient place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. - -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, -without a sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my -heart was suddenly and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in -itself, and I have often complained of it at other times, but just -then it was like music to hear my friends snoring together so loud and -peaceful in their sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful “All’s -well,” never fell more reassuringly on my ear. - -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous -bad watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping -in on them, not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it -was, thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself -sharply for leaving them in that danger with so few to mount guard. - -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, -so that I could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there -was the steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a -flickering or pecking that I could in no way account for. - -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own -place (I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they -found me in the morning. - -My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper’s leg; and he turned -and groaned, but without awaking. - -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the -darkness: - -“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! -Pieces of eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the -clacking of a tiny mill. - -Silver’s green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard -pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any -human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the -parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the -voice of Silver cried, “Who goes?” - -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran -full into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me -tight. - -“Bring a torch, Dick,” said Silver when my capture was thus assured. - -And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a -lighted brand. - - - - -PART SIX--Captain Silver - - - - -XXVIII -In the Enemy’s Camp - - -The red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, -showed me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in -possession of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, -there were the pork and bread, as before, and what tenfold increased -my horror, not a sign of any prisoner. I could only judge that all had -perished, and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there to -perish with them. - -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left -alive. Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly -called out of the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen -upon his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round -his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently -dressed. I remembered the man who had been shot and had run back among -the woods in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John’s shoulder. He -himself, I thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used -to. He still wore the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his -mission, but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and -torn with the sharp briers of the wood. - -“So,” said he, “here’s Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, -eh? Well, come, I take that friendly.” - -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a -pipe. - -“Give me a loan of the link, Dick,” said he; and then, when he had a -good light, “That’ll do, lad,” he added; “stick the glim in the wood -heap; and you, gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn’t stand up -for Mr. Hawkins; HE’LL excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, -Jim”--stopping the tobacco--“here you were, and quite a pleasant -surprise for poor old John. I see you were smart when first I set my -eyes on you, but this here gets away from me clean, it do.” - -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me -with my back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the -face, pluckily enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black -despair in my heart. - -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran -on again. - -“Now, you see, Jim, so be as you ARE here,” says he, “I’ll give you a -piece of my mind. I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, -and the picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always -wanted you to jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my -cock, you’ve got to. Cap’n Smollett’s a fine seaman, as I’ll own up to -any day, but stiff on discipline. ‘Dooty is dooty,’ says he, and right -he is. Just you keep clear of the cap’n. The doctor himself is gone dead -again’ you--‘ungrateful scamp’ was what he said; and the short and the -long of the whole story is about here: you can’t go back to your own -lot, for they won’t have you; and without you start a third ship’s -company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you’ll have to jine with -Cap’n Silver.” - -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly -believed the truth of Silver’s statement, that the cabin party were -incensed at me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by -what I heard. - -“I don’t say nothing as to your being in our hands,” continued Silver, -“though there you are, and you may lay to it. I’m all for argyment; I -never seen good come out o’ threatening. If you like the service, well, -you’ll jine; and if you don’t, Jim, why, you’re free to answer no--free -and welcome, shipmate; and if fairer can be said by mortal seaman, -shiver my sides!” - -“Am I to answer, then?” I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all -this sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung -me, and my cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - -“Lad,” said Silver, “no one’s a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. -None of us won’t hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, -you see.” - -“Well,” says I, growing a bit bolder, “if I’m to choose, I declare I -have a right to know what’s what, and why you’re here, and where my -friends are.” - -“Wot’s wot?” repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. “Ah, he’d -be a lucky one as knowed that!” - -“You’ll perhaps batten down your hatches till you’re spoke to, my -friend,” cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in -his first gracious tones, he replied to me, “Yesterday morning, Mr. -Hawkins,” said he, “in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a -flag of truce. Says he, ‘Cap’n Silver, you’re sold out. Ship’s gone.’ -Well, maybe we’d been taking a glass, and a song to help it round. I -won’t say no. Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, and -by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack o’ fools look -fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the -fishiest. ‘Well,’ says the doctor, ‘let’s bargain.’ We bargained, him -and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you -was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole -blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they’ve tramped; -I don’t know where’s they are.” - -He drew again quietly at his pipe. - -“And lest you should take it into that head of yours,” he went on, “that -you was included in the treaty, here’s the last word that was said: ‘How -many are you,’ says I, ‘to leave?’ ‘Four,’ says he; ‘four, and one of us -wounded. As for that boy, I don’t know where he is, confound him,’ says -he, ‘nor I don’t much care. We’re about sick of him.’ These was his -words.” - -“Is that all?” I asked. - -“Well, it’s all that you’re to hear, my son,” returned Silver. - -“And now I am to choose?” - -“And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that,” said Silver. - -“Well,” said I, “I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have -to look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it’s little I care. I’ve -seen too many die since I fell in with you. But there’s a thing or two -I have to tell you,” I said, and by this time I was quite excited; “and -the first is this: here you are, in a bad way--ship lost, treasure lost, -men lost, your whole business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who -did it--it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we sighted land, -and I heard you, John, and you, Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now at -the bottom of the sea, and told every word you said before the hour was -out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable, and it was I -that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it was I who brought her -where you’ll never see her more, not one of you. The laugh’s on my side; -I’ve had the top of this business from the first; I no more fear you -than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing -I’ll say, and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when -you fellows are in court for piracy, I’ll save you all I can. It is for -you to choose. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and -keep a witness to save you from the gallows.” - -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not -a man of them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And -while they were still staring, I broke out again, “And now, Mr. Silver,” - I said, “I believe you’re the best man here, and if things go to the -worst, I’ll take it kind of you to let the doctor know the way I took -it.” - -“I’ll bear it in mind,” said Silver with an accent so curious that I -could not, for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my -request or had been favourably affected by my courage. - -“I’ll put one to that,” cried the old mahogany-faced seaman--Morgan -by name--whom I had seen in Long John’s public-house upon the quays of -Bristol. “It was him that knowed Black Dog.” - -“Well, and see here,” added the sea-cook. “I’ll put another again to -that, by thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from -Billy Bones. First and last, we’ve split upon Jim Hawkins!” - -“Then here goes!” said Morgan with an oath. - -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. - -“Avast, there!” cried Silver. “Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you -thought you was cap’n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I’ll teach you -better! Cross me, and you’ll go where many a good man’s gone before you, -first and last, these thirty year back--some to the yard-arm, shiver -my timbers, and some by the board, and all to feed the fishes. There’s -never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a’terwards, -Tom Morgan, you may lay to that.” - -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - -“Tom’s right,” said one. - -“I stood hazing long enough from one,” added another. “I’ll be hanged if -I’ll be hazed by you, John Silver.” - -“Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with ME?” roared Silver, -bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still -glowing in his right hand. “Put a name on what you’re at; you ain’t -dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many -years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the -latter end of it? You know the way; you’re all gentlemen o’ fortune, by -your account. Well, I’m ready. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I’ll -see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe’s empty.” - -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - -“That’s your sort, is it?” he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. -“Well, you’re a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you -ain’t. P’r’aps you can understand King George’s English. I’m cap’n here -by ’lection. I’m cap’n here because I’m the best man by a long sea-mile. -You won’t fight, as gentlemen o’ fortune should; then, by thunder, -you’ll obey, and you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen -a better boy than that. He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in -this here house, and what I say is this: let me see him that’ll lay a -hand on him--that’s what I say, and you may lay to it.” - -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, -my heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope -now shining in my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms -crossed, his pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had -been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and he kept the -tail of it on his unruly followers. They, on their part, drew gradually -together towards the far end of the block house, and the low hiss of -their whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a stream. One -after another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch would -fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it -was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. - -“You seem to have a lot to say,” remarked Silver, spitting far into the -air. “Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to.” - -“Ax your pardon, sir,” returned one of the men; “you’re pretty free with -some of the rules; maybe you’ll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This -crew’s dissatisfied; this crew don’t vally bullying a marlin-spike; this -crew has its rights like other crews, I’ll make so free as that; and by -your own rules, I take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, -acknowledging you for to be capting at this present; but I claim my -right, and steps outside for a council.” - -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, -yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and -disappeared out of the house. One after another the rest followed his -example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding some apology. -“According to rules,” said one. “Forecastle council,” said Morgan. And -so with one remark or another all marched out and left Silver and me -alone with the torch. - -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - -“Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins,” he said in a steady whisper that was -no more than audible, “you’re within half a plank of death, and what’s -a long sight worse, of torture. They’re going to throw me off. But, you -mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn’t mean to; no, not -till you spoke up. I was about desperate to lose that much blunt, and -be hanged into the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says to -myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins’ll stand by you. You’re -his last card, and by the living thunder, John, he’s yours! Back to -back, says I. You save your witness, and he’ll save your neck!” - -I began dimly to understand. - -“You mean all’s lost?” I asked. - -“Aye, by gum, I do!” he answered. “Ship gone, neck gone--that’s the -size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no -schooner--well, I’m tough, but I gave out. As for that lot and their -council, mark me, they’re outright fools and cowards. I’ll save your -life--if so be as I can--from them. But, see here, Jim--tit for tat--you -save Long John from swinging.” - -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking--he, the -old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - -“What I can do, that I’ll do,” I said. - -“It’s a bargain!” cried Long John. “You speak up plucky, and by thunder, -I’ve a chance!” - -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and -took a fresh light to his pipe. - -“Understand me, Jim,” he said, returning. “I’ve a head on my shoulders, -I have. I’m on squire’s side now. I know you’ve got that ship safe -somewheres. How you done it, I don’t know, but safe it is. I guess Hands -and O’Brien turned soft. I never much believed in neither of THEM. Now -you mark me. I ask no questions, nor I won’t let others. I know when -a game’s up, I do; and I know a lad that’s staunch. Ah, you that’s -young--you and me might have done a power of good together!” - -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - -“Will you taste, messmate?” he asked; and when I had refused: “Well, -I’ll take a dram myself, Jim,” said he. “I need a caulker, for there’s -trouble on hand. And talking o’ trouble, why did that doctor give me the -chart, Jim?” - -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of -further questions. - -“Ah, well, he did, though,” said he. “And there’s something under that, -no doubt--something, surely, under that, Jim--bad or good.” - -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head -like a man who looks forward to the worst. - - - - -XXIX -The Black Spot Again - - -The council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them -re-entered the house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which -had in my eyes an ironical air, begged for a moment’s loan of the torch. -Silver briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, leaving us -together in the dark. - -“There’s a breeze coming, Jim,” said Silver, who had by this time -adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone. - -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the -great fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and -duskily that I understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About -half-way down the slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; -one held the light, another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw -the blade of an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in -the moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat stooping, as though -watching the manoeuvres of this last. I could just make out that he -had a book as well as a knife in his hand, and was still wondering how -anything so incongruous had come in their possession when the kneeling -figure rose once more to his feet and the whole party began to move -together towards the house. - -“Here they come,” said I; and I returned to my former position, for it -seemed beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. - -“Well, let ’em come, lad--let ’em come,” said Silver cheerily. “I’ve -still a shot in my locker.” - -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just -inside, pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances -it would have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set -down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him. - -“Step up, lad,” cried Silver. “I won’t eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I -know the rules, I do; I won’t hurt a depytation.” - -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having -passed something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly -back again to his companions. - -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - -“The black spot! I thought so,” he observed. “Where might you have got -the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain’t lucky! You’ve gone and -cut this out of a Bible. What fool’s cut a Bible?” - -“Ah, there!” said Morgan. “There! Wot did I say? No good’ll come o’ -that, I said.” - -“Well, you’ve about fixed it now, among you,” continued Silver. “You’ll -all swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?” - -“It was Dick,” said one. - -“Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers,” said Silver. “He’s seen -his slice of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that.” - -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - -“Belay that talk, John Silver,” he said. “This crew has tipped you the -black spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as -in dooty bound, and see what’s wrote there. Then you can talk.” - -“Thanky, George,” replied the sea-cook. “You always was brisk for -business, and has the rules by heart, George, as I’m pleased to see. -Well, what is it, anyway? Ah! ‘Deposed’--that’s it, is it? Very pretty -wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o’ write, George? Why, -you was gettin’ quite a leadin’ man in this here crew. You’ll be cap’n -next, I shouldn’t wonder. Just oblige me with that torch again, will -you? This pipe don’t draw.” - -“Come, now,” said George, “you don’t fool this crew no more. You’re a -funny man, by your account; but you’re over now, and you’ll maybe step -down off that barrel and help vote.” - -“I thought you said you knowed the rules,” returned Silver -contemptuously. “Leastways, if you don’t, I do; and I wait here--and I’m -still your cap’n, mind--till you outs with your grievances and I reply; -in the meantime, your black spot ain’t worth a biscuit. After that, -we’ll see.” - -“Oh,” replied George, “you don’t be under no kind of apprehension; WE’RE -all square, we are. First, you’ve made a hash of this cruise--you’ll be -a bold man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o’ this here -trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it’s pretty plain -they wanted it. Third, you wouldn’t let us go at them upon the march. -Oh, we see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, that’s -what’s wrong with you. And then, fourth, there’s this here boy.” - -“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly. - -“Enough, too,” retorted George. “We’ll all swing and sun-dry for your -bungling.” - -“Well now, look here, I’ll answer these four p’ints; one after another -I’ll answer ’em. I made a hash o’ this cruise, did I? Well now, you all -know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we’d -’a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as ever was, every man of us -alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold -of her, by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the -lawful cap’n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed and began -this dance? Ah, it’s a fine dance--I’m with you there--and looks mighty -like a hornpipe in a rope’s end at Execution Dock by London town, it -does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and you, George -Merry! And you’re the last above board of that same meddling crew; -and you have the Davy Jones’s insolence to up and stand for cap’n over -me--you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the -stiffest yarn to nothing.” - -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late -comrades that these words had not been said in vain. - -“That’s for number one,” cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his -brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. -“Why, I give you my word, I’m sick to speak to you. You’ve neither sense -nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you -come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o’ fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade.” - -“Go on, John,” said Morgan. “Speak up to the others.” - -“Ah, the others!” returned John. “They’re a nice lot, ain’t they? You -say this cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad -it’s bungled, you would see! We’re that near the gibbet that my neck’s -stiff with thinking on it. You’ve seen ’em, maybe, hanged in chains, -birds about ’em, seamen p’inting ’em out as they go down with the tide. -‘Who’s that?’ says one. ‘That! Why, that’s John Silver. I knowed him -well,’ says another. And you can hear the chains a-jangle as you go -about and reach for the other buoy. Now, that’s about where we are, -every mother’s son of us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and -other ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about number four, -and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, isn’t he a hostage? Are we a-going -to waste a hostage? No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I -shouldn’t wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, -well, there’s a deal to say to number three. Maybe you don’t count it -nothing to have a real college doctor to see you every day--you, John, -with your head broke--or you, George Merry, that had the ague shakes -upon you not six hours agone, and has your eyes the colour of lemon peel -to this same moment on the clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn’t know -there was a consort coming either? But there is, and not so long till -then; and we’ll see who’ll be glad to have a hostage when it comes to -that. And as for number two, and why I made a bargain--well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it--on your knees you came, you was -that downhearted--and you’d have starved too if I hadn’t--but that’s a -trifle! You look there--that’s why!” - -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly -recognized--none other than the chart on yellow paper, with the three -red crosses, that I had found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the -captain’s chest. Why the doctor had given it to him was more than I -could fancy. - -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was -incredible to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats -upon a mouse. It went from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; -and by the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with which they -accompanied their examination, you would have thought, not only they -were fingering the very gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in -safety. - -“Yes,” said one, “that’s Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, -with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever.” - -“Mighty pretty,” said George. “But how are we to get away with it, and -us no ship.” - -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against -the wall: “Now I give you warning, George,” he cried. “One more word -of your sauce, and I’ll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I -know? You had ought to tell me that--you and the rest, that lost me my -schooner, with your interference, burn you! But not you, you can’t; you -hain’t got the invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and -shall, George Merry, you may lay to that.” - -“That’s fair enow,” said the old man Morgan. - -“Fair! I reckon so,” said the sea-cook. “You lost the ship; I found the -treasure. Who’s the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! -Elect whom you please to be your cap’n now; I’m done with it.” - -“Silver!” they cried. “Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap’n!” - -“So that’s the toon, is it?” cried the cook. “George, I reckon you’ll -have to wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I’m not a -revengeful man. But that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this -black spot? ’Tain’t much good now, is it? Dick’s crossed his luck and -spoiled his Bible, and that’s about all.” - -“It’ll do to kiss the book on still, won’t it?” growled Dick, who was -evidently uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. - -“A Bible with a bit cut out!” returned Silver derisively. “Not it. It -don’t bind no more’n a ballad-book.” - -“Don’t it, though?” cried Dick with a sort of joy. “Well, I reckon -that’s worth having too.” - -“Here, Jim--here’s a cur’osity for you,” said Silver, and he tossed me -the paper. - -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, -for it had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of -Revelation--these words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon -my mind: “Without are dogs and murderers.” The printed side had been -blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my -fingers; on the blank side had been written with the same material the -one word “Depposed.” I have that curiosity beside me at this moment, but -not a trace of writing now remains beyond a single scratch, such as a -man might make with his thumb-nail. - -That was the end of the night’s business. Soon after, with a drink all -round, we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver’s vengeance was -to put George Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he -should prove unfaithful. - -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter -enough for thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own -most perilous position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw -Silver now engaged upon--keeping the mutineers together with one hand -and grasping with the other after every means, possible and impossible, -to make his peace and save his miserable life. He himself slept -peacefully and snored aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he -was, to think on the dark perils that environed and the shameful gibbet -that awaited him. - - - - -XXX -On Parole - - -I was wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the -sentinel shake himself together from where he had fallen against the -door-post--by a clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the -wood: - -“Block house, ahoy!” it cried. “Here’s the doctor.” - -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my -gladness was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my -insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought -me--among what companions and surrounded by what dangers--I felt ashamed -to look him in the face. - -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I -ran to a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once -before, up to the mid-leg in creeping vapour. - -“You, doctor! Top o’ the morning to you, sir!” cried Silver, broad awake -and beaming with good nature in a moment. “Bright and early, to be sure; -and it’s the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. -George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship’s -side. All a-doin’ well, your patients was--all well and merry.” - -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his -elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house--quite the old John in -voice, manner, and expression. - -“We’ve quite a surprise for you too, sir,” he continued. “We’ve a little -stranger here--he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit -and taut as a fiddle; slep’ like a supercargo, he did, right alongside -of John--stem to stem we was, all night.” - -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the -cook, and I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, “Not -Jim?” - -“The very same Jim as ever was,” says Silver. - -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some -seconds before he seemed able to move on. - -“Well, well,” he said at last, “duty first and pleasure afterwards, as -you might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of -yours.” - -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim -nod to me proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no -apprehension, though he must have known that his life, among these -treacherous demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his -patients as if he were paying an ordinary professional visit in a quiet -English family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on the men, for they -behaved to him as if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship’s -doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. - -“You’re doing well, my friend,” he said to the fellow with the bandaged -head, “and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head -must be as hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You’re a pretty -colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take -that medicine? Did he take that medicine, men?” - -“Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough,” returned Morgan. - -“Because, you see, since I am mutineers’ doctor, or prison doctor as I -prefer to call it,” says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, “I make -it a point of honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) -and the gallows.” - -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in -silence. - -“Dick don’t feel well, sir,” said one. - -“Don’t he?” replied the doctor. “Well, step up here, Dick, and let me -see your tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man’s tongue -is fit to frighten the French. Another fever.” - -“Ah, there,” said Morgan, “that comed of sp’iling Bibles.” - -“That comes--as you call it--of being arrant asses,” retorted the -doctor, “and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, -and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most -probable--though of course it’s only an opinion--that you’ll all have -the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out of your systems. Camp -in a bog, would you? Silver, I’m surprised at you. You’re less of a fool -than many, take you all round; but you don’t appear to me to have the -rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. - -“Well,” he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken -his prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity -schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates--“well, that’s -done for today. And now I should wish to have a talk with that boy, -please.” - -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some -bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of the doctor’s proposal he -swung round with a deep flush and cried “No!” and swore. - -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - -“Si-lence!” he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. -“Doctor,” he went on in his usual tones, “I was a-thinking of that, -knowing as how you had a fancy for the boy. We’re all humbly grateful -for your kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes the drugs -down like that much grog. And I take it I’ve found a way as’ll suit all. -Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour as a young gentleman--for -a young gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of honour not -to slip your cable?” - -I readily gave the pledge required. - -“Then, doctor,” said Silver, “you just step outside o’ that stockade, -and once you’re there I’ll bring the boy down on the inside, and I -reckon you can yarn through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our -dooties to the squire and Cap’n Smollett.” - -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver’s black looks had -restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver -was roundly accused of playing double--of trying to make a separate -peace for himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and -victims, and, in one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was -doing. It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could not -imagine how he was to turn their anger. But he was twice the man -the rest were, and his last night’s victory had given him a huge -preponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools and dolts -you can imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the doctor, -fluttered the chart in their faces, asked them if they could afford to -break the treaty the very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting. - -“No, by thunder!” he cried. “It’s us must break the treaty when the time -comes; and till then I’ll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots -with brandy.” - -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, -with his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced -by his volubility rather than convinced. - -“Slow, lad, slow,” he said. “They might round upon us in a twinkle of an -eye if we was seen to hurry.” - -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the -doctor awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we -were within easy speaking distance Silver stopped. - -“You’ll make a note of this here also, doctor,” says he, “and the boy’ll -tell you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you -may lay to that. Doctor, when a man’s steering as near the wind as -me--playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like--you -wouldn’t think it too much, mayhap, to give him one good word? You’ll -please bear in mind it’s not my life only now--it’s that boy’s into the -bargain; and you’ll speak me fair, doctor, and give me a bit o’ hope to -go on, for the sake of mercy.” - -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his -friends and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his -voice trembled; never was a soul more dead in earnest. - -“Why, John, you’re not afraid?” asked Dr. Livesey. - -“Doctor, I’m no coward; no, not I--not SO much!” and he snapped his -fingers. “If I was I wouldn’t say it. But I’ll own up fairly, I’ve the -shakes upon me for the gallows. You’re a good man and a true; I never -seen a better man! And you’ll not forget what I done good, not any more -than you’ll forget the bad, I know. And I step aside--see here--and -leave you and Jim alone. And you’ll put that down for me too, for it’s a -long stretch, is that!” - -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and -there sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round -now and again upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me -and the doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and -fro in the sand between the fire--which they were busy rekindling--and -the house, from which they brought forth pork and bread to make the -breakfast. - -“So, Jim,” said the doctor sadly, “here you are. As you have brewed, so -shall you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to -blame you, but this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain -Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and -couldn’t help it, by George, it was downright cowardly!” - -I will own that I here began to weep. “Doctor,” I said, “you might spare -me. I have blamed myself enough; my life’s forfeit anyway, and I should -have been dead by now if Silver hadn’t stood for me; and doctor, -believe this, I can die--and I dare say I deserve it--but what I fear is -torture. If they come to torture me--” - -“Jim,” the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, “Jim, I -can’t have this. Whip over, and we’ll run for it.” - -“Doctor,” said I, “I passed my word.” - -“I know, I know,” he cried. “We can’t help that, Jim, now. I’ll take it -on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, -I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it -like antelopes.” - -“No,” I replied; “you know right well you wouldn’t do the thing -yourself--neither you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver -trusted me; I passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not -let me finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of -where the ship is, for I got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, -and she lies in North Inlet, on the southern beach, and just below high -water. At half tide she must be high and dry.” - -“The ship!” exclaimed the doctor. - -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in -silence. - -“There is a kind of fate in this,” he observed when I had done. “Every -step, it’s you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance -that we are going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my -boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn--the best deed that -ever you did, or will do, though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and -talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!” he -cried. “Silver! I’ll give you a piece of advice,” he continued as -the cook drew near again; “don’t you be in any great hurry after that -treasure.” - -“Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain’t,” said Silver. “I can -only, asking your pardon, save my life and the boy’s by seeking for that -treasure; and you may lay to that.” - -“Well, Silver,” replied the doctor, “if that is so, I’ll go one step -further: look out for squalls when you find it.” - -“Sir,” said Silver, “as between man and man, that’s too much and too -little. What you’re after, why you left the block house, why you given -me that there chart, I don’t know, now, do I? And yet I done your -bidding with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, this here’s -too much. If you won’t tell me what you mean plain out, just say so and -I’ll leave the helm.” - -“No,” said the doctor musingly; “I’ve no right to say more; it’s not my -secret, you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I’d tell it you. But -I’ll go as far with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I’ll have -my wig sorted by the captain or I’m mistaken! And first, I’ll give you a -bit of hope; Silver, if we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I’ll do -my best to save you, short of perjury.” - -Silver’s face was radiant. “You couldn’t say more, I’m sure, sir, not if -you was my mother,” he cried. - -“Well, that’s my first concession,” added the doctor. “My second is a -piece of advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, -halloo. I’m off to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I -speak at random. Good-bye, Jim.” - -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to -Silver, and set off at a brisk pace into the wood. - - - - -XXXI -The Treasure-hunt--Flint’s Pointer - - -“Jim,” said Silver when we were alone, “if I saved your life, you saved -mine; and I’ll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for -it--with the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as -hearing. Jim, that’s one to you. This is the first glint of hope I had -since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, Jim, we’re to go in -for this here treasure-hunting, with sealed orders too, and I don’t like -it; and you and me must stick close, back to back like, and we’ll save -our necks in spite o’ fate and fortune.” - -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and -we were soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried -junk. They had lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so -hot that they could only approach it from the windward, and even there -not without precaution. In the same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, -I suppose, three times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an -empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed and roared -again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life saw men so careless of -the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their way -of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, though they -were bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their -entire unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. - -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not -a word of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, -for I thought he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - -“Aye, mates,” said he, “it’s lucky you have Barbecue to think for you -with this here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have -the ship. Where they have it, I don’t know yet; but once we hit the -treasure, we’ll have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us -that has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand.” - -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he -restored their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired -his own at the same time. - -“As for hostage,” he continued, “that’s his last talk, I guess, with -them he loves so dear. I’ve got my piece o’ news, and thanky to him -for that; but it’s over and done. I’ll take him in a line when we go -treasure-hunting, for we’ll keep him like so much gold, in case of -accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we got the ship and -treasure both and off to sea like jolly companions, why then we’ll talk -Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we’ll give him his share, to be sure, for -all his kindness.” - -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I -was horribly cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove -feasible, Silver, already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt -it. He had still a foot in either camp, and there was no doubt he -would prefer wealth and freedom with the pirates to a bare escape from -hanging, which was the best he had to hope on our side. - -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith -with Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment -that would be when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty -and he and I should have to fight for dear life--he a cripple and I a -boy--against five strong and active seamen! - -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the -behaviour of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, -their inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, -the doctor’s last warning to Silver, “Look out for squalls when you -find it,” and you will readily believe how little taste I found in my -breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors on -the quest for treasure. - -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us--all in soiled -sailor clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns -slung about him--one before and one behind--besides the great cutlass -at his waist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed coat. -To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his -shoulder and gabbling odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a -line about my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook, who -held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hand, now between his -powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a dancing bear. - -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and -shovels--for that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore -from the HISPANIOLA--others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the -midday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I -could see the truth of Silver’s words the night before. Had he not -struck a bargain with the doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the -ship, must have been driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds -of their hunting. Water would have been little to their taste; a sailor -is not usually a good shot; and besides all that, when they were so -short of eatables, it was not likely they would be very flush of powder. - -Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellow with the broken -head, who should certainly have kept in shadow--and straggled, one after -another, to the beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore -trace of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, and -both in their muddy and unbailed condition. Both were to be carried -along with us for the sake of safety; and so, with our numbers divided -between them, we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross -was, of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note -on the back, as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the -reader may remember, thus: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - Ten feet. - -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the -anchorage was bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, -adjoining on the north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass -and rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy eminence -called the Mizzenmast Hill. The top of the plateau was dotted thickly -with pine-trees of varying height. Every here and there, one of a -different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, -and which of these was the particular “tall tree” of Captain Flint could -only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. - -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had -picked a favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone -shrugging his shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. - -We pulled easily, by Silver’s directions, not to weary the hands -prematurely, and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of -the second river--that which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. -Thence, bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope towards the -plateau. - -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation -greatly delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began -to steepen and become stony under foot, and the wood to change its -character and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a most -pleasant portion of the island that we were now approaching. A -heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs had almost taken the place -of grass. Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with -the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the first mingled -their spice with the aroma of the others. The air, besides, was fresh -and stirring, and this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. - -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to -and fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and -I followed--I tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among -the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, -or he must have missed his footing and fallen backward down the hill. - -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the -brow of the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry -aloud, as if in terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others -began to run in his direction. - -“He can’t ’a found the treasure,” said old Morgan, hurrying past us from -the right, “for that’s clean a-top.” - -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something -very different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green -creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human -skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a -chill struck for a moment to every heart. - -“He was a seaman,” said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had -gone up close and was examining the rags of clothing. “Leastways, this -is good sea-cloth.” - -“Aye, aye,” said Silver; “like enough; you wouldn’t look to find a -bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? -’Tain’t in natur’.” - -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body -was in a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of -the birds that had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had -gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly straight--his -feet pointing in one direction, his hands, raised above his head like a -diver’s, pointing directly in the opposite. - -“I’ve taken a notion into my old numbskull,” observed Silver. “Here’s -the compass; there’s the tip-top p’int o’ Skeleton Island, stickin’ -out like a tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them -bones.” - -It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, -and the compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. - -“I thought so,” cried the cook; “this here is a p’inter. Right up there -is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! -If it don’t make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of HIS -jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed ’em, -every man; and this one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver -my timbers! They’re long bones, and the hair’s been yellow. Aye, that -would be Allardyce. You mind Allardyce, Tom Morgan?” - -“Aye, aye,” returned Morgan; “I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and -took my knife ashore with him.” - -“Speaking of knives,” said another, “why don’t we find his’n lying -round? Flint warn’t the man to pick a seaman’s pocket; and the birds, I -guess, would leave it be.” - -“By the powers, and that’s true!” cried Silver. - -“There ain’t a thing left here,” said Merry, still feeling round among -the bones; “not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don’t look nat’ral to -me.” - -“No, by gum, it don’t,” agreed Silver; “not nat’ral, nor not nice, says -you. Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot -spot for you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what -they are now.” - -“I saw him dead with these here deadlights,” said Morgan. “Billy took me -in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes.” - -“Dead--aye, sure enough he’s dead and gone below,” said the fellow with -the bandage; “but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint’s. Dear -heart, but he died bad, did Flint!” - -“Aye, that he did,” observed another; “now he raged, and now he hollered -for the rum, and now he sang. ‘Fifteen Men’ were his only song, mates; -and I tell you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was -main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as -clear as clear--and the death-haul on the man already.” - -“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t -walk, that I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to -that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.” - -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring -daylight, the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the -wood, but kept side by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of -the dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - - - - -XXXII -The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees - - -Partly from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver -and the sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained -the brow of the ascent. - -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which -we had paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, -over the tree-tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; -behind, we not only looked down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, -but saw--clear across the spit and the eastern lowlands--a great field -of open sea upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spy-glass, here dotted -with single pines, there black with precipices. There was no sound but -that of the distant breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of -countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon the sea; the -very largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. - -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - -“There are three ‘tall trees,’” said he, “about in the right line from -Skeleton Island. ‘Spy-glass shoulder,’ I take it, means that lower p’int -there. It’s child’s play to find the stuff now. I’ve half a mind to dine -first.” - -“I don’t feel sharp,” growled Morgan. “Thinkin’ o’ Flint--I think it -were--as done me.” - -“Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he’s dead,” said Silver. - -“He were an ugly devil,” cried a third pirate with a shudder; “that blue -in the face too!” - -“That was how the rum took him,” added Merry. “Blue! Well, I reckon he -was blue. That’s a true word.” - -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of -thought, they had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to -whispering by now, so that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted -the silence of the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees -in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice struck up the well-known -air and words: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The -colour went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their -feet, some clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - -“It’s Flint, by ----!” cried Merry. - -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began--broken off, you would have -said, in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon -the singer’s mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the -green tree-tops, I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the -effect on my companions was the stranger. - -“Come,” said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; -“this won’t do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can’t -name the voice, but it’s someone skylarking--someone that’s flesh and -blood, and you may lay to that.” - -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his -face along with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this -encouragement and were coming a little to themselves, when the same -voice broke out again--not this time singing, but in a faint distant -hail that echoed yet fainter among the clefts of the Spy-glass. - -“Darby M’Graw,” it wailed--for that is the word that best describes the -sound--“Darby M’Graw! Darby M’Graw!” again and again and again; and then -rising a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: “Fetch aft -the rum, Darby!” - -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from -their heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in -silence, dreadfully, before them. - -“That fixes it!” gasped one. “Let’s go.” - -“They was his last words,” moaned Morgan, “his last words above board.” - -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought -up, had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. - -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, -but he had not yet surrendered. - -“Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby,” he muttered; “not one -but us that’s here.” And then, making a great effort: “Shipmates,” - he cried, “I’m here to get that stuff, and I’ll not be beat by man or -devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I’ll -face him dead. There’s seven hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a -mile from here. When did ever a gentleman o’ fortune show his stern to -that much dollars for a boozy old seaman with a blue mug--and him dead -too?” - -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, -indeed, of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. - -“Belay there, John!” said Merry. “Don’t you cross a sperrit.” - -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away -severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them -close by John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty -well fought his weakness down. - -“Sperrit? Well, maybe,” he said. “But there’s one thing not clear to me. -There was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well -then, what’s he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That -ain’t in natur’, surely?” - -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will -affect the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly -relieved. - -“Well, that’s so,” he said. “You’ve a head upon your shoulders, John, -and no mistake. ’Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I -do believe. And come to think on it, it was like Flint’s voice, I -grant you, but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker -somebody else’s voice now--it was liker--” - -“By the powers, Ben Gunn!” roared Silver. - -“Aye, and so it were,” cried Morgan, springing on his knees. “Ben Gunn -it were!” - -“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here -in the body any more’n Flint.” - -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - -“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds -him.” - -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural -colour had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, -with intervals of listening; and not long after, hearing no further -sound, they shouldered the tools and set forth again, Merry walking -first with Silver’s compass to keep them on the right line with Skeleton -Island. He had said the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with -fearful glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on -his precautions. - -“I told you,” said he--“I told you you had sp’iled your Bible. If it -ain’t no good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for -it? Not that!” and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his -crutch. - -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that -the lad was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock -of his alarm, the fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing -swiftly higher. - -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little -downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The -pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of -nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, -as we did, pretty near north-west across the island, we drew, on the -one hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the -other, looked ever wider over that western bay where I had once tossed -and trembled in the coracle. - -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the -wrong one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet -into the air above a clump of underwood--a giant of a vegetable, with -a red column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a -company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous far to sea both on -the east and west and might have been entered as a sailing mark upon the -chart. - -But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the -knowledge that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere -buried below its spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they -drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in -their heads; their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul -was bound up in that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and -pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. - -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and -quivered; he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and -shiny countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to -him and from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. -Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read -them like print. In the immediate nearness of the gold, all else had -been forgotten: his promise and the doctor’s warning were both things -of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize upon the -treasure, find and board the HISPANIOLA under cover of night, cut -every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at first -intended, laden with crimes and riches. - -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with -the rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it -was then that Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me -his murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought -up the rear, was babbling to himself both prayers and curses as his -fever kept rising. This also added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, -I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted -on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face--he who -died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink--had there, with his -own hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so -peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the -thought I could believe I heard it ringing still. - -We were now at the margin of the thicket. - -“Huzza, mates, all together!” shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into -a run. - -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry -arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch -like one possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead -halt. - -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had -fallen in and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft -of a pick broken in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn -around. On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name -WALRUS--the name of Flint’s ship. - -All was clear to probation. The CACHE had been found and rifled; the -seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! - - - - -XXXIII -The Fall of a Chieftain - - -There never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men -was as though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost -instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a -racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; -and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the -others had had time to realize the disappointment. - -“Jim,” he whispered, “take that, and stand by for trouble.” - -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps -had put the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at -me and nodded, as much as to say, “Here is a narrow corner,” as, indeed, -I thought it was. His looks were not quite friendly, and I was so -revolted at these constant changes that I could not forbear whispering, -“So you’ve changed sides again.” - -There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths -and cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig -with their fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan -found a piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It -was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand among them for a -quarter of a minute. - -“Two guineas!” roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. “That’s your seven -hundred thousand pounds, is it? You’re the man for bargains, ain’t you? -You’re him that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!” - -“Dig away, boys,” said Silver with the coolest insolence; “you’ll find -some pig-nuts and I shouldn’t wonder.” - -“Pig-nuts!” repeated Merry, in a scream. “Mates, do you hear that? I -tell you now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him -and you’ll see it wrote there.” - -“Ah, Merry,” remarked Silver, “standing for cap’n again? You’re a -pushing lad, to be sure.” - -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry’s favour. They began to -scramble out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One -thing I observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the -opposite side from Silver. - -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit -between us, and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. -Silver never moved; he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and -looked as cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - -“Mates,” says he, “there’s two of them alone there; one’s the old -cripple that brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the -other’s that cub that I mean to have the heart of. Now, mates--” - -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a -charge. But just then--crack! crack! crack!--three musket-shots flashed -out of the thicket. Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the -man with the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his length -upon his side, where he lay dead, but still twitching; and the other -three turned and ran for it with all their might. - -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into -the struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the -last agony, “George,” said he, “I reckon I settled you.” - -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with -smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - -“Forward!” cried the doctor. “Double quick, my lads. We must head ’em -off the boats.” - -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to -the chest. - -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man -went through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were -fit to burst, was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the -doctor. As it was, he was already thirty yards behind us and on the -verge of strangling when we reached the brow of the slope. - -“Doctor,” he hailed, “see there! No hurry!” - -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we -could see the three survivors still running in the same direction as -they had started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between -them and the boats; and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, -mopping his face, came slowly up with us. - -“Thank ye kindly, doctor,” says he. “You came in in about the nick, I -guess, for me and Hawkins. And so it’s you, Ben Gunn!” he added. “Well, -you’re a nice one, to be sure.” - -“I’m Ben Gunn, I am,” replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his -embarrassment. “And,” he added, after a long pause, “how do, Mr. Silver? -Pretty well, I thank ye, says you.” - -“Ben, Ben,” murmured Silver, “to think as you’ve done me!” - -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their -flight, by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to -where the boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. -It was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the -half-idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end. - -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the -skeleton--it was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he -had dug it up (it was the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the -excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many weary journeys, from -the foot of the tall pine to a cave he had on the two-pointed hill at -the north-east angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in -safety since two months before the arrival of the HISPANIOLA. - -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the -attack, and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone -to Silver, given him the chart, which was now useless--given him the -stores, for Ben Gunn’s cave was well supplied with goats’ meat salted -by himself--given anything and everything to get a chance of moving in -safety from the stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of -malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - -“As for you, Jim,” he said, “it went against my heart, but I did what I -thought best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not -one of these, whose fault was it?” - -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid -disappointment he had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way -to the cave, and leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray -and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across the island to be -at hand beside the pine. Soon, however, he saw that our party had the -start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in -front to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to him to work upon the -superstitions of his former shipmates, and he was so far successful that -Gray and the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before the -arrival of the treasure-hunters. - -“Ah,” said Silver, “it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. -You would have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a -thought, doctor.” - -“Not a thought,” replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, -demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out -to go round by sea for North Inlet. - -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost -killed already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and -we were soon skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out -of the straits and doubled the south-east corner of the island, round -which, four days ago, we had towed the HISPANIOLA. - -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben -Gunn’s cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the -squire, and we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which -the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should -we meet but the HISPANIOLA, cruising by herself? The last flood had -lifted her, and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as -in the southern anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found -her stranded beyond help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the -wreck of the main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a -fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, -the nearest point for Ben Gunn’s treasure-house; and then Gray, -single-handed, returned with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to -pass the night on guard. - -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the -top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing -of my escapade either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver’s polite -salute he somewhat flushed. - -“John Silver,” he said, “you’re a prodigious villain and imposter--a -monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, -then, I will not. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like -mill-stones.” - -“Thank you kindly, sir,” replied Long John, again saluting. - -“I dare you to thank me!” cried the squire. “It is a gross dereliction -of my duty. Stand back.” - -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with -a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The -floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far -corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps -of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint’s -treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the -lives of seventeen men from the HISPANIOLA. How many it had cost in the -amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, -what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what -shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there -were still three upon that island--Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben -Gunn--who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in -vain to share in the reward. - -“Come in, Jim,” said the captain. “You’re a good boy in your line, Jim, -but I don’t think you and me’ll go to sea again. You’re too much of the -born favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, -man?” - -“Come back to my dooty, sir,” returned Silver. - -“Ah!” said the captain, and that was all he said. - -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and -what a meal it was, with Ben Gunn’s salted goat and some delicacies and -a bottle of old wine from the HISPANIOLA. Never, I am sure, were people -gayer or happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the -firelight, but eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything -was wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter--the same bland, -polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - - - - -XXXIV -And Last - - -The next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this -great mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three -miles by boat to the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small -a number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did -not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was -sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, -besides, they had had more than enough of fighting. - -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and -went with the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure -on the beach. Two of the bars, slung in a rope’s end, made a good load -for a grown man--one that he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, -as I was not much use at carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave -packing the minted money into bread-bags. - -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones’s hoard for the diversity -of coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I -never had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, -Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and -moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the -last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked -like wisps of string or bits of spider’s web, round pieces and square -pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round -your neck--nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, -have found a place in that collection; and for number, I am sure they -were like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping and my -fingers with sorting them out. - -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been -stowed aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and -all this time we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - -At last--I think it was on the third night--the doctor and I were -strolling on the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of -the isle, when, from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us -a noise between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached -our ears, followed by the former silence. - -“Heaven forgive them,” said the doctor; “’tis the mutineers!” - -“All drunk, sir,” struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. - -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of -daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged -and friendly dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore -these slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to -ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, none treated him better than -a dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old -quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to thank him for; -although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason to think even worse of -him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery -upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the doctor -answered him. - -“Drunk or raving,” said he. - -“Right you were, sir,” replied Silver; “and precious little odds which, -to you and me.” - -“I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man,” returned -the doctor with a sneer, “and so my feelings may surprise you, Master -Silver. But if I were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain -one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should leave this camp, -and at whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my -skill.” - -“Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,” quoth Silver. “You -would lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I’m on your side -now, hand and glove; and I shouldn’t wish for to see the party weakened, -let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down -there, they couldn’t keep their word--no, not supposing they wished to; -and what’s more, they couldn’t believe as you could.” - -“No,” said the doctor. “You’re the man to keep your word, we know that.” - -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only -once we heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. -A council was held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the -island--to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong -approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk -of the salt goat, a few medicines, and some other necessaries, tools, -clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and by the particular -desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - -That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the -treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the -goat meat in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we -weighed anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood out -of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain had flown and -fought under at the palisade. - -The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, -as we soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to -lie very near the southern point, and there we saw all three of -them kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in -supplication. It went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them in that -wretched state; but we could not risk another mutiny; and to take them -home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor -hailed them and told them of the stores we had left, and where they were -to find them. But they continued to call us by name and appeal to us, -for God’s sake, to be merciful and not leave them to die in such a -place. - -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly -drawing out of earshot, one of them--I know not which it was--leapt to -his feet with a hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent -a shot whistling over Silver’s head and through the main-sail. - -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked -out they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost -melted out of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end -of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of -Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round of sea. - -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand--only -the captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for -though greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her -head for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the -voyage home without fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds -and a couple of fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful -land-locked gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full -of Negroes and Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and -vegetables and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of so many -good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), the taste of the tropical -fruits, and above all the lights that began to shine in the town made a -most charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island; -and the doctor and the squire, taking me along with them, went ashore -to pass the early part of the night. Here they met the captain of an -English man-of-war, fell in talk with him, went on board his ship, and, -in short, had so agreeable a time that day was breaking when we came -alongside the HISPANIOLA. - -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, -with wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. -The maroon had connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, -and he now assured us he had only done so to preserve our lives, which -would certainly have been forfeit if “that man with the one leg -had stayed aboard.” But this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone -empty-handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and had removed -one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas, -to help him on his further wanderings. - -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a -good cruise home, and the HISPANIOLA reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly -was beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of -those who had sailed returned with her. “Drink and the devil had done -for the rest,” with a vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite -in so bad a case as that other ship they sang about: - - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. - -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or -foolishly, according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired -from the sea. Gray not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit -with the desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is now -mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship, married besides, and the -father of a family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he -spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen days, for -he was back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a lodge to keep, -exactly as he had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a great -favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys, and a -notable singer in church on Sundays and saints’ days. - -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one -leg has at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old -Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. -It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another -world are very small. - -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where -Flint buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and -wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and -the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about -its coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint -still ringing in my ears: “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 ***
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/old/120-h/120-h.htm b/old/120-h/120-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a3c7cdc..0000000 --- a/old/120-h/120-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10727 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson</title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<style type="text/css"> - -body { margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; - text-align: justify; } - -h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: -normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} - -h1 {font-size: 300%; - margin-top: 0.6em; - margin-bottom: 0.6em; - letter-spacing: 0.12em; - word-spacing: 0.2em; - text-indent: 0em;} -h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} -h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} -h4 {font-size: 120%;} -h5 {font-size: 110%;} - -.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} - -hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -p {text-indent: 1em; - margin-top: 0.25em; - margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - -p.poem {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - font-size: 90%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -p.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } - -p.right {text-align: right; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -div.fig { display:block; - margin:0 auto; - text-align:center; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -p.caption {font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; } - -.figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - -a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:hover {color:red} - -</style> -</head> -<body> -<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 ***</div> - -<h1>TREASURE ISLAND</h1> - -<h2 class="no-break">by Robert Louis Stevenson</h2> - -<h3>Illustrated by Louis Rhead</h3> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0017m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0017m " /><br/> -</div> - -<table summary="" style=""> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"><big><b>TREASURE ISLAND</b></big></a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part01"><big><b>PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap01">I. The Old Sea-dog at the “Admiral Benbow”</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap02">II. Black Dog Appears and Disappears</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap03">III. The Black Spot </a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap04">IV. The Sea-chest</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap05">V. The Last of the Blind Man</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap06">VI. The Captain’s Papers</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part02"><big><b>PART TWO—The Sea-cook</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap07">VII. I Go to Bristol</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap08">VIII. At the Sign of the Spy-glass</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap09">IX. Powder and Arms</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap10">X. The Voyage</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap11">XI. What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap12">XII. Council of War</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part03"><big><b>PART THREE—My Shore Adventure</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap13">XIII. How I Began My Shore Adventure</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap14">XIV. The First Blow</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap15">XV. The Man of the Island</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part04"><big><b>PART FOUR—The Stockade</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap16">XVI. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap17">XVII. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap18">XVIII. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap19">XIX. Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap20">XX. Silver’s Embassy</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap21">XXI. The Attack</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part05"><big><b>PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap22">XXII. How I Began My Sea Adventure</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap23">XXIII. The Ebb-tide Runs</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap24">XXIV. The Cruise of the Coracle</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap25">XXV. I Strike the Jolly Roger</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap26">XXVI. Israel Hands</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap27">XXVII. “Pieces of Eight”</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part06"><big><b>PART SIX—Captain Silver</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap28">XXVIII. In the Enemy’s Camp</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap29">XXIX. The Black Spot Again</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap30">XXX. On Parole</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap31">XXXI. The Treasure-hunt—Flint’s Pointer</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap32">XXXII. The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap33">XXXIII. The Fall of a Chieftain</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap34">XXXIV. And Last</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0021m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0021m" /><br/> -</div> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0022m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0022m" /><br/> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2>TREASURE ISLAND</h2> - -<p class="letter"> -To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste the -following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for numerous -delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his affectionate -friend, -</p> - -<p class="right"> -the author. -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="poem"> - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER<br/> -<br/> -If sailor tales to sailor tunes,<br/> - Storm and adventure, heat and cold,<br/> -If schooners, islands, and maroons,<br/> - And buccaneers, and buried gold,<br/> -And all the old romance, retold<br/> - Exactly in the ancient way,<br/> -Can please, as me they pleased of old,<br/> - The wiser youngsters of today:<br/> -<br/> -—So be it, and fall on! If not,<br/> - If studious youth no longer crave,<br/> -His ancient appetites forgot,<br/> - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,<br/> -Or Cooper of the wood and wave:<br/> - So be it, also! And may I<br/> -And all my pirates share the grave<br/> - Where these and their creations lie! -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0028m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0028m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0028.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<hr /> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="link2H_4_0002"></a> -TREASURE ISLAND</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part01"></a> -PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap01"></a> -<img src="images/0029m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0029m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">I<br/> -The Old Sea-dog at the “Admiral Benbow”</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9029m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9029m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -quire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me -to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning -to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only -because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of -grace 17—, and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn -and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our -roof. -</p> - -<p> -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, -his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, -nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue -coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut -across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove -and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old -sea-song that he sang so often afterwards: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at -the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a -handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a -glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a -connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs -and up at our signboard. -</p> - -<p> -“This is a handy cove,” says he at length; “and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. -Much company, mate?” -</p> - -<p> -My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then,” said he, “this is the berth for me. Here you, matey,” he cried to -the man who trundled the barrow; “bring up alongside and help up my chest. I’ll -stay here a bit,” he continued. “I’m a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is -what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought -call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you’re at—there”; and he -threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. “You can tell me when -I’ve worked through that,” says he, looking as fierce as a commander. -</p> - -<p> -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none of the -appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like a mate or -skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came with the barrow -told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the Royal George, that -he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well -spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others -for his place of residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest. -</p> - -<p> -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or upon the -cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the parlour -next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would not speak -when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and blow through his nose like a -fog-horn; and we and the people who came about our house soon learned to let -him be. Every day when he came back from his stroll he would ask if any -seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want -of company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we -began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the -Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) -he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was -present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for I was, in -a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day and promised me a -silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I would only keep my -“weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg” and let him know the moment -he appeared. Often enough when the first of the month came round and I applied -to him for my wage, he would only blow through his nose at me and stare me -down, but before the week was out he was sure to think better of it, bring me -my four-penny piece, and repeat his orders to look out for “the seafaring man -with one leg.” -</p> - -<p> -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy -nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and the surf roared -along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand forms, and with -a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg would be cut off at the knee, -now at the hip; now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had never had but -the one leg, and that in the middle of his body. To see him leap and run and -pursue me over hedge and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I -paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these -abominable fancies. -</p> - -<p> -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one leg, I -was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who knew him. -There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water than his head would -carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his wicked, old, wild -sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses round and -force all the trembling company to listen to his stories or bear a chorus to -his singing. Often I have heard the house shaking with “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle -of rum,” all the neighbours joining in for dear life, with the fear of death -upon them, and each singing louder than the other to avoid remark. For in these -fits he was the most overriding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on -the table for silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a -question, or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was -not following his story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had -drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. -</p> - -<p> -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories they -were—about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry -Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own account he -must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men that God ever allowed -upon the sea, and the language in which he told these stories shocked our plain -country people almost as much as the crimes that he described. My father was -always saying the inn would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming there -to be tyrannized over and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I -really believe his presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, -but on looking back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet -country life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a “true sea-dog” and a “real old salt” and such like -names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea. -</p> - -<p> -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week after -week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long -exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to insist on having -more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through his nose so loudly that -you might say he roared, and stared my poor father out of the room. I have seen -him wringing his hands after such a rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the -terror he lived in must have greatly hastened his early and unhappy death. -</p> - -<p> -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his dress -but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having -fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a great -annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his coat, which he patched -himself upstairs in his room, and which, before the end, was nothing but -patches. He never wrote or received a letter, and he never spoke with any but -the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, only when drunk on rum. The -great sea-chest none of us had ever seen open. -</p> - -<p> -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor father was -far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon to -see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and went into the parlour -to smoke a pipe until his horse should come down from the hamlet, for we had no -stabling at the old Benbow. I followed him in, and I remember observing the -contrast the neat, bright doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his -bright, black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, -and above all, with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, -sitting, far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he—the captain, -that is—began to pipe up his eternal song: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!<br/> -Drink and the devil had done for the rest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -At first I had supposed “the dead man’s chest” to be that identical big box of -his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled in my -nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this time we had -all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it was new, that -night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did not produce an -agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite angrily before he went on -with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on a new cure for the rheumatics. In -the meantime, the captain gradually brightened up at his own music, and at last -flapped his hand upon the table before him in a way we all knew to mean -silence. The voices stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey’s; he went on as -before speaking clear and kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every -word or two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, -glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, -“Silence, there, between decks!” -</p> - -<p> -“Were you addressing me, sir?” says the doctor; and when the ruffian had told -him, with another oath, that this was so, “I have only one thing to say to you, -sir,” replies the doctor, “that if you keep on drinking rum, the world will -soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” -</p> - -<p> -The old fellow’s fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened a -sailor’s clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, threatened -to pin the doctor to the wall. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his shoulder -and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the room might hear, -but perfectly calm and steady: “If you do not put that knife this instant in -your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at the next assizes.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0033m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0033m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0033.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon knuckled -under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, sir,” continued the doctor, “since I now know there’s such a fellow -in my district, you may count I’ll have an eye upon you day and night. I’m not -a doctor only; I’m a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint against -you, if it’s only for a piece of incivility like tonight’s, I’ll take effectual -means to have you hunted down and routed out of this. Let that suffice.” -</p> - -<p> -Soon after, Dr. Livesey’s horse came to the door and he rode away, but the -captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap02"></a> -<img src="images/0037m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0037m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">II<br/> -Black Dog Appears and Disappears</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9037m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9037m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the mysterious -events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you will see, of his -affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard frosts and heavy gales; -and it was plain from the first that my poor father was little likely to see -the spring. He sank daily, and my mother and I had all the inn upon our hands, -and were kept busy enough without paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. -</p> - -<p> -It was one January morning, very early—a pinching, frosty morning—the cove all -grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still -low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to seaward. The captain had -risen earlier than usual and set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under -the broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope under his arm, his -hat tilted back upon his head. I remember his breath hanging like smoke in his -wake as he strode off, and the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big -rock was a loud snort of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon -Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the breakfast-table -against the captain’s return when the parlour door opened and a man stepped in -on whom I had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy creature, -wanting two fingers of the left hand, and though he wore a cutlass, he did not -look much like a fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one -leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he -had a smack of the sea about him too. -</p> - -<p> -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but as I -was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table and motioned me -to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Come here, sonny,” says he. “Come nearer here.” -</p> - -<p> -I took a step nearer. -</p> - -<p> -“Is this here table for my mate Bill?” he asked with a kind of leer. -</p> - -<p> -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who stayed -in our house whom we called the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said he, “my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like as not. He -has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, particularly in -drink, has my mate Bill. We’ll put it, for argument like, that your captain has -a cut on one cheek—and we’ll put it, if you like, that that cheek’s the right -one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my mate Bill in this here house?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him he was out walking. -</p> - -<p> -“Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?” -</p> - -<p> -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was likely to -return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, “Ah,” said he, -“this’ll be as good as drink to my mate Bill.” -</p> - -<p> -The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all pleasant, and -I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was mistaken, even -supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I thought; and -besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The stranger kept hanging about -just inside the inn door, peering round the corner like a cat waiting for a -mouse. Once I stepped out myself into the road, but he immediately called me -back, and as I did not obey quick enough for his fancy, a most horrible change -came over his tallowy face, and he ordered me in with an oath that made me -jump. As soon as I was back again he returned to his former manner, half -fawning, half sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and -he had taken quite a fancy to me. “I have a son of my own,” said he, “as like -you as two blocks, and he’s all the pride of my ’art. But the great thing for -boys is discipline, sonny—discipline. Now, if you had sailed along of Bill, you -wouldn’t have stood there to be spoke to twice—not you. That was never Bill’s -way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. And here, sure enough, is my mate -Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, bless his old ’art, to be sure. You and -me’ll just go back into the parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we’ll -give Bill a little surprise—bless his ’art, I say again.” -</p> - -<p> -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me behind -him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I was very -uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my fears to -observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He cleared the hilt -of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; and all the time we were -waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt what we used to call a lump in -the throat. -</p> - -<p> -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without looking to -the right or left, and marched straight across the room to where his breakfast -awaited him. -</p> - -<p> -“Bill,” said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make bold -and big. -</p> - -<p> -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had gone out -of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a man who sees a -ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything can be; and upon my -word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn so old and sick. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely,” said the -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -The captain made a sort of gasp. -</p> - -<p> -“Black Dog!” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“And who else?” returned the other, getting more at his ease. “Black Dog as -ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral Benbow inn. -Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I lost them two -talons,” holding up his mutilated hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, look here,” said the captain; “you’ve run me down; here I am; well, then, -speak up; what is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s you, Bill,” returned Black Dog, “you’re in the right of it, Billy. I’ll -have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I’ve took such a liking to; -and we’ll sit down, if you please, and talk square, like old shipmates.” -</p> - -<p> -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side of the -captain’s breakfast-table—Black Dog next to the door and sitting sideways so as -to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I thought, on his retreat. -</p> - -<p> -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. “None of your keyholes for me, -sonny,” he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. -</p> - -<p> -For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear nothing -but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, and I could -pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, no, no; and an end of it!” he cried once. And again, “If it comes to -swinging, swing all, say I.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> -<a href="images/0041a.jpg"> -<img src="images/0041a.jpg" width="443" height="650" alt="0041a" /></a> -</div> - - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0041m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0041m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0041.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and other -noises—the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel followed, and -then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and -the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and the former streaming -blood from the left shoulder. Just at the door the captain aimed at the -fugitive one last tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to the -chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You -may see the notch on the lower side of the frame to this day. -</p> - -<p> -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black Dog, in -spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and disappeared over -the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for his part, stood staring -at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he passed his hand over his eyes -several times and at last turned back into the house. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” says he, “rum”; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught himself -with one hand against the wall. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you hurt?” cried I. -</p> - -<p> -“Rum,” he repeated. “I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen out, and I -broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still getting in my own -way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld the captain -lying full length upon the floor. At the same instant my mother, alarmed by the -cries and fighting, came running downstairs to help me. Between us we raised -his head. He was breathing very loud and hard, but his eyes were closed and his -face a horrible colour. -</p> - -<p> -“Dear, deary me,” cried my mother, “what a disgrace upon the house! And your -poor father sick!” -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any other -thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with the stranger. I -got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat, but his teeth -were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. It was a happy relief for us -when the door opened and Doctor Livesey came in, on his visit to my father. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, doctor,” we cried, “what shall we do? Where is he wounded?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wounded? A fiddle-stick’s end!” said the doctor. “No more wounded than you or -I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, just you run -upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing about it. For my -part, I must do my best to save this fellow’s trebly worthless life; Jim, you -get me a basin.” -</p> - -<p> -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the captain’s -sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed in several places. -“Here’s luck,” “A fair wind,” and “Billy Bones his fancy,” were very neatly and -clearly executed on the forearm; and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of -a gallows and a man hanging from it—done, as I thought, with great spirit. -</p> - -<p> -“Prophetic,” said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. “And now, -Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we’ll have a look at the colour of -your blood. Jim,” he said, “are you afraid of blood?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then,” said he, “you hold the basin”; and with that he took his lancet -and opened a vein. -</p> - -<p> -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes and looked -mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with an unmistakable frown; -then his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. But suddenly his colour -changed, and he tried to raise himself, crying, “Where’s Black Dog?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is no Black Dog here,” said the doctor, “except what you have on your -own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I -told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged you -headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones—” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s not my name,” he interrupted. -</p> - -<p> -“Much I care,” returned the doctor. “It’s the name of a buccaneer of my -acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I have -to say to you is this; one glass of rum won’t kill you, but if you take one -you’ll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you don’t break off -short, you’ll die—do you understand that?—die, and go to your own place, like -the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. I’ll help you to your bed for -once.” -</p> - -<p> -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him -on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he were almost -fainting. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, mind you,” said the doctor, “I clear my conscience—the name of rum for -you is death.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the arm. -</p> - -<p> -“This is nothing,” he said as soon as he had closed the door. “I have drawn -blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week where he -is—that is the best thing for him and you; but another stroke would settle -him.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap03"></a> -<img src="images/0046m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0046m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">III<br/> -The Black Spot</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9046m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9046m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -bout noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks and -medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little higher, and -he seemed both weak and excited. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he said, “you’re the only one here that’s worth anything, and you know -I’ve been always good to you. Never a month but I’ve given you a silver -fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I’m pretty low, and deserted by -all; and Jim, you’ll bring me one noggin of rum, now, won’t you, matey?” -</p> - -<p> -“The doctor—” I began. -</p> - -<p> -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. “Doctors is -all swabs,” he said; “and that doctor there, why, what do he know about -seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round with -Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the sea with earthquakes—what -to the doctor know of lands like that?—and I lived on rum, I tell you. It’s -been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and if I’m not to have my rum now -I’m a poor old hulk on a lee shore, my blood’ll be on you, Jim, and that doctor -swab”; and he ran on again for a while with curses. “Look, Jim, how my fingers -fidges,” he continued in the pleading tone. “I can’t keep ’em still, not I. I -haven’t had a drop this blessed day. That doctor’s a fool, I tell you. If I -don’t have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some on ’em -already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I -seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that has lived rough, and I’ll -raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll give you -a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, who -was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the -doctor’s words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe. -</p> - -<p> -“I want none of your money,” said I, “but what you owe my father. I’ll get you -one glass, and no more.” -</p> - -<p> -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” said he, “that’s some better, sure enough. And now, matey, did that -doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?” -</p> - -<p> -“A week at least,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Thunder!” he cried. “A week! I can’t do that; they’d have the black spot on me -by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment; -lubbers as couldn’t keep what they got, and want to nail what is another’s. Is -that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? But I’m a saving soul. I never -wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; and I’ll trick ’em again. I’m -not afraid on ’em. I’ll shake out another reef, matey, and daddle ’em again.” -</p> - -<p> -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, holding -to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs -like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were in meaning, -contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in which they were uttered. He -paused when he had got into a sitting position on the edge. -</p> - -<p> -“That doctor’s done me,” he murmured. “My ears is singing. Lay me back.” -</p> - -<p> -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his former -place, where he lay for a while silent. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he said at length, “you saw that seafaring man today?” -</p> - -<p> -“Black Dog?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah! Black Dog,” says he. “<i>He’s</i> a bad ’un; but there’s worse that put -him on. Now, if I can’t get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind -you, it’s my old sea-chest they’re after; you get on a horse—you can, can’t -you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to—well, yes, I will!—to that -eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates and sich—and -he’ll lay ’em aboard at the Admiral Benbow—all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, -all on ’em that’s left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and -I’m the on’y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay -a-dying, like as if I was to now, you see. But you won’t peach unless they get -the black spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man -with one leg, Jim—him above all.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the black spot, captain?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a summons, mate. I’ll tell you if they get that. But you keep your -weather-eye open, Jim, and I’ll share with you equals, upon my honour.” -</p> - -<p> -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I had -given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, “If ever a -seaman wanted drugs, it’s me,” he fell at last into a heavy, swoon-like sleep, -in which I left him. What I should have done had all gone well I do not know. -Probably I should have told the whole story to the doctor, for I was in mortal -fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me. -But as things fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that evening, which -put all other matters on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the -neighbours, the arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be -carried on in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think -of the captain, far less to be afraid of him. -</p> - -<p> -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, though -he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he -helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through his nose, and no -one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral he was as drunk as -ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him singing away -at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, we were all in the fear of death -for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles away and -was never near the house after my father’s death. I have said the captain was -weak, and indeed he seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He -clambered up and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back -again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man on a -steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had -as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and -allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an alarming -way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it bare before him -on the table. But with all that, he minded people less and seemed shut up in -his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme -wonder, he piped up to a different air, a kind of country love-song that he -must have learned in his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. -</p> - -<p> -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three o’clock of a -bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, full -of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing slowly near along -the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick and wore -a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age -or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him -appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking -figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd -sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, “Will any kind friend inform a -poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious -defence of his native country, England—and God bless King George!—where or in -what part of this country he may now be?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“I hear a voice,” said he, “a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my kind -young friend, and lead me in?” -</p> - -<p> -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature gripped it -in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, -but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single action of his arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, boy,” he said, “take me in to the captain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said I, “upon my word I dare not.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” he sneered, “that’s it! Take me in straight or I’ll break your arm.” -</p> - -<p> -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said I, “it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he used to -be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman—” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, now, march,” interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, and -cold, and ugly as that blind man’s. It cowed me more than the pain, and I began -to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and towards the parlour, -where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed with rum. The blind man clung -close to me, holding me in one iron fist and leaning almost more of his weight -on me than I could carry. “Lead me straight up to him, and when I’m in view, -cry out, ‘Here’s a friend for you, Bill.’ If you don’t, I’ll do this,” and with -that he gave me a twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this -and that, I was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my -terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he -had ordered in a trembling voice. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0051m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0051m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0051.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of him and -left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so much of terror as -of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do not believe he had -enough force left in his body. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Bill, sit where you are,” said the beggar. “If I can’t see, I can hear a -finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his -left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right.” -</p> - -<p> -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the hollow -of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain’s, which closed -upon it instantly. -</p> - -<p> -“And now that’s done,” said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly left -hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, skipped out of the -parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood motionless, I could hear his -stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. -</p> - -<p> -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our senses, -but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his wrist, which I was -still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply into the palm. -</p> - -<p> -“Ten o’clock!” he cried. “Six hours. We’ll do them yet,” and he sprang to his -feet. -</p> - -<p> -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying for a -moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole height face -foremost to the floor. -</p> - -<p> -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. The -captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to -understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of late I had begun -to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of -tears. It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was -still fresh in my heart. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap04"></a> -<img src="images/0054m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0054m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">IV<br/> -The Sea-chest</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9054m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9054m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and perhaps -should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult -and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money—if he had any—was certainly due -to us, but it was not likely that our captain’s shipmates, above all the two -specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give -up their booty in payment of the dead man’s debts. The captain’s order to mount -at once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone and -unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for -either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of coals in the -kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms. The -neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what -between the dead body of the captain on the parlour floor and the thought of -that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there -were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. -Something must speedily be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go -forth together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than -done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and -the frosty fog. -</p> - -<p> -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the other -side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite -direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance and whither he -had presumably returned. We were not many minutes on the road, though we -sometimes stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken. But there was no -unusual sound—nothing but the low wash of the ripple and the croaking of the -inmates of the wood. -</p> - -<p> -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall never -forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and windows; but -that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get in that -quarter. For—you would have thought men would have been ashamed of -themselves—no soul would consent to return with us to the Admiral Benbow. The -more we told of our troubles, the more—man, woman, and child—they clung to the -shelter of their houses. The name of Captain Flint, though it was strange to -me, was well enough known to some there and carried a great weight of terror. -Some of the men who had been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral -Benbow remembered, besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and -taking them to be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a -little lugger in what we called Kitt’s Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain’s was enough to frighten them to death. And the short -and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several who were -willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey’s, which lay in another direction, not -one would help us to defend the inn. -</p> - -<p> -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, a -great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother made them a -speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to her fatherless -boy; “If none of the rest of you dare,” she said, “Jim and I dare. Back we will -go, the way we came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. -We’ll have that chest open, if we die for it. And I’ll thank you for that bag, -Mrs. Crossley, to bring back our lawful money in.” -</p> - -<p> -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried out at -our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with us. All they -would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were attacked, and to promise -to have horses ready saddled in case we were pursued on our return, while one -lad was to ride forward to the doctor’s in search of armed assistance. -</p> - -<p> -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon this -dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered redly through -the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, for it was plain, -before we came forth again, that all would be as bright as day, and our -departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. We slipped along the hedges, -noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to increase our terrors, -till, to our relief, the door of the Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. -</p> - -<p> -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the dark, -alone in the house with the dead captain’s body. Then my mother got a candle in -the bar, and holding each other’s hands, we advanced into the parlour. He lay -as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes open and one arm stretched out. -</p> - -<p> -“Draw down the blind, Jim,” whispered my mother; “they might come and watch -outside. And now,” said she when I had done so, “we have to get the key off -<i>that;</i> and who’s to touch it, I should like to know!” and she gave a kind -of sob as she said the words. -</p> - -<p> -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there was a -little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not doubt that this -was the <i>black spot;</i> and taking it up, I found written on the other side, -in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You have till ten tonight.” -</p> - -<p> -“He had till ten, Mother,” said I; and just as I said it, our old clock began -striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news was good, for -it was only six. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Jim,” she said, “that key.” -</p> - -<p> -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, and -some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away at the end, -his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder box were all -that they contained, and I began to despair. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps it’s round his neck,” suggested my mother. -</p> - -<p> -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and there, -sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with his own gully, -we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with hope and hurried upstairs -without delay to the little room where he had slept so long and where his box -had stood since the day of his arrival. -</p> - -<p> -It was like any other seaman’s chest on the outside, the initial “B” burned on -the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat smashed and broken as -by long, rough usage. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me the key,” said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she had -turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. -</p> - -<p> -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing was to be -seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and -folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under that, the miscellany -began—a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very -handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish watch and some other -trinkets of little value and mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses -mounted with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells. I have often -wondered since why he should have carried about these shells with him in his -wandering, guilty, and hunted life. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and the -trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there was an old -boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My mother pulled it -up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last things in the chest, a -bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas bag that gave -forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll show these rogues that I’m an honest woman,” said my mother. “I’ll have -my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley’s bag.” And she began to -count over the amount of the captain’s score from the sailor’s bag into the one -that I was holding. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0059m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0059m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0059.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries and -sizes—doubloons, and louis d’ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know -not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, too, were about -the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother knew how to make her -count. -</p> - -<p> -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her arm, for I -had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my heart into my -mouth—the tap-tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the frozen road. It drew -nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. Then it struck sharp on the -inn door, and then we could hear the handle being turned and the bolt rattling -as the wretched being tried to enter; and then there was a long time of silence -both within and without. At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our -indescribable joy and gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be -heard. -</p> - -<p> -“Mother,” said I, “take the whole and let’s be going,” for I was sure the -bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole hornet’s nest -about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had bolted it, none could tell -who had never met that terrible blind man. -</p> - -<p> -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction more -than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be content with less. It -was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her rights and she would -have them; and she was still arguing with me when a little low whistle sounded -a good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and more than enough, for both -of us. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll take what I have,” she said, jumping to her feet. -</p> - -<p> -“And I’ll take this to square the count,” said I, picking up the oilskin -packet. -</p> - -<p> -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by the empty -chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not -started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly dispersing; already the moon -shone quite clear on the high ground on either side; and it was only in the -exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that a thin veil still hung -unbroken to conceal the first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to -the hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into -the moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running -came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a light -tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers -carried a lantern. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear,” said my mother suddenly, “take the money and run on. I am going to -faint.” -</p> - -<p> -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the -cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and -her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were just at the -little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering as she was, to the -edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on my shoulder. -I do not know how I found the strength to do it at all, and I am afraid it was -roughly done, but I managed to drag her down the bank and a little way under -the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the bridge was too low to let me do -more than crawl below it. So there we had to stay—my mother almost entirely -exposed and both of us within earshot of the inn. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap05"></a> -<img src="images/0062m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0062m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">V<br/> -The Last of the Blind Man</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9062m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9062m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -y curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not remain -where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering my head -behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our door. I was -scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven or eight of them, -running hard, their feet beating out of time along the road and the man with -the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran together, hand in hand; and I -made out, even through the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the blind -beggar. The next moment his voice showed me that I was right. -</p> - -<p> -“Down with the door!” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir!” answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the Admiral -Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see them pause, and hear -speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were surprised to find the door -open. But the pause was brief, for the blind man again issued his commands. His -voice sounded louder and higher, as if he were afire with eagerness and rage. -</p> - -<p> -“In, in, in!” he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. -</p> - -<p> -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the -formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a voice -shouting from the house, “Bill’s dead.” -</p> - -<p> -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. -</p> - -<p> -“Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and get -the chest,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the house must have -shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of astonishment arose; the -window of the captain’s room was thrown open with a slam and a jingle of broken -glass, and a man leaned out into the moonlight, head and shoulders, and -addressed the blind beggar on the road below him. -</p> - -<p> -“Pew,” he cried, “they’ve been before us. Someone’s turned the chest out alow -and aloft.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it there?” roared Pew. -</p> - -<p> -“The money’s there.” -</p> - -<p> -The blind man cursed the money. -</p> - -<p> -“Flint’s fist, I mean,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“We don’t see it here nohow,” returned the man. -</p> - -<p> -“Here, you below there, is it on Bill?” cried the blind man again. -</p> - -<p> -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search the -captain’s body, came to the door of the inn. “Bill’s been overhauled a’ready,” -said he; “nothin’ left.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s these people of the inn—it’s that boy. I wish I had put his eyes out!” -cried the blind man, Pew. “There were no time ago—they had the door bolted when -I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find ’em.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sure enough, they left their glim here,” said the fellow from the window. -</p> - -<p> -“Scatter and find ’em! Rout the house out!” reiterated Pew, striking with his -stick upon the road. -</p> - -<p> -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet pounding -to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the very rocks -re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on the road and -declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just the same whistle that had -alarmed my mother and myself over the dead captain’s money was once more -clearly audible through the night, but this time twice repeated. I had thought -it to be the blind man’s trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the -assault, but I now found that it was a signal from the hillside towards the -hamlet, and from its effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of -approaching danger. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s Dirk again,” said one. “Twice! We’ll have to budge, mates.” -</p> - -<p> -“Budge, you skulk!” cried Pew. “Dirk was a fool and a coward from the first—you -wouldn’t mind him. They must be close by; they can’t be far; you have your -hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver my soul,” he cried, -“if I had eyes!” -</p> - -<p> -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began to look -here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half -an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest stood irresolute on the -road. -</p> - -<p> -“You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You’d be as -rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it’s here, and you stand there -skulking. There wasn’t one of you dared face Bill, and I did it—a blind man! -And I’m to lose my chance for you! I’m to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging -for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil -in a biscuit you would catch them still.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hang it, Pew, we’ve got the doubloons!” grumbled one. -</p> - -<p> -“They might have hid the blessed thing,” said another. “Take the Georges, Pew, -and don’t stand here squalling.” -</p> - -<p> -Squalling was the word for it; Pew’s anger rose so high at these objections -till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, he struck at them -right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded heavily on more than one. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0065m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0065m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0065.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him in -horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from his grasp. -</p> - -<p> -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, another sound -came from the top of the hill on the side of the hamlet—the tramp of horses -galloping. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, flash and report, came from -the hedge side. And that was plainly the last signal of danger, for the -buccaneers turned at once and ran, separating in every direction, one seaward -along the cove, one slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute -not a sign of them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer -panic or out of revenge for his ill words and blows I know not; but there he -remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping and -calling for his comrades. Finally he took a wrong turn and ran a few steps past -me, towards the hamlet, crying, “Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk,” and other names, -“you won’t leave old Pew, mates—not old Pew!” -</p> - -<p> -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders came in -sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. -</p> - -<p> -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for the -ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a second and made -another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest of the coming -horses. -</p> - -<p> -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that rang -high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by. -He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face and moved no more. -</p> - -<p> -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any rate, -horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, tailing out -behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to Dr. Livesey’s; the -rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the way, and with whom he had -had the intelligence to return at once. Some news of the lugger in Kitt’s Hole -had found its way to Supervisor Dance and set him forth that night in our -direction, and to that circumstance my mother and I owed our preservation from -death. -</p> - -<p> -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up to the -hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her back again, and -she was none the worse for her terror, though she still continued to deplore -the balance of the money. In the meantime the supervisor rode on, as fast as he -could, to Kitt’s Hole; but his men had to dismount and grope down the dingle, -leading, and sometimes supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of -ambushes; so it was no great matter for surprise that when they got down to the -Hole the lugger was already under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A -voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get some -lead in him, and at the same time a bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon -after, the lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance stood there, as -he said, “like a fish out of water,” and all he could do was to dispatch a man -to B—— to warn the cutter. “And that,” said he, “is just about as good as -nothing. They’ve got off clean, and there’s an end. Only,” he added, “I’m glad -I trod on Master Pew’s corns,” for by this time he had heard my story. -</p> - -<p> -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a house in -such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down by these fellows in -their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and though nothing had actually -been taken away except the captain’s money-bag and a little silver from the -till, I could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of -the scene. -</p> - -<p> -“They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were they -after? More money, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir; not money, I think,” replied I. “In fact, sir, I believe I have the -thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should like to get it -put in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure, boy; quite right,” said he. “I’ll take it, if you like.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey—” I began. -</p> - -<p> -“Perfectly right,” he interrupted very cheerily, “perfectly right—a gentleman -and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as well ride round -there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew’s dead, when all’s done; -not that I regret it, but he’s dead, you see, and people will make it out -against an officer of his Majesty’s revenue, if make it out they can. Now, I’ll -tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I’ll take you along.” -</p> - -<p> -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet where -the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they were all in -the saddle. -</p> - -<p> -“Dogger,” said Mr. Dance, “you have a good horse; take up this lad behind you.” -</p> - -<p> -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger’s belt, the supervisor gave the -word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. Livesey’s -house. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap06"></a> -<img src="images/0070m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0070m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VI<br/> -The Captain’s Papers</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9070m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9070m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -e rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey’s door. The house -was all dark to the front. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup to -descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. -</p> - -<p> -“Is Dr. Livesey in?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the hall to -dine and pass the evening with the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“So there we go, boys,” said Mr. Dance. -</p> - -<p> -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with Dogger’s -stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, moonlit avenue to -where the white line of the hall buildings looked on either hand on great old -gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking me along with him, was admitted -at a word into the house. -</p> - -<p> -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a great -library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, where the -squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a bright fire. -</p> - -<p> -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six feet -high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all -roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His eyebrows were very -black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you -would say, but quick and high. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in, Mr. Dance,” says he, very stately and condescending. -</p> - -<p> -“Good evening, Dance,” says the doctor with a nod. “And good evening to you, -friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?” -</p> - -<p> -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a lesson; -and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward and looked at -each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. When they heard -how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and -the squire cried “Bravo!” and broke his long pipe against the grate. Long -before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will remember, was the squire’s -name) had got up from his seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, -as if to hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig and sat there looking -very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll. -</p> - -<p> -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Dance,” said the squire, “you are a very noble fellow. And as for riding -down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, -like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, I perceive. Hawkins, -will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some ale.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so, Jim,” said the doctor, “you have the thing that they were after, have -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Here it is, sir,” said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open it; but -instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his coat. -</p> - -<p> -“Squire,” said he, “when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be off on -his Majesty’s service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at my -house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up the cold pie and -let him sup.” -</p> - -<p> -“As you will, Livesey,” said the squire; “Hawkins has earned better than cold -pie.” -</p> - -<p> -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made a hearty -supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further complimented -and at last dismissed. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, squire,” said the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, Livesey,” said the squire in the same breath. -</p> - -<p> -“One at a time, one at a time,” laughed Dr. Livesey. “You have heard of this -Flint, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the -bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The -Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was -sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I’ve seen his top-sails with these eyes, -off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put -back—put back, sir, into Port of Spain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I’ve heard of him myself, in England,” said the doctor. “But the point -is, had he money?” -</p> - -<p> -“Money!” cried the squire. “Have you heard the story? What were these villains -after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk -their rascal carcasses but money?” -</p> - -<p> -“That we shall soon know,” replied the doctor. “But you are so confoundedly -hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is -this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to where Flint buried -his treasure, will that treasure amount to much?” -</p> - -<p> -“Amount, sir!” cried the squire. “It will amount to this: If we have the clue -you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and Hawkins here -along, and I’ll have that treasure if I search a year.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well,” said the doctor. “Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we’ll open the -packet”; and he laid it before him on the table. -</p> - -<p> -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his instrument case -and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It contained two things—a book -and a sealed paper. -</p> - -<p> -“First of all we’ll try the book,” observed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened it, for Dr. -Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the side-table, where I had -been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first page there were -only some scraps of writing, such as a man with a pen in his hand might make -for idleness or practice. One was the same as the tattoo mark, “Billy Bones his -fancy”; then there was “Mr. W. Bones, mate,” “No more rum,” “Off Palm Key he -got itt,” and some other snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. I -could not help wondering who it was that had “got itt,” and what “itt” was that -he got. A knife in his back as like as not. -</p> - -<p> -“Not much instruction there,” said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. -</p> - -<p> -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of entries. -There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a sum of money, as in -common account-books, but instead of explanatory writing, only a varying number -of crosses between the two. On the 12th of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of -seventy pounds had plainly become due to someone, and there was nothing but six -crosses to explain the cause. In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place -would be added, as “Offe Caraccas,” or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, -as “62° 17′ 20″, 19° 2′ 40″.” -</p> - -<p> -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate entries -growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total had been made out -after five or six wrong additions, and these words appended, “Bones, his pile.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t make head or tail of this,” said Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -“The thing is as clear as noonday,” cried the squire. “This is the -black-hearted hound’s account-book. These crosses stand for the names of ships -or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel’s share, and -where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something clearer. ‘Offe -Caraccas,’ now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel boarded off that coast. -God help the poor souls that manned her—coral long ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right!” said the doctor. “See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And the -amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank.” -</p> - -<p> -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted in the -blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, English, and -Spanish moneys to a common value. -</p> - -<p> -“Thrifty man!” cried the doctor. “He wasn’t the one to be cheated.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now,” said the squire, “for the other.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0075m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0075m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0075.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of seal; the -very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain’s pocket. The doctor -opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an island, with -latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills and bays and inlets, and -every particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon -its shores. It was about nine miles long and five across, shaped, you might -say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and -a hill in the centre part marked “The Spy-glass.” There were several additions -of a later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink—two on the north part -of the island, one in the southwest—and beside this last, in the same red ink, -and in a small, neat hand, very different from the captain’s tottery -characters, these words: “Bulk of treasure here.” -</p> - -<p> -Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. -</p> - -<p> -Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -Ten feet. -</p> - -<p> -The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find it by the trend of the east -hummock, ten fathoms south of the black crag with the face on it. -</p> - -<p> -The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. point of north inlet cape, -bearing E. and a quarter N. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J.F. -</p> - -<p> -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled the -squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey,” said the squire, “you will give up this wretched practice at once. -Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks’ time—three weeks!—two weeks—ten -days—we’ll have the best ship, sir, and the choicest crew in England. Hawkins -shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, -are ship’s doctor; I am admiral. We’ll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We’ll -have favourable winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding -the spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever -after.” -</p> - -<p> -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “I’ll go with you; and I’ll go bail for it, so -will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There’s only one man I’m afraid -of.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who’s that?” cried the squire. “Name the dog, sir!” -</p> - -<p> -“You,” replied the doctor; “for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not the -only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the inn -tonight—bold, desperate blades, for sure—and the rest who stayed aboard that -lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and all, through thick and -thin, bound that they’ll get that money. We must none of us go alone till we -get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the meanwhile; you’ll take Joyce -and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and from first to last, not one of us must -breathe a word of what we’ve found.” -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll be as -silent as the grave.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0081m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0081m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0081.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part02"></a> -PART TWO—The Sea-cook</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap07"></a> -<img src="images/0083m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0083m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VII<br/> -I Go to Bristol</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9083m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9083m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, and none -of our first plans—not even Dr. Livesey’s, of keeping me beside him—could be -carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to London for a physician to -take charge of his practice; the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I -lived on at the hall under the charge of old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a -prisoner, but full of sea-dreams and the most charming anticipations of strange -islands and adventures. I brooded by the hour together over the map, all the -details of which I well remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper’s -room, I approached that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I -explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that tall -hill they call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most wonderful and -changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with savages, with whom we -fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that hunted us, but in all my -fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and tragic as our actual adventures. -</p> - -<p> -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed to Dr. -Livesey, with this addition, “To be opened, in the case of his absence, by Tom -Redruth or young Hawkins.” Obeying this order, we found, or rather I found—for -the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading anything but print—the following -important news: -</p> - -<p class="right"> -<i>Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17—.</i> -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Dear Livesey—As I do not know whether you are at the hall or still in London, I -send this in double to both places. -</p> - -<p> -The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at anchor, ready for sea. You never -imagined a sweeter schooner—a child might sail her—two hundred tons; name, -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who has proved himself throughout the -most surprising trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in my interest, -and so, I may say, did everyone in Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the -port we sailed for—treasure, I mean. -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“Redruth,” said I, interrupting the letter, “Dr. Livesey will not like that. -The squire has been talking, after all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, who’s a better right?” growled the gamekeeper. “A pretty rum go if -squire ain’t to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.” -</p> - -<p> -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Blandly himself found the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and by the most admirable -management got her for the merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol -monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go the length of declaring that -this honest creature would do anything for money, that the <i>Hispaniola</i> -belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly high—the most transparent -calumnies. None of them dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. -</p> - -<p> -So far there was not a hitch. The workpeople, to be sure—riggers and what -not—were most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was the crew that -troubled me. -</p> - -<p> -I wished a round score of men—in case of natives, buccaneers, or the odious -French—and I had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much as half a dozen, -till the most remarkable stroke of fortune brought me the very man that I -required. -</p> - -<p> -I was standing on the dock, when, by the merest accident, I fell in talk with -him. I found he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew all the seafaring -men in Bristol, had lost his health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to -get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that morning, he said, to get a -smell of the salt. -</p> - -<p> -I was monstrously touched—so would you have been—and, out of pure pity, I -engaged him on the spot to be ship’s cook. Long John Silver, he is called, and -has lost a leg; but that I regarded as a recommendation, since he lost it in -his country’s service, under the immortal Hawke. He has no pension, Livesey. -Imagine the abominable age we live in! -</p> - -<p> -Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, but it was a crew I had -discovered. Between Silver and myself we got together in a few days a company -of the toughest old salts imaginable—not pretty to look at, but fellows, by -their faces, of the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could fight a -frigate. -</p> - -<p> -Long John even got rid of two out of the six or seven I had already engaged. -He showed me in a moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water swabs we -had to fear in an adventure of importance. -</p> - -<p> -I am in the most magnificent health and spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping -like a tree, yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old tarpaulins -tramping round the capstan. Seaward, ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory -of the sea that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come post; do not lose an -hour, if you respect me. -</p> - -<p> -Let young Hawkins go at once to see his mother, with Redruth for a guard; and -then both come full speed to Bristol. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -John Trelawney -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -<i>Postscript.</i>—I did not tell you that Blandly, who, by the way, is to -send a consort after us if we don’t turn up by the end of August, had found an -admirable fellow for sailing master—a stiff man, which I regret, but in all -other respects a treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very competent man for -a mate, a man named Arrow. I have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things -shall go man-o’-war fashion on board the good ship <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of substance; I know of my own -knowledge that he has a banker’s account, which has never been overdrawn. He -leaves his wife to manage the inn; and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of -old bachelors like you and I may be excused for guessing that it is the wife, -quite as much as the health, that sends him back to roving. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J. T. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -P.P.S.—Hawkins may stay one night with his mother. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J. T. -</p> - -<p> -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half beside -myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old Tom Redruth, who -could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the under-gamekeepers would -gladly have changed places with him; but such was not the squire’s pleasure, -and the squire’s pleasure was like law among them all. Nobody but old Redruth -would have dared so much as even to grumble. -</p> - -<p> -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and there I -found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had so long been a -cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked cease from troubling. -The squire had had everything repaired, and the public rooms and the sign -repainted, and had added some furniture—above all a beautiful armchair for -mother in the bar. He had found her a boy as an apprentice also so that she -should not want help while I was gone. -</p> - -<p> -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my situation. -I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, not at all of the -home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this clumsy stranger, who was to -stay here in my place beside my mother, I had my first attack of tears. I am -afraid I led that boy a dog’s life, for as he was new to the work, I had a -hundred opportunities of setting him right and putting him down, and I was not -slow to profit by them. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0087m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0087m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0087.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were afoot -again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had lived -since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow—since he was repainted, no -longer quite so dear. One of my last thoughts was of the captain, who had so -often strode along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his -old brass telescope. Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out -of sight. -</p> - -<p> -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was wedged -in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the swift motion -and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from the very first, and -then slept like a log up hill and down dale through stage after stage, for when -I was awakened at last it was by a punch in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to -find that we were standing still before a large building in a city street and -that the day had already broken a long time. -</p> - -<p> -“Where are we?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Bristol,” said Tom. “Get down.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to -superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and our -way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great multitude of -ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors were singing at their -work, in another there were men aloft, high over my head, hanging to threads -that seemed no thicker than a spider’s. Though I had lived by the shore all my -life, I seemed never to have been near the sea till then. The smell of tar and -salt was something new. I saw the most wonderful figureheads, that had all been -far over the ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, -and whiskers curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, -clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could not -have been more delighted. -</p> - -<p> -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping boatswain -and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek -for buried treasure! -</p> - -<p> -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front of a -large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in -stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his face and a capital -imitation of a sailor’s walk. -</p> - -<p> -“Here you are,” he cried, “and the doctor came last night from London. Bravo! -The ship’s company complete!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, sir,” cried I, “when do we sail?” -</p> - -<p> -“Sail!” says he. “We sail tomorrow!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap08"></a> -<img src="images/0090m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0090m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VIII<br/> -At the Sign of the Spy-glass</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9090m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9090m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -hen I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John Silver, -at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily find the place by -following the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for a little -tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set off, overjoyed at this -opportunity to see some more of the ships and seamen, and picked my way among a -great crowd of people and carts and bales, for the dock was now at its busiest, -until I found the tavern in question. -</p> - -<p> -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was newly -painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. There -was a street on each side and an open door on both, which made the large, low -room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of tobacco smoke. -</p> - -<p> -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that I hung -at the door, almost afraid to enter. -</p> - -<p> -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was sure he -must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the -left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, -hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as -big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in -the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a -merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. -</p> - -<p> -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in Squire -Trelawney’s letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might prove to be the -very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old Benbow. But -one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen the captain, and Black -Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was like—a -very different creature, according to me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered -landlord. -</p> - -<p> -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up to the -man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Silver, sir?” I asked, holding out the note. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, my lad,” said he; “such is my name, to be sure. And who may you be?” And -then as he saw the squire’s letter, he seemed to me to give something almost -like a start. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. “I see. You are our new -cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you.” -</p> - -<p> -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. -</p> - -<p> -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made for the -door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a moment. But his -hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at glance. It was the -tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come first to the Admiral -Benbow. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0093m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0093m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0093.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“Oh,” I cried, “stop him! It’s Black Dog!” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care two coppers who he is,” cried Silver. “But he hasn’t paid his -score. Harry, run and catch him.” -</p> - -<p> -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in pursuit. -</p> - -<p> -“If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score,” cried Silver; and then, -relinquishing my hand, “Who did you say he was?” he asked. “Black what?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dog, sir,” said I. “Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? He was -one of them.” -</p> - -<p> -“So?” cried Silver. “In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those swabs, -was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here.” -</p> - -<p> -The man whom he called Morgan—an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced sailor—came -forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Morgan,” said Long John very sternly, “you never clapped your eyes on -that Black—Black Dog before, did you, now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not I, sir,” said Morgan with a salute. -</p> - -<p> -“You didn’t know his name, did you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, Tom Morgan, it’s as good for you!” exclaimed the landlord. “If -you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would never have put another -foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what was he saying to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t rightly know, sir,” answered Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?” cried Long -John. “Don’t rightly know, don’t you! Perhaps you don’t happen to rightly know -who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what was he jawing—v’yages, -cap’ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,” answered Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may lay to -that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom.” -</p> - -<p> -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a -confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, “He’s quite an -honest man, Tom Morgan, on’y stupid. And now,” he ran on again, aloud, “let’s -see—Black Dog? No, I don’t know the name, not I. Yet I kind of think I’ve—yes, -I’ve seen the swab. He used to come here with a blind beggar, he used.” -</p> - -<p> -“That he did, you may be sure,” said I. “I knew that blind man too. His name -was Pew.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was!” cried Silver, now quite excited. “Pew! That were his name for -certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, now, -there’ll be news for Cap’n Trelawney! Ben’s a good runner; few seamen run -better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by the powers! He -talked o’ keel-hauling, did he? <i>I’ll</i> keel-haul him!” -</p> - -<p> -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and down the -tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving such a show of -excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge or a Bow Street runner. -My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on finding Black Dog at the -Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was too deep, and too ready, -and too clever for me, and by the time the two men had come back out of breath -and confessed that they had lost the track in a crowd, and been scolded like -thieves, I would have gone bail for the innocence of Long John Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“See here, now, Hawkins,” said he, “here’s a blessed hard thing on a man like -me, now, ain’t it? There’s Cap’n Trelawney—what’s he to think? Here I have this -confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house drinking of my own rum! -Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and here I let him give us all the -slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, Hawkins, you do me justice with the -cap’n. You’re a lad, you are, but you’re as smart as paint. I see that when you -first come in. Now, here it is: What could I do, with this old timber I hobble -on? When I was an A B master mariner I’d have come up alongside of him, hand -over hand, and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now—” -</p> - -<p> -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he had -remembered something. -</p> - -<p> -“The score!” he burst out. “Three goes o’ rum! Why, shiver my timbers, if I -hadn’t forgotten my score!” -</p> - -<p> -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. I could -not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, until the tavern -rang again. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!” he said at last, wiping his cheeks. -“You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I’ll take my davy I should be -rated ship’s boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This won’t do. Dooty is -dooty, messmates. I’ll put on my old cockerel hat, and step along of you to -Cap’n Trelawney, and report this here affair. For mind you, it’s serious, young -Hawkins; and neither you nor me’s come out of it with what I should make so -bold as to call credit. Nor you neither, says you; not smart—none of the pair -of us smart. But dash my buttons! That was a good un about my score.” -</p> - -<p> -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not see -the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. -</p> - -<p> -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting -companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, their rig, -tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going forward—how one -was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third making ready for sea—and -every now and then telling me some little anecdote of ships or seamen or -repeating a nautical phrase till I had learned it perfectly. I began to see -that here was one of the best of possible shipmates. -</p> - -<p> -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, -finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go aboard the -schooner on a visit of inspection. -</p> - -<p> -Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit and -the most perfect truth. “That was how it were, now, weren’t it, Hawkins?” he -would say, now and again, and I could always bear him entirely out. -</p> - -<p> -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all agreed -there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, Long John -took up his crutch and departed. -</p> - -<p> -“All hands aboard by four this afternoon,” shouted the squire after him. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir,” cried the cook, in the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, squire,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t put much faith in your discoveries, -as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits me.” -</p> - -<p> -“The man’s a perfect trump,” declared the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“And now,” added the doctor, “Jim may come on board with us, may he not?” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure he may,” says squire. “Take your hat, Hawkins, and we’ll see the -ship.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap09"></a> -<img src="images/0098m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0098m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">IX<br/> -Powder and Arms</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9098m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9098m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he <i>Hispaniola</i> lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and -round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated -underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, we got -alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. -Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He and the -squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon observed that things were not -the same between Mr. Trelawney and the captain. -</p> - -<p> -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on board and -was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the cabin when a -sailor followed us. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“I am always at the captain’s orders. Show him in,” said the squire. -</p> - -<p> -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and shut the -door behind him. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all shipshape -and seaworthy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir,” said the captain, “better speak plain, I believe, even at the risk -of offence. I don’t like this cruise; I don’t like the men; and I don’t like my -officer. That’s short and sweet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps, sir, you don’t like the ship?” inquired the squire, very angry, as I -could see. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried,” said the captain. -“She seems a clever craft; more I can’t say.” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?” says the squire. -</p> - -<p> -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. -</p> - -<p> -“Stay a bit,” said he, “stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but to -produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too little, -and I’m bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. You don’t, you -say, like this cruise. Now, why?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship for that -gentleman where he should bid me,” said the captain. “So far so good. But now I -find that every man before the mast knows more than I do. I don’t call that -fair, now, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Next,” said the captain, “I learn we are going after treasure—hear it from my -own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don’t like treasure -voyages on any account, and I don’t like them, above all, when they are secret -and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the secret has been told to the -parrot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver’s parrot?” asked the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a way of speaking,” said the captain. “Blabbed, I mean. It’s my belief -neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I’ll tell you my way of -it—life or death, and a close run.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough,” replied Dr. Livesey. “We -take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you say you -don’t like the crew. Are they not good seamen?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like them, sir,” returned Captain Smollett. “And I think I should have -had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you should,” replied the doctor. “My friend should, perhaps, have -taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was unintentional. -And you don’t like Mr. Arrow?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t, sir. I believe he’s a good seaman, but he’s too free with the crew to -be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to himself—shouldn’t drink with -the men before the mast!” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean he drinks?” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” replied the captain, “only that he’s too familiar.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?” asked the doctor. “Tell us -what you want.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?” -</p> - -<p> -“Like iron,” answered the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Very good,” said the captain. “Then, as you’ve heard me very patiently, saying -things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are putting the -powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good place under the -cabin; why not put them there?—first point. Then, you are bringing four of your -own people with you, and they tell me some of them are to be berthed forward. -Why not give them the berths here beside the cabin?—second point.” -</p> - -<p> -“Any more?” asked Mr. Trelawney. -</p> - -<p> -“One more,” said the captain. “There’s been too much blabbing already.” -</p> - -<p> -“Far too much,” agreed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll tell you what I’ve heard myself,” continued Captain Smollett: “that you -have a map of an island, that there’s crosses on the map to show where treasure -is, and that the island lies—” And then he named the latitude and longitude -exactly. -</p> - -<p> -“I never told that,” cried the squire, “to a soul!” -</p> - -<p> -“The hands know it, sir,” returned the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins,” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“It doesn’t much matter who it was,” replied the doctor. And I could see that -neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney’s protestations. -Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet in this case I believe -he was really right and that nobody had told the situation of the island. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen,” continued the captain, “I don’t know who has this map; but I -make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise -I would ask you to let me resign.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said the doctor. “You wish us to keep this matter dark and to make a -garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend’s own people, and -provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other words, you fear a -mutiny.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Captain Smollett, “with no intention to take offence, I deny your -right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified in going -to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for Mr. Arrow, I believe -him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the same; all may be for what I -know. But I am responsible for the ship’s safety and the life of every man Jack -aboard of her. I see things going, as I think, not quite right. And I ask you -to take certain precautions or let me resign my berth. And that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Smollett,” began the doctor with a smile, “did ever you hear the fable -of the mountain and the mouse? You’ll excuse me, I dare say, but you remind me -of that fable. When you came in here, I’ll stake my wig, you meant more than -this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” said the captain, “you are smart. When I came in here I meant to get -discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word.” -</p> - -<p> -“No more I would,” cried the squire. “Had Livesey not been here I should have -seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you desire, but -I think the worse of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s as you please, sir,” said the captain. “You’ll find I do my duty.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he took his leave. -</p> - -<p> -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “contrary to all my notions, I believed you have -managed to get two honest men on board with you—that man and John Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver, if you like,” cried the squire; “but as for that intolerable humbug, I -declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” says the doctor, “we shall see.” -</p> - -<p> -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and -powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by -superintending. -</p> - -<p> -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been -overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the after-part -of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to the galley and -forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had been originally meant -that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, and the squire were to -occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and I were to get two of them and Mr. -Arrow and the captain were to sleep on deck in the companion, which had been -enlarged on each side till you might almost have called it a round-house. Very -low it was still, of course; but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even -the mate seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been -doubtful as to the crew, but that is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had -not long the benefit of his opinion. -</p> - -<p> -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when the last man -or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a shore-boat. -</p> - -<p> -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as he saw -what was doing, “So ho, mates!” says he. “What’s this?” -</p> - -<p> -“We’re a-changing of the powder, Jack,” answers one. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, by the powers,” cried Long John, “if we do, we’ll miss the morning tide!” -</p> - -<p> -“My orders!” said the captain shortly. “You may go below, my man. Hands will -want supper.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he disappeared -at once in the direction of his galley. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a good man, captain,” said the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“Very likely, sir,” replied Captain Smollett. “Easy with that, men—easy,” he -ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and then suddenly -observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long brass nine, -“Here you, ship’s boy,” he cried, “out o’ that! Off with you to the cook and -get some work.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0103m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0103m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0103.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the doctor, -“I’ll have no favourites on my ship.” -</p> - -<p> -I assure you I was quite of the squire’s way of thinking, and hated the captain -deeply. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap10"></a> -<img src="images/0106m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0106m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">X<br/> -The Voyage</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9106m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9106m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -ll that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their place, -and boatfuls of the squire’s friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, coming off to -wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a night at the Admiral -Benbow when I had half the work; and I was dog-tired when, a little before -dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew began to man the -capstan-bars. I might have been twice as weary, yet I would not have left the -deck, all was so new and interesting to me—the brief commands, the shrill note -of the whistle, the men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship’s -lanterns. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave,” cried one voice. -</p> - -<p> -“The old one,” cried another. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, mates,” said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch under -his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so well: -</p> - -<p> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—” -</p> - -<p> -And then the whole crew bore chorus:— -</p> - -<p> -“Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -And at the third “Ho!” drove the bars before them with a will. -</p> - -<p> -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral Benbow in a -second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping in the chorus. But -soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at the bows; soon -the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping to flit by on either side; -and before I could lie down to snatch an hour of slumber the <i>Hispaniola</i> -had begun her voyage to the Isle of Treasure. -</p> - -<p> -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly prosperous. The -ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable seamen, and the captain -thoroughly understood his business. But before we came the length of Treasure -Island, two or three things had happened which require to be known. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had feared. He -had no command among the men, and people did what they pleased with him. But -that was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two at sea he began to -appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of -drunkenness. Time after time he was ordered below in disgrace. Sometimes he -fell and cut himself; sometimes he lay all day long in his little bunk at one -side of the companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober and -attend to his work at least passably. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That was the -ship’s mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to solve it; and -when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if he were drunk, and if he -were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted anything but water. -</p> - -<p> -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst the men, but -it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself outright, so nobody -was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with a head sea, he -disappeared entirely and was seen no more. -</p> - -<p> -“Overboard!” said the captain. “Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble of -putting him in irons.” -</p> - -<p> -But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to advance -one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest man aboard, and -though he kept his old title, he served in a way as mate. Mr. Trelawney had -followed the sea, and his knowledge made him very useful, for he often took a -watch himself in easy weather. And the coxswain, Israel Hands, was a careful, -wily, old, experienced seaman who could be trusted at a pinch with almost -anything. -</p> - -<p> -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of his name -leads me on to speak of our ship’s cook, Barbecue, as the men called him. -</p> - -<p> -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have both -hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the foot of the -crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding to every movement -of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe ashore. Still more -strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather cross the deck. He had a -line or two rigged up to help him across the widest spaces—Long John’s -earrings, they were called; and he would hand himself from one place to -another, now using the crutch, now trailing it alongside by the lanyard, as -quickly as another man could walk. Yet some of the men who had sailed with him -before expressed their pity to see him so reduced. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s no common man, Barbecue,” said the coxswain to me. “He had good schooling -in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; and brave—a lion’s -nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple four and knock their heads -together—him unarmed.” -</p> - -<p> -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking to each and -doing everybody some particular service. To me he was unweariedly kind, and -always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as clean as a new pin, the -dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in a cage in one corner. -</p> - -<p> -“Come away, Hawkins,” he would say; “come and have a yarn with John. Nobody -more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the news. Here’s -Cap’n Flint—I calls my parrot Cap’n Flint, after the famous buccaneer—here’s -Cap’n Flint predicting success to our v’yage. Wasn’t you, Cap’n?” -</p> - -<p> -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of -eight! Pieces of eight!” till you wondered that it was not out of breath, or -till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, that bird,” he would say, “is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins—they -live forever mostly; and if anybody’s seen more wickedness, it must be the -devil himself. She’s sailed with England, the great Cap’n England, the pirate. -She’s been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and -Portobello. She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It’s there -she learned ‘Pieces of eight,’ and little wonder; three hundred and fifty -thousand of ’em, Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the <i>Viceroy of the -Indies</i> out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a -babby. But you smelt powder—didn’t you, Cap’n?” -</p> - -<p> -“Stand by to go about,” the parrot would scream. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, she’s a handsome craft, she is,” the cook would say, and give her sugar -from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and swear straight -on, passing belief for wickedness. “There,” John would add, “you can’t touch -pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here’s this poor old innocent bird o’ mine -swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may lay to that. She would swear -the same, in a manner of speaking, before chaplain.” And John would touch his -forelock with a solemn way he had that made me think he was the best of men. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty distant -terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the matter; he despised -the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when he was spoken to, -and then sharp and short and dry, and not a word wasted. He owned, when driven -into a corner, that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew, that some of -them were as brisk as he wanted to see and all had behaved fairly well. As for -the ship, he had taken a downright fancy to her. “She’ll lie a point nearer the -wind than a man has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But,” he -would add, “all I say is, we’re not home again, and I don’t like the cruise.” -</p> - -<p> -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, chin in -air. -</p> - -<p> -“A trifle more of that man,” he would say, “and I shall explode.” -</p> - -<p> -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have -been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief there was -never a ship’s company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. Double grog was going -on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, as, for instance, if the -squire heard it was any man’s birthday, and always a barrel of apples standing -broached in the waist for anyone to help himself that had a fancy. -</p> - -<p> -“Never knew good come of it yet,” the captain said to Dr. Livesey. “Spoil -forecastle hands, make devils. That’s my belief.” -</p> - -<p> -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had not -been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all have -perished by the hand of treachery. -</p> - -<p> -This was how it came about. -</p> - -<p> -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after—I am not -allowed to be more plain—and now we were running down for it with a bright -lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our outward voyage by the -largest computation; some time that night, or at latest before noon of the -morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. We were heading S.S.W. and had a -steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. The <i>Hispaniola</i> rolled steadily, -dipping her bowsprit now and then with a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow -and aloft; everyone was in the bravest spirits because we were now so near an -end of the first part of our adventure. -</p> - -<p> -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way to my -berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on deck. The watch -was all forward looking out for the island. The man at the helm was watching -the luff of the sail and whistling away gently to himself, and that was the -only sound excepting the swish of the sea against the bows and around the sides -of the ship. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0111m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0111m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0111.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an apple -left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of the waters and -the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep or was on the -point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with rather a clash close by. The -barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders against it, and I was just about to -jump up when the man began to speak. It was Silver’s voice, and before I had -heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world, but lay -there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from -these dozen words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard -depended upon me alone. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap11"></a> -<img src="images/0114m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0114m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XI<br/> -What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9114m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9114m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -o, not I,” said Silver. “Flint was cap’n; I was quartermaster, along of my -timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his deadlights. It -was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me—out of college and all—Latin by the -bucket, and what not; but he was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the -rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing -names to their ships—<i>Royal Fortune</i> and so on. Now, what a ship was -christened, so let her stay, I says. So it was with the <i>Cassandra</i>, as -brought us all safe home from Malabar, after England took the <i>Viceroy of the -Indies;</i> so it was with the old <i>Walrus</i>, Flint’s old ship, as I’ve -seen amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and evidently -full of admiration. “He was the flower of the flock, was Flint!” -</p> - -<p> -“Davis was a man too, by all accounts,” said Silver. “I never sailed along of -him; first with England, then with Flint, that’s my story; and now here on my -own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred safe, from -England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain’t bad for a man before the -mast—all safe in bank. ’Tain’t earning now, it’s saving does it, you may lay to -that. Where’s all England’s men now? I dunno. Where’s Flint’s? Why, most on ’em -aboard here, and glad to get the duff—been begging before that, some on ’em. -Old Pew, as had lost his sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve -hundred pound in a year, like a lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he’s -dead now and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, -the man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and starved -at that, by the powers!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it ain’t much use, after all,” said the young seaman. -</p> - -<p> -“’Tain’t much use for fools, you may lay to it—that, nor nothing,” cried -Silver. “But now, you look here: you’re young, you are, but you’re as smart as -paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I’ll talk to you like a man.” -</p> - -<p> -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue addressing -another in the very same words of flattery as he had used to myself. I think, -if I had been able, that I would have killed him through the barrel. Meantime, -he ran on, little supposing he was overheard. -</p> - -<p> -“Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk -swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is -done, why, it’s hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in their -pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to sea again in their -shirts. But that’s not the course I lay. I puts it all away, some here, some -there, and none too much anywheres, by reason of suspicion. I’m fifty, mark -you; once back from this cruise, I set up gentleman in earnest. Time enough -too, says you. Ah, but I’ve lived easy in the meantime, never denied myself o’ -nothing heart desires, and slep’ soft and ate dainty all my days but when at -sea. And how did I begin? Before the mast, like you!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said the other, “but all the other money’s gone now, ain’t it? You -daren’t show face in Bristol after this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, where might you suppose it was?” asked Silver derisively. -</p> - -<p> -“At Bristol, in banks and places,” answered his companion. -</p> - -<p> -“It were,” said the cook; “it were when we weighed anchor. But my old missis -has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill and rigging; -and the old girl’s off to meet me. I would tell you where, for I trust you, but -it’d make jealousy among the mates.” -</p> - -<p> -“And can you trust your missis?” asked the other. -</p> - -<p> -“Gentlemen of fortune,” returned the cook, “usually trusts little among -themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with me, I -have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable—one as knows me, I mean—it won’t -be in the same world with old John. There was some that was feared of Pew, and -some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own self was feared of me. Feared -he was, and proud. They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil -himself would have been feared to go to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, -I’m not a boasting man, and you seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when -I was quartermaster, <i>lambs</i> wasn’t the word for Flint’s old buccaneers. -Ah, you may be sure of yourself in old John’s ship.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I tell you now,” replied the lad, “I didn’t half a quarter like the job -till I had this talk with you, John; but there’s my hand on it now.” -</p> - -<p> -“And a brave lad you were, and smart too,” answered Silver, shaking hands so -heartily that all the barrel shook, “and a finer figurehead for a gentleman of -fortune I never clapped my eyes on.” -</p> - -<p> -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a -“gentleman of fortune” they plainly meant neither more nor less than a common -pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last act in the -corruption of one of the honest hands—perhaps of the last one left aboard. But -on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver giving a little whistle, a -third man strolled up and sat down by the party. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick’s square,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I know’d Dick was square,” returned the voice of the coxswain, Israel -Hands. “He’s no fool, is Dick.” And he turned his quid and spat. “But look -here,” he went on, “here’s what I want to know, Barbecue: how long are we -a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I’ve had a’most enough o’ -Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by thunder! I want to go into that -cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Israel,” said Silver, “your head ain’t much account, nor ever was. But you’re -able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, here’s what I -say: you’ll berth forward, and you’ll live hard, and you’ll speak soft, and -you’ll keep sober till I give the word; and you may lay to that, my son.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I don’t say no, do I?” growled the coxswain. “What I say is, when? -That’s what I say.” -</p> - -<p> -“When! By the powers!” cried Silver. “Well now, if you want to know, I’ll tell -you when. The last moment I can manage, and that’s when. Here’s a first-rate -seaman, Cap’n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. Here’s this squire and -doctor with a map and such—I don’t know where it is, do I? No more do you, says -you. Well then, I mean this squire and doctor shall find the stuff, and help us -to get it aboard, by the powers. Then we’ll see. If I was sure of you all, sons -of double Dutchmen, I’d have Cap’n Smollett navigate us half-way back again -before I struck.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, we’re all seamen aboard here, I should think,” said the lad Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“We’re all forecastle hands, you mean,” snapped Silver. “We can steer a course, -but who’s to set one? That’s what all you gentlemen split on, first and last. -If I had my way, I’d have Cap’n Smollett work us back into the trades at least; -then we’d have no blessed miscalculations and a spoonful of water a day. But I -know the sort you are. I’ll finish with ’em at the island, as soon’s the -blunt’s on board, and a pity it is. But you’re never happy till you’re drunk. -Split my sides, I’ve a sick heart to sail with the likes of you!” -</p> - -<p> -“Easy all, Long John,” cried Israel. “Who’s a-crossin’ of you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And how many -brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?” cried Silver. “And all for -this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a thing or two at sea, -I have. If you would on’y lay your course, and a p’int to windward, you would -ride in carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You’ll have your -mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang.” -</p> - -<p> -“Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there’s others as -could hand and steer as well as you,” said Israel. “They liked a bit o’ fun, -they did. They wasn’t so high and dry, nohow, but took their fling, like jolly -companions every one.” -</p> - -<p> -“So?” says Silver. “Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, and he -died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they was a -sweet crew, they was! On’y, where are they?” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” asked Dick, “when we do lay ’em athwart, what are we to do with ’em, -anyhow?” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s the man for me!” cried the cook admiringly. “That’s what I call -business. Well, what would you think? Put ’em ashore like maroons? That would -have been England’s way. Or cut ’em down like that much pork? That would have -been Flint’s, or Billy Bones’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“Billy was the man for that,” said Israel. “‘Dead men don’t bite,’ says he. -Well, he’s dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; and if ever -a rough hand come to port, it was Billy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right you are,” said Silver; “rough and ready. But mark you here, I’m an easy -man—I’m quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it’s serious. Dooty is -dooty, mates. I give my vote—death. When I’m in Parlyment and riding in my -coach, I don’t want none of these sea-lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, -unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; but when the time -comes, why, let her rip!” -</p> - -<p> -“John,” cries the coxswain, “you’re a man!” -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll say so, Israel when you see,” said Silver. “Only one thing I claim—I -claim Trelawney. I’ll wring his calf’s head off his body with these hands, -Dick!” he added, breaking off. “You just jump up, like a sweet lad, and get me -an apple, to wet my pipe like.” -</p> - -<p> -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for it if I -had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I heard Dick -begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and the voice of Hands -exclaimed, “Oh, stow that! Don’t you get sucking of that bilge, John. Let’s -have a go of the rum.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick,” said Silver, “I trust you. I’ve a gauge on the keg, mind. There’s the -key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up.” -</p> - -<p> -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must have -been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. -</p> - -<p> -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke straight -on in the cook’s ear. It was but a word or two that I could catch, and yet I -gathered some important news, for besides other scraps that tended to the same -purpose, this whole clause was audible: “Not another man of them’ll jine.” -Hence there were still faithful men on board. -</p> - -<p> -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and -drank—one “To luck,” another with a “Here’s to old Flint,” and Silver himself -saying, in a kind of song, “Here’s to ourselves, and hold your luff, plenty of -prizes and plenty of duff.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0117m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0117m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0117.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking up, I -found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and shining white on -the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time the voice of the lookout -shouted, “Land ho!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap12"></a> -<img src="images/0122m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0122m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XII<br/> -Council of War</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9122m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9122m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people tumbling up -from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an instant outside my -barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double towards the stern, and came -out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for -the weather bow. -</p> - -<p> -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted almost -simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of us we -saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind one of them -a third and higher hill, whose peak was still buried in the fog. All three -seemed sharp and conical in figure. -</p> - -<p> -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my horrid -fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of Captain Smollett -issuing orders. The <i>Hispaniola</i> was laid a couple of points nearer the -wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the island on the east. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, men,” said the captain, when all was sheeted home, “has any one of -you ever seen that land ahead?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have, sir,” said Silver. “I’ve watered there with a trader I was cook in.” -</p> - -<p> -“The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for pirates -once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. That hill to -the nor’ard they calls the Foremast Hill; there are three hills in a row -running south’ard—fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the main—that’s the big un, -with the cloud on it—they usually calls the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout -they kept when they was in the anchorage cleaning, for it’s there they cleaned -their ships, sir, asking your pardon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have a chart here,” says Captain Smollett. “See if that’s the place.” -</p> - -<p> -Long John’s eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the fresh look -of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This was not the map we -found in Billy Bones’s chest, but an accurate copy, complete in all -things—names and heights and soundings—with the single exception of the red -crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have been his annoyance, Silver -had the strength of mind to hide it. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir,” said he, “this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily drawed -out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I -reckon. Aye, here it is: ‘Capt. Kidd’s Anchorage’—just the name my shipmate -called it. There’s a strong current runs along the south, and then away nor’ard -up the west coast. Right you was, sir,” says he, “to haul your wind and keep -the weather of the island. Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter -and careen, and there ain’t no better place for that in these waters.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, my man,” says Captain Smollett. “I’ll ask you later on to give us a -help. You may go.” -</p> - -<p> -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge of the -island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing nearer to -myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council from the -apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of his cruelty, -duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he laid his -hand upon my arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” says he, “this here is a sweet spot, this island—a sweet spot for a lad -to get ashore on. You’ll bathe, and you’ll climb trees, and you’ll hunt goats, -you will; and you’ll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself. Why, it -makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber leg, I was. It’s a -pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When you -want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he’ll put up a snack -for you to take along.” -</p> - -<p> -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off -forward and went below. -</p> - -<p> -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the -quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt -them openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts to find some -probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his side. He had left his pipe below, -and being a slave to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as -I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, -“Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then -make some pretence to send for me. I have terrible news.” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master of -himself. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, Jim,” said he quite loudly, “that was all I wanted to know,” as if -he had asked me a question. -</p> - -<p> -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They spoke -together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised his voice, or -so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey had communicated my -request, for the next thing that I heard was the captain giving an order to Job -Anderson, and all hands were piped on deck. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said Captain Smollett, “I’ve a word to say to you. This land that we -have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, being a very -open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked me a word or two, and as -I was able to tell him that every man on board had done his duty, alow and -aloft, as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and the doctor are -going below to the cabin to drink <i>your</i> health and luck, and you’ll have -grog served out for you to drink <i>our</i> health and luck. I’ll tell you what -I think of this: I think it handsome. And if you think as I do, you’ll give a -good sea-cheer for the gentleman that does it.” -</p> - -<p> -The cheer followed—that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full and -hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were plotting for -our blood. -</p> - -<p> -“One more cheer for Cap’n Smollett,” cried Long John when the first had -subsided. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0125m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0125m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0125.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And this also was given with a will. -</p> - -<p> -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, word was -sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine and -some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, -and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern window was open, -for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon shining behind on the -ship’s wake. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Hawkins,” said the squire, “you have something to say. Speak up.” -</p> - -<p> -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole details of -Silver’s conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one -of the three of them make so much as a movement, but they kept their eyes upon -my face from first to last. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” said Dr. Livesey, “take a seat.” -</p> - -<p> -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of wine, -filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, and each with -a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for my luck and courage. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, captain,” said the squire, “you were right, and I was wrong. I own myself -an ass, and I await your orders.” -</p> - -<p> -“No more an ass than I, sir,” returned the captain. “I never heard of a crew -that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that had an eye -in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But this crew,” he -added, “beats me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said the doctor, “with your permission, that’s Silver. A very -remarkable man.” -</p> - -<p> -“He’d look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir,” returned the captain. “But -this is talk; this don’t lead to anything. I see three or four points, and with -Mr. Trelawney’s permission, I’ll name them.” -</p> - -<p> -“You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak,” says Mr. Trelawney -grandly. -</p> - -<p> -“First point,” began Mr. Smollett. “We must go on, because we can’t turn back. -If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second point, we have -time before us—at least until this treasure’s found. Third point, there are -faithful hands. Now, sir, it’s got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I -propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows -some fine day when they least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own -home servants, Mr. Trelawney?” -</p> - -<p> -“As upon myself,” declared the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Three,” reckoned the captain; “ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins here. -Now, about the honest hands?” -</p> - -<p> -“Most likely Trelawney’s own men,” said the doctor; “those he had picked up for -himself before he lit on Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” replied the squire. “Hands was one of mine.” -</p> - -<p> -“I did think I could have trusted Hands,” added the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“And to think that they’re all Englishmen!” broke out the squire. “Sir, I could -find it in my heart to blow the ship up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen,” said the captain, “the best that I can say is not much. We -must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It’s trying on a man, I -know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But there’s no help for it till -we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a wind, that’s my view.” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim here,” said the doctor, “can help us more than anyone. The men are not shy -with him, and Jim is a noticing lad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you,” added the squire. -</p> - -<p> -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether helpless; and -yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety -came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only seven out of the -twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and out of these seven one was a boy, -so that the grown men on our side were six to their nineteen. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0131m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0131m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0131.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part03"></a> -PART THREE—My Shore Adventure</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap13"></a> -<img src="images/0133m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0133m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIII<br/> -How I Began My Shore Adventure</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9133m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9133m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was altogether -changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had made a great deal -of way during the night and were now lying becalmed about half a mile to the -south-east of the low eastern coast. Grey-coloured woods covered a large part -of the surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow -sand-break in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine family, -out-topping the others—some singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring -was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of -naked rock. All were strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or -four hundred feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in -configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly cut -off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms -were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole -ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had to cling tight -to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my eyes, for though I was -a good enough sailor when there was way on, this standing still and being -rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to stand without a qualm -or so, above all in the morning, on an empty stomach. -</p> - -<p> -Perhaps it was this—perhaps it was the look of the island, with its grey, -melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could both see -and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach—at least, although the sun -shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were fishing and crying all around -us, and you would have thought anyone would have been glad to get to land after -being so long at sea, my heart sank, as the saying is, into my boots; and from -the first look onward, I hated the very thought of Treasure Island. -</p> - -<p> -We had a dreary morning’s work before us, for there was no sign of any wind, -and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped three or four -miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow passage to the haven -behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of the boats, where I had, of -course, no business. The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely -over their work. Anderson was in command of my boat, and instead of keeping the -crew in order, he grumbled as loud as the worst. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he said with an oath, “it’s not forever.” -</p> - -<p> -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone briskly -and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the island had -relaxed the cords of discipline. -</p> - -<p> -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. He knew -the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the chains got -everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never hesitated once. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a strong scour with the ebb,” he said, “and this here passage has been -dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade.” -</p> - -<p> -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of a mile -from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on the other. The -bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up clouds of birds -wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a minute they were down -again and all was once more silent. -</p> - -<p> -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming right -down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops standing -round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one there. Two little -rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this pond, as you might call it; -and the foliage round that part of the shore had a kind of poisonous -brightness. From the ship we could see nothing of the house or stockade, for -they were quite buried among trees; and if it had not been for the chart on the -companion, we might have been the first that had ever anchored there since the -island arose out of the seas. -</p> - -<p> -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the surf booming -half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks outside. A peculiar -stagnant smell hung over the anchorage—a smell of sodden leaves and rotting -tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing, like someone tasting -a bad egg. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know about treasure,” he said, “but I’ll stake my wig there’s fever -here.” -</p> - -<p> -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly -threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling -together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and -grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught the -infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, it was -plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. -</p> - -<p> -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long John -was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in good advice, -and as for example no man could have shown a better. He fairly outstripped -himself in willingness and civility; he was all smiles to everyone. If an order -were given, John would be on his crutch in an instant, with the cheeriest “Aye, -aye, sir!” in the world; and when there was nothing else to do, he kept up one -song after another, as if to conceal the discontent of the rest. -</p> - -<p> -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety on -the part of Long John appeared the worst. -</p> - -<p> -We held a council in the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said the captain, “if I risk another order, the whole ship’ll come about -our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, do I not? -Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I don’t, Silver -will see there’s something under that, and the game’s up. Now, we’ve only one -man to rely on.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who is that?” asked the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Silver, sir,” returned the captain; “he’s as anxious as you and I to smother -things up. This is a tiff; he’d soon talk ’em out of it if he had the chance, -and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let’s allow the men an -afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we’ll fight the ship. If they none of -them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God defend the right. If some go, -you mark my words, sir, Silver’ll bring ’em aboard again as mild as lambs.” -</p> - -<p> -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; Hunter, -Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received the news with -less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, and then the captain -went on deck and addressed the crew. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said he, “we’ve had a hot day and are all tired and out of sorts. A -turn ashore’ll hurt nobody—the boats are still in the water; you can take the -gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the afternoon. I’ll fire a gun -half an hour before sundown.” -</p> - -<p> -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their shins over -treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out of their sulks in a -moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a faraway hill and sent the -birds once more flying and squalling round the anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight in a -moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he did -so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as have pretended not to -understand the situation. It was as plain as day. Silver was the captain, and a -mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands—and I was soon to see it -proved that there were such on board—must have been very stupid fellows. Or -rather, I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the -example of the ringleaders—only some more, some less; and a few, being good -fellows in the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one -thing to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a number -of innocent men. -</p> - -<p> -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on board, and -the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. -</p> - -<p> -Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions that -contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by Silver, it was -plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and since only six were -left, it was equally plain that the cabin party had no present need of my -assistance. It occurred to me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped -over the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost -at the same moment she shoved off. -</p> - -<p> -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you, Jim? Keep your -head down.” But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply over and called out -to know if that were me; and from that moment I began to regret what I had -done. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0137m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0137m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0137.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start and -being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, -and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had caught a branch and -swung myself out and plunged into the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest -were still a hundred yards behind. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting. -</p> - -<p> -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking through, I -ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap14"></a> -<img src="images/0140m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0140m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIV<br/> -The First Blow</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9140m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9140m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to enjoy -myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land that I was in. -</p> - -<p> -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, -swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of -undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with a few pines and a -great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the -foliage, like willows. On the far side of the open stood one of the hills, with -two quaint, craggy peaks shining vividly in the sun. -</p> - -<p> -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was uninhabited; -my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front of me but dumb -brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the trees. Here and there -were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and there I saw snakes, and one -raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me with a noise not unlike -the spinning of a top. Little did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that -the noise was the famous rattle. -</p> - -<p> -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees—live, or evergreen, oaks, -I heard afterwards they should be called—which grew low along the sand like -brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage compact, like thatch. The -thicket stretched down from the top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and -growing taller as it went, until it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, -through which the nearest of the little rivers soaked its way into the -anchorage. The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the -Spy-glass trembled through the haze. -</p> - -<p> -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; a wild duck -flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the whole surface of the -marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in the air. I judged -at once that some of my shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the -fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon I heard the very distant and low tones of a -human voice, which, as I continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and -nearer. -</p> - -<p> -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest live-oak -and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. -</p> - -<p> -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized to be -Silver’s, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while in a stream, -only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they must have been -talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no distinct word came to my -hearing. -</p> - -<p> -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, for -not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves began to -grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp. -</p> - -<p> -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since I had -been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the least I could -do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my plain and obvious duty -was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable ambush of the -crouching trees. -</p> - -<p> -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by the -sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that still hung in -alarm above the heads of the intruders. -</p> - -<p> -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at last, -raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear down into a -little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about with trees, where -Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to face in conversation. -</p> - -<p> -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the -ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was lifted to -the other man’s in a kind of appeal. -</p> - -<p> -“Mate,” he was saying, “it’s because I thinks gold dust of you—gold dust, and -you may lay to that! If I hadn’t took to you like pitch, do you think I’d have -been here a-warning of you? All’s up—you can’t make nor mend; it’s to save your -neck that I’m a-speaking, and if one of the wild uns knew it, where’d I be, -Tom—now, tell me, where’d I be?” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver,” said the other man—and I observed he was not only red in the face, -but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a taut -rope—“Silver,” says he, “you’re old, and you’re honest, or has the name for it; -and you’ve money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn’t; and you’re brave, or -I’m mistook. And will you tell me you’ll let yourself be led away with that -kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure as God sees me, I’d sooner lose my -hand. If I turn agin my dooty—” -</p> - -<p> -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found one of the -honest hands—well, here, at that same moment, came news of another. Far away -out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like the cry of anger, -then another on the back of it; and then one horrid, long-drawn scream. The -rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a score of times; the whole troop of -marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, with a simultaneous whirr; and long -after that death yell was still ringing in my brain, silence had re-established -its empire, and only the rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the -distant surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. -</p> - -<p> -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had not -winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching -his companion like a snake about to spring. -</p> - -<p> -“John!” said the sailor, stretching out his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Hands off!” cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with the -speed and security of a trained gymnast. -</p> - -<p> -“Hands off, if you like, John Silver,” said the other. “It’s a black conscience -that can make you feared of me. But in heaven’s name, tell me, what was that?” -</p> - -<p> -“That?” returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye a mere -pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. “That? Oh, I -reckon that’ll be Alan.” -</p> - -<p> -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. -</p> - -<p> -“Alan!” he cried. “Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, John -Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine, but you’re mate of mine no more. If I -die like a dog, I’ll die in my dooty. You’ve killed Alan, have you? Kill me -too, if you can. But I defies you.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook and set -off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. With a cry John -seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of his armpit, and sent -that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. It struck poor Tom, point -foremost, and with stunning violence, right between the shoulders in the middle -of his back. His hands flew up, he gave a sort of gasp, and fell. -</p> - -<p> -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like enough, to -judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he had no time given -him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without leg or crutch, was on -the top of him next moment and had twice buried his knife up to the hilt in -that defenceless body. From my place of ambush, I could hear him pant aloud as -he struck the blows. -</p> - -<p> -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the next -little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling mist; -Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and round and -topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing and distant voices -shouting in my ear. -</p> - -<p> -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, his crutch -under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom lay motionless upon -the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, cleansing his blood-stained -knife the while upon a wisp of grass. Everything else was unchanged, the sun -still shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the -mountain, and I could scarce persuade myself that murder had been actually done -and a human life cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0141m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0141m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0141.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0145m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0145m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0145.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and blew upon -it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated air. I could not -tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but it instantly awoke my fears. -More men would be coming. I might be discovered. They had already slain two of -the honest people; after Tom and Alan, might not I come next? -</p> - -<p> -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what speed and -silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the wood. As I did so, I -could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades, -and this sound of danger lent me wings. As soon as I was clear of the thicket, -I ran as I never ran before, scarce minding the direction of my flight, so long -as it led me from the murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me until -it turned into a kind of frenzy. -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, how -should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still smoking from -their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring my neck like a -snipe’s? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to them of my alarm, and -therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, I thought. Good-bye to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>; good-bye to the squire, the doctor, and the captain! There -was nothing left for me but death by starvation or death by the hands of the -mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any notice, I -had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two peaks and had got -into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew more widely apart and seemed -more like forest trees in their bearing and dimensions. Mingled with these were -a few scattered pines, some fifty, some nearer seventy, feet high. The air too -smelt more freshly than down beside the marsh. -</p> - -<p> -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap15"></a> -<img src="images/0150m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0150m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XV<br/> -The Man of the Island</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9150m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9150m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -rom the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of gravel was -dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. My eyes turned -instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap with great rapidity -behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether bear or man or monkey, I could -in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of -this new apparition brought me to a stand. -</p> - -<p> -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, before -me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer the dangers that -I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less terrible in contrast -with this creature of the woods, and I turned on my heel, and looking sharply -behind me over my shoulder, began to retrace my steps in the direction of the -boats. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to head me -off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I rose, I could -see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an adversary. From -trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running manlike on two legs, -but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as it ran. Yet -a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt about that. -</p> - -<p> -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of calling -for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, had somewhat -reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in proportion. I stood -still, therefore, and cast about for some method of escape; and as I was so -thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed into my mind. As soon as I -remembered I was not defenceless, courage glowed again in my heart and I set my -face resolutely for this man of the island and walked briskly towards him. -</p> - -<p> -He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must have been -watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his direction he -reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, drew back, came -forward again, and at last, to my wonder and confusion, threw himself on his -knees and held out his clasped hands in supplication. -</p> - -<p> -At that I once more stopped. -</p> - -<p> -“Who are you?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ben Gunn,” he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, like a rusty -lock. “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a Christian these -three years.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0153m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0153m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0153.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his features were -even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was burnt by the sun; even -his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked quite startling in so dark a -face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen or fancied, he was the chief for -raggedness. He was clothed with tatters of old ship’s canvas and old sea-cloth, -and this extraordinary patchwork was all held together by a system of the most -various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of -tarry gaskin. About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which -was the one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. -</p> - -<p> -“Three years!” I cried. “Were you shipwrecked?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, mate,” said he; “marooned.” -</p> - -<p> -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of punishment -common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender is put ashore with a -little powder and shot and left behind on some desolate and distant island. -</p> - -<p> -“Marooned three years agone,” he continued, “and lived on goats since then, and -berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can do for himself. But, -mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn’t happen to have a piece -of cheese about you, now? No? Well, many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of -cheese—toasted, mostly—and woke up again, and here I were.” -</p> - -<p> -“If ever I can get aboard again,” said I, “you shall have cheese by the stone.” -</p> - -<p> -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing my hands, -looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of his speech, showing a -childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow creature. But at my last words he -perked up into a kind of startled slyness. -</p> - -<p> -“If ever you can get aboard again, says you?” he repeated. “Why, now, who’s to -hinder you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not you, I know,” was my reply. -</p> - -<p> -“And right you was,” he cried. “Now you—what do you call yourself, mate?” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” I told him. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim, Jim,” says he, quite pleased apparently. “Well, now, Jim, I’ve lived that -rough as you’d be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn’t think I -had had a pious mother—to look at me?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, no, not in particular,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well,” said he, “but I had—<i>re</i>markable pious. And I was a civil, -pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn’t tell -one word from another. And here’s what it come to, Jim, and it begun with -chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That’s what it begun with, but it -went further’n that; and so my mother told me, and predicked the whole, she -did, the pious woman! But it were Providence that put me here. I’ve thought it -all out in this here lonely island, and I’m back on piety. You don’t catch me -tasting rum so much, but just a thimbleful for luck, of course, the first -chance I have. I’m bound I’ll be good, and I see the way to. And, Jim”—looking -all round him and lowering his voice to a whisper—“I’m rich.” -</p> - -<p> -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and I -suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the statement -hotly: “Rich! Rich! I says. And I’ll tell you what: I’ll make a man of you, -Jim. Ah, Jim, you’ll bless your stars, you will, you was the first that found -me!” -</p> - -<p> -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he -tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly before -my eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain’t Flint’s ship?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found an ally, -and I answered him at once. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not Flint’s ship, and Flint is dead; but I’ll tell you true, as you ask -me—there are some of Flint’s hands aboard; worse luck for the rest of us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a man—with one—leg?” he gasped. -</p> - -<p> -“Silver?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Silver!” says he. “That were his name.” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s the cook, and the ringleader too.” -</p> - -<p> -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a wring. -</p> - -<p> -“If you was sent by Long John,” he said, “I’m as good as pork, and I know it. -But where was you, do you suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him the whole -story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found ourselves. He heard -me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he patted me on the head. -</p> - -<p> -“You’re a good lad, Jim,” he said; “and you’re all in a clove hitch, ain’t you? -Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn—Ben Gunn’s the man to do it. Would -you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a liberal-minded one in -case of help—him being in a clove hitch, as you remark?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, but you see,” returned Ben Gunn, “I didn’t mean giving me a gate to keep, -and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that’s not my mark, Jim. What I mean -is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one thousand pounds out -of money that’s as good as a man’s own already?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sure he would,” said I. “As it was, all hands were to share.” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>And</i> a passage home?” he added with a look of great shrewdness. -</p> - -<p> -“Why,” I cried, “the squire’s a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of the -others, we should want you to help work the vessel home.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said he, “so you would.” And he seemed very much relieved. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, I’ll tell you what,” he went on. “So much I’ll tell you, and no more. I -were in Flint’s ship when he buried the treasure; he and six along—six strong -seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us standing off and on in the old -<i>Walrus</i>. One fine day up went the signal, and here come Flint by himself -in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, -and mortal white he looked about the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and -the six all dead—dead and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could -make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways—him against six. -Billy Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him -where the treasure was. ‘Ah,’ says he, ‘you can go ashore, if you like, and -stay,’ he says; ‘but as for the ship, she’ll beat up for more, by thunder!’ -That’s what he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this island. -‘Boys,’ said I, ‘here’s Flint’s treasure; let’s land and find it.’ The cap’n -was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed. Twelve -days they looked for it, and every day they had the worse word for me, until -one fine morning all hands went aboard. ‘As for you, Benjamin Gunn,’ says they, -‘here’s a musket,’ they says, ‘and a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and -find Flint’s money for yourself,’ they says. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian diet from -that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I look like a man -before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren’t, neither, I says.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. -</p> - -<p> -“Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim,” he went on. “Nor he weren’t, -neither—that’s the words. Three years he were the man of this island, light and -dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe think upon a prayer (says -you), and sometimes he would maybe think of his old mother, so be as she’s -alive (you’ll say); but the most part of Gunn’s time (this is what you’ll -say)—the most part of his time was took up with another matter. And then you’ll -give him a nip, like I do.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. -</p> - -<p> -“Then,” he continued, “then you’ll up, and you’ll say this: Gunn is a good man -(you’ll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence—a precious sight, -mind that—in a gen’leman born than in these gen’leman of fortune, having been -one hisself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” I said, “I don’t understand one word that you’ve been saying. But -that’s neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said he, “that’s the hitch, for sure. Well, there’s my boat, that I made -with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst come to the -worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!” he broke out. “What’s that?” -</p> - -<p> -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the echoes -of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. -</p> - -<p> -“They have begun to fight!” I cried. “Follow me.” -</p> - -<p> -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, while close -at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly. -</p> - -<p> -“Left, left,” says he; “keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the trees with -you! Theer’s where I killed my first goat. They don’t come down here now; -they’re all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And -there’s the cetemery”—cemetery, he must have meant. “You see the mounds? I come -here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought maybe a Sunday would be about -doo. It weren’t quite a chapel, but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says -you, Ben Gunn was short-handed—no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, -you says.” -</p> - -<p> -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. -</p> - -<p> -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley of small -arms. -</p> - -<p> -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I beheld the -Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0159m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0159m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0159.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part04"></a> -PART FOUR—The Stockade</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap16"></a> -<img src="images/0161m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0161m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVI<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9161m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9161m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was about half past one—three bells in the sea phrase—that the two boats went -ashore from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. The captain, the squire, and I were talking -matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, we should have -fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our cable, -and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and to complete our helplessness, -down came Hunter with the news that Jim Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was -gone ashore with the rest. -</p> - -<p> -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for his -safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we -should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was bubbling in the seams; -the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; if ever a man smelt fever and -dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The six scoundrels were sitting -grumbling under a sail in the forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made -fast and a man sitting in each, hard by where the river runs in. One of them -was whistling “Lillibullero.” -</p> - -<p> -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go ashore -with the jolly-boat in quest of information. -</p> - -<p> -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, in the -direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were left guarding their -boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; “Lillibullero” stopped off, and I -could see the pair discussing what they ought to do. Had they gone and told -Silver, all might have turned out differently; but they had their orders, I -suppose, and decided to sit quietly where they were and hark back again to -“Lillibullero.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it between us; -even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. I jumped out and came -as near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief under my hat for -coolness’ sake and a brace of pistols ready primed for safety. -</p> - -<p> -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. -</p> - -<p> -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a knoll. -Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a stout loghouse -fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed for musketry on either -side. All round this they had cleared a wide space, and then the thing was -completed by a paling six feet high, without door or opening, too strong to -pull down without time and labour and too open to shelter the besiegers. The -people in the log-house had them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and -shot the others like partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; -for, short of a complete surprise, they might have held the place against a -regiment. -</p> - -<p> -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good enough -place of it in the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, with plenty of arms and -ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been one thing -overlooked—we had no water. I was thinking this over when there came ringing -over the island the cry of a man at the point of death. I was not new to -violent death—I have served his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and got -a wound myself at Fontenoy—but I know my pulse went dot and carry one. “Jim -Hawkins is gone,” was my first thought. -</p> - -<p> -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been a -doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made up my -mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and jumped on board -the jolly-boat. -</p> - -<p> -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the boat -was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. -</p> - -<p> -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as white -as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! And one of -the six forecastle hands was little better. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a man,” says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, “new to this work. -He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. Another touch of the -rudder and that man would join us.” -</p> - -<p> -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details of its -accomplishment. -</p> - -<p> -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, with -three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter brought the -boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work loading her with -powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a cask of cognac, and my -invaluable medicine chest. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the latter -hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Hands,” he said, “here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. If any -one of you six make a signal of any description, that man’s dead.” -</p> - -<p> -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one and all -tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us on the rear. But -when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred galley, they went about -ship at once, and a head popped out again on deck. -</p> - -<p> -“Down, dog!” cries the captain. -</p> - -<p> -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of these -six very faint-hearted seamen. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0163m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0163m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0163.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat loaded as -much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, and we made for -shore again as fast as oars could take us. -</p> - -<p> -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. “Lillibullero” was -dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the little point, -one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a mind to change my plan -and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver and the others might be close -at hand, and all might very well be lost by trying for too much. -</p> - -<p> -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to provision the -block house. All three made the first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our -stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them—one man, to be -sure, but with half a dozen muskets—Hunter and I returned to the jolly-boat and -loaded ourselves once more. So we proceeded without pausing to take breath, -till the whole cargo was bestowed, when the two servants took up their position -in the block house, and I, with all my power, sculled back to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it really -was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the advantage of -arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before they could get within -range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves we should be able to give a -good account of a half-dozen at least. -</p> - -<p> -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness gone from -him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat -for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo, with only a musket -and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me and Redruth and the captain. The -rest of the arms and powder we dropped overboard in two fathoms and a half of -water, so that we could see the bright steel shining far below us in the sun, -on the clean, sandy bottom. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging round to -her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the direction of the two -gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and Hunter, who were well to the -eastward, it warned our party to be off. -</p> - -<p> -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the boat, -which we then brought round to the ship’s counter, to be handier for Captain -Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, men,” said he, “do you hear me?” -</p> - -<p> -There was no answer from the forecastle. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s to you, Abraham Gray—it’s to you I am speaking.” -</p> - -<p> -Still no reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Gray,” resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, “I am leaving this ship, and I -order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at bottom, and I -dare say not one of the lot of you’s as bad as he makes out. I have my watch -here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join me in.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a pause. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, my fine fellow,” continued the captain; “don’t hang so long in stays. -I’m risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every second.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham Gray with a -knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the captain like a dog -to the whistle. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m with you, sir,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we had -shoved off and given way. -</p> - -<p> -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap17"></a> -<img src="images/0168m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0168m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVII<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9168m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9168m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -his fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the first place, -the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five -grown men, and three of them—Trelawney, Redruth, and the captain—over six feet -high, was already more than she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, -pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times we shipped -a little water, and my breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet -before we had gone a hundred yards. -</p> - -<p> -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more evenly. -All the same, we were afraid to breathe. -</p> - -<p> -In the second place, the ebb was now making—a strong rippling current running -westward through the basin, and then south’ard and seaward down the straits by -which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples were a danger to our -overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we were swept out of our true -course and away from our proper landing-place behind the point. If we let the -current have its way we should come ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates -might appear at any moment. -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,” said I to the captain. I was -steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. “The tide -keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not without swamping the boat,” said he. “You must bear up, sir, if you -please—bear up until you see you’re gaining.” -</p> - -<p> -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward until I -had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the way we ought to -go. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ll never get ashore at this rate,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“If it’s the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it,” returned -the captain. “We must keep upstream. You see, sir,” he went on, “if once we -dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it’s hard to say where we should get -ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the gigs; whereas, the way we go -the current must slacken, and then we can dodge back along the shore.” -</p> - -<p> -“The current’s less a’ready, sir,” said the man Gray, who was sitting in the -fore-sheets; “you can ease her off a bit.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, my man,” said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we had all -quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a little -changed. -</p> - -<p> -“The gun!” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“I have thought of that,” said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a -bombardment of the fort. “They could never get the gun ashore, and if they did, -they could never haul it through the woods.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look astern, doctor,” replied the captain. -</p> - -<p> -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were the -five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called the stout -tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but it flashed into my -mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the powder for the gun had been -left behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into the possession of -the evil ones abroad. -</p> - -<p> -“Israel was Flint’s gunner,” said Gray hoarsely. -</p> - -<p> -At any risk, we put the boat’s head direct for the landing-place. By this time -we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept steerage way even -at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could keep her steady for the -goal. But the worst of it was that with the course I now held we turned our -broadside instead of our stern to the <i>Hispaniola</i> and offered a target -like a barn door. -</p> - -<p> -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands plumping down -a round-shot on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -“Who’s the best shot?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Trelawney, out and away,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? Hands, if -possible,” said the captain. -</p> - -<p> -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” cried the captain, “easy with that gun, sir, or you’ll swamp the boat. -All hands stand by to trim her when he aims.” -</p> - -<p> -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the other -side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we did not ship -a drop. -</p> - -<p> -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, who -was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. -However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he stooped, the ball -whistled over him, and it was one of the other four who fell. -</p> - -<p> -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a great -number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other -pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling into their places in the -boats. -</p> - -<p> -“Here come the gigs, sir,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Give way, then,” cried the captain. “We mustn’t mind if we swamp her now. If -we can’t get ashore, all’s up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir,” I added; “the crew of the other -most likely going round by shore to cut us off.” -</p> - -<p> -“They’ll have a hot run, sir,” returned the captain. “Jack ashore, you know. -It’s not them I mind; it’s the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady’s maid -couldn’t miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we’ll hold water.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0171m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0171m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0171.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so -overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were now -close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the ebb had -already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering trees. The gig was -no longer to be feared; the little point had already concealed it from our -eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed us, was now making reparation -and delaying our assailants. The one source of danger was the gun. -</p> - -<p> -“If I durst,” said the captain, “I’d stop and pick off another man.” -</p> - -<p> -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They had -never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I -could see him trying to crawl away. -</p> - -<p> -“Ready!” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Hold!” cried the captain, quick as an echo. -</p> - -<p> -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily under -water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was the first that -Jim heard, the sound of the squire’s shot not having reached him. Where the -ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I fancy it must have been over -our heads and that the wind of it may have contributed to our disaster. -</p> - -<p> -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of water, -leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. The other three -took complete headers, and came up again drenched and bubbling. -</p> - -<p> -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade ashore in -safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to make things worse, -only two guns out of five remained in a state for service. Mine I had snatched -from my knees and held over my head, by a sort of instinct. As for the captain, -he had carried his over his shoulder by a bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock -uppermost. The other three had gone down with the boat. -</p> - -<p> -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the woods -along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from the stockade -in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, if Hunter and Joyce -were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the sense and conduct to stand -firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a doubtful case—a pleasant, -polite man for a valet and to brush one’s clothes, but not entirely fitted for -a man of war. -</p> - -<p> -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving behind -us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and provisions. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap18"></a> -<img src="images/0175m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0175m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVIII<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9175m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9175m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -e made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from the -stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. -Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking of the branches -as they breasted across a bit of thicket. -</p> - -<p> -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my -priming. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said I, “Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his own is -useless.” -</p> - -<p> -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since the -beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all was fit for -service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I handed him my -cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his hand, knit his -brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was plain from every line of -his body that our new hand was worth his salt. -</p> - -<p> -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade in -front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south side, and -almost at the same time, seven mutineers—Job Anderson, the boatswain, at their -head—appeared in full cry at the southwestern corner. -</p> - -<p> -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the squire -and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to fire. The four -shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did the business: one of the -enemy actually fell, and the rest, without hesitation, turned and plunged into -the trees. -</p> - -<p> -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to the -fallen enemy. He was stone dead—shot through the heart. -</p> - -<p> -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a pistol -cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth -stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire and I returned the -shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable we only wasted powder. -Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor Tom. -</p> - -<p> -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an eye -that all was over. -</p> - -<p> -I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers once -more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the poor old -gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and bleeding, into -the log-house. -</p> - -<p> -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, fear, or -even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till now, when we had -laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a Trojan behind his -mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order silently, doggedly, and -well; he was the oldest of our party by a score of years; and now, sullen, old, -serviceable servant, it was he that was to die. -</p> - -<p> -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, crying -like a child. -</p> - -<p> -“Be I going, doctor?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom, my man,” said I, “you’re going home.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first,” he replied. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom,” said the squire, “say you forgive me, won’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?” was the answer. -“Howsoever, so be it, amen!” -</p> - -<p> -After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read a -prayer. “It’s the custom, sir,” he added apologetically. And not long after, -without another word, he passed away. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully swollen -about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various stores—the -British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, the log-book, and -pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree lying felled and trimmed in -the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter he had set it up at the corner of -the log-house where the trunks crossed and made an angle. Then, climbing on the -roof, he had with his own hand bent and run up the colours. -</p> - -<p> -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set about -counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an eye on Tom’s -passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward with another -flag and reverently spread it on the body. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you take on, sir,” he said, shaking the squire’s hand. “All’s well with -him; no fear for a hand that’s been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. -It mayn’t be good divinity, but it’s a fact.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he pulled me aside. -</p> - -<p> -“Dr. Livesey,” he said, “in how many weeks do you and squire expect the -consort?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we were not -back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but neither sooner -nor later. “You can calculate for yourself,” I said. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, yes,” returned the captain, scratching his head; “and making a large -allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we were pretty -close hauled.” -</p> - -<p> -“How do you mean?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That’s what I mean,” replied the -captain. “As for powder and shot, we’ll do. But the rations are short, very -short—so short, Dr. Livesey, that we’re perhaps as well without that extra -mouth.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. -</p> - -<p> -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the roof -of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. -</p> - -<p> -“Oho!” said the captain. “Blaze away! You’ve little enough powder already, my -lads.” -</p> - -<p> -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside the -stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said the squire, “the house is quite invisible from the ship. It -must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it in?” -</p> - -<p> -“Strike my colours!” cried the captain. “No, sir, not I”; and as soon as he had -said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was not only a piece of -stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy besides and showed our -enemies that we despised their cannonade. -</p> - -<p> -All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew over or -fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had to fire so high -that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft sand. We had no ricochet -to fear, and though one popped in through the roof of the log-house and out -again through the floor, we soon got used to that sort of horse-play and minded -it no more than cricket. -</p> - -<p> -“There is one good thing about all this,” observed the captain; “the wood in -front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our stores should -be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork.” -</p> - -<p> -Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole out of -the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were bolder than -we fancied or they put more trust in Israel’s gunnery. For four or five of them -were busy carrying off our stores and wading out with them to one of the gigs -that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to hold her steady against the current. -Silver was in the stern-sheets in command; and every man of them was now -provided with a musket from some secret magazine of their own. -</p> - -<p> -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship’s doctor; Abraham Gray, -carpenter’s mate; John Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, owner’s -servants, landsmen—being all that is left faithful of the ship’s company—with -stores for ten days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew British -colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. Thomas Redruth, owner’s servant, -landsman, shot by the mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy— -</p> - -<p> -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins’ fate. -</p> - -<p> -A hail on the land side. -</p> - -<p> -“Somebody hailing us,” said Hunter, who was on guard. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?” came the cries. -</p> - -<p> -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come climbing -over the stockade. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0179m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0179m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0179.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap19"></a> -<img src="images/0182m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0182m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIX<br/> -Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9182m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9182m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -s soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the arm, -and sat down. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said he, “there’s your friends, sure enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“Far more likely it’s the mutineers,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“That!” he cried. “Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but -gen’lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don’t make no doubt -of that. No, that’s your friends. There’s been blows too, and I reckon your -friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in the old stockade, -as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a -headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were never seen. He were afraid of -none, not he; on’y Silver—Silver was that genteel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that I -should hurry on and join my friends.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, mate,” returned Ben, “not you. You’re a good boy, or I’m mistook; but -you’re on’y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn’t bring me there, -where you’re going—not rum wouldn’t, till I see your born gen’leman and gets it -on his word of honour. And you won’t forget my words; ‘A precious sight (that’s -what you’ll say), a precious sight more confidence’—and then nips him.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. -</p> - -<p> -“And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just wheer you -found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing in his hand, and -he’s to come alone. Oh! And you’ll say this: ‘Ben Gunn,’ says you, ‘has reasons -of his own.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I believe I understand. You have something to propose, and you -wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you’re to be found where I found you. -Is that all?” -</p> - -<p> -“And when? says you,” he added. “Why, from about noon observation to about six -bells.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good,” said I, “and now may I go?” -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t forget?” he inquired anxiously. “Precious sight, and reasons of his -own, says you. Reasons of his own; that’s the mainstay; as between man and man. -Well, then”—still holding me—“I reckon you can go, Jim. And, Jim, if you was to -see Silver, you wouldn’t go for to sell Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn’t draw it -from you? No, says you. And if them pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you -say but there’d be widders in the morning?” -</p> - -<p> -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing through -the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where we two were -talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels in a different -direction. -</p> - -<p> -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and balls kept -crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, always -pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying missiles. But towards the -end of the bombardment, though still I durst not venture in the direction of -the stockade, where the balls fell oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck -up my heart again, and after a long detour to the east, crept down among the -shore-side trees. -</p> - -<p> -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the woods and -ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and -great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat of the day, chilled -me through my jacket. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there -was the Jolly Roger—the black flag of piracy—flying from her peak. Even as I -looked, there came another red flash and another report that sent the echoes -clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through the air. It was the last -of the cannonade. -</p> - -<p> -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men were -demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade—the poor -jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the river, a great -fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point and the ship one of -the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I had seen so gloomy, shouting at -the oars like children. But there was a sound in their voices which suggested -rum. -</p> - -<p> -At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty far down -on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, and is joined -at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my feet, I saw, some -distance further down the spit and rising from among low bushes, an isolated -rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in colour. It occurred to me that this -might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn had spoken and that some day or other -a boat might be wanted and I should know where to look for one. -</p> - -<p> -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or shoreward -side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the faithful party. -</p> - -<p> -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was made of -unsquared trunks of pine—roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several -places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of the sand. -There was a porch at the door, and under this porch the little spring welled up -into an artificial basin of a rather odd kind—no other than a great ship’s -kettle of iron, with the bottom knocked out, and sunk “to her bearings,” as the -captain said, among the sand. -</p> - -<p> -Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one corner -there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron basket -to contain the fire. -</p> - -<p> -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been cleared of -timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps what a fine and lofty -grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had been washed away or buried in -drift after the removal of the trees; only where the streamlet ran down from -the kettle a thick bed of moss and some ferns and little creeping bushes were -still green among the sand. Very close around the stockade—too close for -defence, they said—the wood still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the -land side, but towards the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. -</p> - -<p> -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every chink -of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine -sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our suppers, sand -dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all the world like -porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole in the roof; it was -but a little part of the smoke that found its way out, and the rest eddied -about the house and kept us coughing and piping the eye. -</p> - -<p> -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage for a cut -he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor old Tom Redruth, -still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, under the Union Jack. -</p> - -<p> -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the blues, but -Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were called up before -him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and Gray and I for one; the -squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired though we all were, two were -sent out for firewood; two more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor -was named cook; I was put sentry at the door; and the captain himself went from -one to another, keeping up our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was -wanted. -</p> - -<p> -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to rest his -eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he did so, he had -a word for me. -</p> - -<p> -“That man Smollett,” he said once, “is a better man than I am. And when I say -that it means a deal, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on one -side, and looked at me. -</p> - -<p> -“Is this Ben Gunn a man?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know, sir,” said I. “I am not very sure whether he’s sane.” -</p> - -<p> -“If there’s any doubt about the matter, he is,” returned the doctor. “A man who -has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, can’t expect to -appear as sane as you or me. It doesn’t lie in human nature. Was it cheese you -said he had a fancy for?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir, cheese,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Jim,” says he, “just see the good that comes of being dainty in your -food. You’ve seen my snuff-box, haven’t you? And you never saw me take snuff, -the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of Parmesan cheese—a -cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, that’s for Ben Gunn!” -</p> - -<p> -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round him for a -while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had been got in, but -not enough for the captain’s fancy, and he shook his head over it and told us -we “must get back to this tomorrow rather livelier.” Then, when we had eaten -our pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got -together in a corner to discuss our prospects. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0187m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0187m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0187.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It appears they were at their wits’ end what to do, the stores being so low -that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. But our -best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they either -hauled down their flag or ran away with the <i>Hispaniola</i>. From nineteen -they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one at -least—the man shot beside the gun—severely wounded, if he were not dead. Every -time we had a crack at them, we were to take it, saving our own lives, with the -extremest care. And besides that, we had two able allies—rum and the climate. -</p> - -<p> -As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear them -roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, the doctor -staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh and unprovided with -remedies, the half of them would be on their backs before a week. -</p> - -<p> -“So,” he added, “if we are not all shot down first they’ll be glad to be -packing in the schooner. It’s always a ship, and they can get to buccaneering -again, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“First ship that ever I lost,” said Captain Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was not till -after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. -</p> - -<p> -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the pile of -firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a bustle and the -sound of voices. -</p> - -<p> -“Flag of truce!” I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with a cry -of surprise, “Silver himself!” -</p> - -<p> -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the wall. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap20"></a> -<img src="images/0190m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0190m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XX<br/> -Silver’s Embassy</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9190m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9190m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -ure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them waving a -white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, standing placidly -by. -</p> - -<p> -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever was -abroad in—a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright and -cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. But -where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in shadow, and they waded -knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled during the night out of the -morass. The chill and the vapour taken together told a poor tale of the island. -It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot. -</p> - -<p> -“Keep indoors, men,” said the captain. “Ten to one this is a trick.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he hailed the buccaneer. -</p> - -<p> -“Who goes? Stand, or we fire.” -</p> - -<p> -“Flag of truce,” cried Silver. -</p> - -<p> -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way of a -treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to us, “Doctor’s -watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, if you please; Jim, the -east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to load muskets. Lively, men, and -careful.” -</p> - -<p> -And then he turned again to the mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -“And what do you want with your flag of truce?” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -This time it was the other man who replied. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms,” he shouted. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n Silver! Don’t know him. Who’s he?” cried the captain. And we could hear -him adding to himself, “Cap’n, is it? My heart, and here’s promotion!” -</p> - -<p> -Long John answered for himself. “Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me cap’n, -after your desertion, sir”—laying a particular emphasis upon the word -“desertion.” “We’re willing to submit, if we can come to terms, and no bones -about it. All I ask is your word, Cap’n Smollett, to let me safe and sound out -of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o’ shot before a gun is -fired.” -</p> - -<p> -“My man,” said Captain Smollett, “I have not the slightest desire to talk to -you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that’s all. If there’s any -treachery, it’ll be on your side, and the Lord help you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s enough, Cap’n,” shouted Long John cheerily. “A word from you’s enough. -I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold Silver -back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the captain’s -answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the back as if the -idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over his -crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in surmounting -the fence and dropping safely to the other side. -</p> - -<p> -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on to be of -the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted my eastern loophole -and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated himself on the threshold, -with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands, and his eyes fixed on the -water as it bubbled out of the old iron kettle in the sand. He was whistling -“Come, Lasses and Lads.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the steepness of -the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he and his crutch were -as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a man in silence, and -at last arrived before the captain, whom he saluted in the handsomest style. He -was tricked out in his best; an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, -hung as low as to his knees, and a fine laced hat was set on the back of his -head. -</p> - -<p> -“Here you are, my man,” said the captain, raising his head. “You had better sit -down.” -</p> - -<p> -“You ain’t a-going to let me inside, Cap’n?” complained Long John. “It’s a main -cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Silver,” said the captain, “if you had pleased to be an honest man, you -might have been sitting in your galley. It’s your own doing. You’re either my -ship’s cook—and then you were treated handsome—or Cap’n Silver, a common -mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, well, Cap’n,” returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was bidden on -the sand, “you’ll have to give me a hand up again, that’s all. A sweet pretty -place you have of it here. Ah, there’s Jim! The top of the morning to you, Jim. -Doctor, here’s my service. Why, there you all are together like a happy family, -in a manner of speaking.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you have anything to say, my man, better say it,” said the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Right you were, Cap’n Smollett,” replied Silver. “Dooty is dooty, to be sure. -Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last night. I don’t deny -it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a handspike-end. And I’ll not -deny neither but what some of my people was shook—maybe all was shook; maybe I -was shook myself; maybe that’s why I’m here for terms. But you mark me, Cap’n, -it won’t do twice, by thunder! We’ll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point -or so on the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind’s eye. But -I’ll tell you I was sober; I was on’y dog tired; and if I’d awoke a second -sooner, I’d ’a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn’t dead when I got round -to him, not he.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. -</p> - -<p> -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have guessed it -from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben Gunn’s last words -came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid the buccaneers a -visit while they all lay drunk together round their fire, and I reckoned up -with glee that we had only fourteen enemies to deal with. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, here it is,” said Silver. “We want that treasure, and we’ll have -it—that’s our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; and -that’s yours. You have a chart, haven’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s as may be,” replied the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, you have, I know that,” returned Long John. “You needn’t be so husky -with a man; there ain’t a particle of service in that, and you may lay to it. -What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant you no harm, myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“That won’t do with me, my man,” interrupted the captain. “We know exactly what -you meant to do, and we don’t care, for now, you see, you can’t do it.” -</p> - -<p> -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“If Abe Gray—” Silver broke out. -</p> - -<p> -“Avast there!” cried Mr. Smollett. “Gray told me nothing, and I asked him -nothing; and what’s more, I would see you and him and this whole island blown -clean out of the water into blazes first. So there’s my mind for you, my man, -on that.” -</p> - -<p> -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been growing -nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. -</p> - -<p> -“Like enough,” said he. “I would set no limits to what gentlemen might consider -shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein’ as how you are about to -take a pipe, Cap’n, I’ll make so free as do likewise.” -</p> - -<p> -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently smoking for -quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now stopping their tobacco, -now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as the play to see them. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” resumed Silver, “here it is. You give us the chart to get the treasure -by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. -You do that, and we’ll offer you a choice. Either you come aboard along of us, -once the treasure shipped, and then I’ll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of -honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or if that ain’t to your fancy, some -of my hands being rough and having old scores on account of hazing, then you -can stay here, you can. We’ll divide stores with you, man for man; and I’ll -give my affy-davy, as before to speak the first ship I sight, and send ’em here -to pick you up. Now, you’ll own that’s talking. Handsomer you couldn’t look to -get, now you. And I hope”—raising his voice—“that all hands in this here block -house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to all.” -</p> - -<p> -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his pipe in -the palm of his left hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Every last word, by thunder!” answered John. “Refuse that, and you’ve seen the -last of me but musket-balls.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very good,” said the captain. “Now you’ll hear me. If you’ll come up one by -one, unarmed, I’ll engage to clap you all in irons and take you home to a fair -trial in England. If you won’t, my name is Alexander Smollett, I’ve flown my -sovereign’s colours, and I’ll see you all to Davy Jones. You can’t find the -treasure. You can’t sail the ship—there’s not a man among you fit to sail the -ship. You can’t fight us—Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship’s in -irons, Master Silver; you’re on a lee shore, and so you’ll find. I stand here -and tell you so; and they’re the last good words you’ll get from me, for in the -name of heaven, I’ll put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. Tramp, my -lad. Bundle out of this, please, hand over hand, and double quick.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He shook -the fire out of his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me a hand up!” he cried. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> -<a href="images/0195.jpg"> -<img src="images/0195.jpg" width="447" height="650" alt="Illustration:" /></a> -<p class="caption">“Give me a hand up!” he cried. “Not I,” returned the captain.</p> -</div> - -<p> -“Not I,” returned the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Who’ll give me a hand up?” he roared. -</p> - -<p> -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled along -the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself again upon his -crutch. Then he spat into the spring. -</p> - -<p> -“There!” he cried. “That’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, I’ll stove -in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before -an hour’s out, ye’ll laugh upon the other side. Them that die’ll be the lucky -ones.” -</p> - -<p> -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was helped -across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with the flag of -truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the trees. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap21"></a> -<img src="images/0198m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0198m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXI<br/> -The Attack</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9198m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9198m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -s soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely watching him, -turned towards the interior of the house and found not a man of us at his post -but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry. -</p> - -<p> -“Quarters!” he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, “Gray,” he -said, “I’ll put your name in the log; you’ve stood by your duty like a seaman. -Mr. Trelawney, I’m surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I thought you had worn the -king’s coat! If that was how you served at Fontenoy, sir, you’d have been -better in your berth.” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor’s watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy loading -the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be certain, and a flea -in his ear, as the saying is. -</p> - -<p> -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said he, “I’ve given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in red-hot on -purpose; and before the hour’s out, as he said, we shall be boarded. We’re -outnumbered, I needn’t tell you that, but we fight in shelter; and a minute ago -I should have said we fought with discipline. I’ve no manner of doubt that we -can drub them, if you choose.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. -</p> - -<p> -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two -loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the north -side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; the -firewood had been built into four piles—tables, you might say—one about the -middle of each side, and on each of these tables some ammunition and four -loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders. In the middle, the -cutlasses lay ranged. -</p> - -<p> -“Toss out the fire,” said the captain; “the chill is past, and we mustn’t have -smoke in our eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the embers -smothered among sand. -</p> - -<p> -“Hawkins hasn’t had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to your -post to eat it,” continued Captain Smollett. “Lively, now, my lad; you’ll want -it before you’ve done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy to all hands.” -</p> - -<p> -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the plan -of the defence. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor, you will take the door,” he resumed. “See, and don’t expose yourself; -keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east side, there. -Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you are the best shot—you -and Gray will take this long north side, with the five loopholes; it’s there -the danger is. If they can get up to it and fire in upon us through our own -ports, things would begin to look dirty. Hawkins, neither you nor I are much -account at the shooting; we’ll stand by to load and bear a hand.” -</p> - -<p> -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had climbed -above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the clearing and -drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking and the resin -melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats were flung aside, -shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the shoulders; and we stood -there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -An hour passed away. -</p> - -<p> -“Hang them!” said the captain. “This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, whistle -for a wind.” -</p> - -<p> -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. -</p> - -<p> -“If you please, sir,” said Joyce, “if I see anyone, am I to fire?” -</p> - -<p> -“I told you so!” cried the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, sir,” returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. -</p> - -<p> -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, -straining ears and eyes—the musketeers with their pieces balanced in their -hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his mouth very -tight and a frown on his face. -</p> - -<p> -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired. -The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and repeated from without -in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of geese, from every -side of the enclosure. Several bullets struck the log-house, but not one -entered; and as the smoke cleared away and vanished, the stockade and the woods -around it looked as quiet and empty as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam -of a musket-barrel betrayed the presence of our foes. -</p> - -<p> -“Did you hit your man?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” replied Joyce. “I believe not, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Next best thing to tell the truth,” muttered Captain Smollett. “Load his gun, -Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know precisely,” said Dr. Livesey. “Three shots were fired on this side. I -saw the three flashes—two close together—one farther to the west.” -</p> - -<p> -“Three!” repeated the captain. “And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?” -</p> - -<p> -But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the north—seven -by the squire’s computation, eight or nine according to Gray. From the east and -west only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, therefore, that the -attack would be developed from the north and that on the other three sides we -were only to be annoyed by a show of hostilities. But Captain Smollett made no -change in his arrangements. If the mutineers succeeded in crossing the -stockade, he argued, they would take possession of any unprotected loophole and -shoot us down like rats in our own stronghold. -</p> - -<p> -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzza, a -little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran -straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once more opened -from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked the -doctor’s musket into bits. -</p> - -<p> -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again -and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the -outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was -on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0201m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0201m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0201.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our -defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight men, each -evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though useless fire on -the log-house. -</p> - -<p> -The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, shouting -as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to encourage them. -Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the marksmen that not one -appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the four pirates had swarmed up the -mound and were upon us. -</p> - -<p> -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle loophole. -</p> - -<p> -“At ’em, all hands—all hands!” he roared in a voice of thunder. -</p> - -<p> -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter’s musket by the muzzle, -wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, and with one -stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. Meanwhile a third, -running unharmed all around the house, appeared suddenly in the doorway and -fell with his cutlass on the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under cover, -at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could not return a -blow. -</p> - -<p> -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative safety. Cries -and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, and one loud groan rang -in my ears. -</p> - -<p> -“Out, lads, out, and fight ’em in the open! Cutlasses!” cried the captain. -</p> - -<p> -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time snatching -another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly felt. I dashed out of -the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was close behind, I knew not whom. -Right in front, the doctor was pursuing his assailant down the hill, and just -as my eyes fell upon him, beat down his guard and sent him sprawling on his -back with a great slash across the face. -</p> - -<p> -“Round the house, lads! Round the house!” cried the captain; and even in the -hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. -</p> - -<p> -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, ran round -the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face with Anderson. He -roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, flashing in the sunlight. -I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow still hung impending, leaped in a -trice upon one side, and missing my foot in the soft sand, rolled headlong down -the slope. -</p> - -<p> -When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been already -swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red night-cap, -with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and thrown a leg -across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I found my feet again -all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still half-way -over, another still just showing his head above the top of the stockade. And -yet, in this breath of time, the fight was over and the victory was ours. -</p> - -<p> -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere he had time -to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in the very -act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the pistol still smoking in -his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor had disposed of at a blow. Of the -four who had scaled the palisade, one only remained unaccounted for, and he, -having left his cutlass on the field, was now clambering out again with the -fear of death upon him. -</p> - -<p> -“Fire—fire from the house!” cried the doctor. “And you, lads, back into cover.” -</p> - -<p> -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder made good -his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In three seconds -nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who had fallen, four on -the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors would soon -be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment the fire might -recommence. -</p> - -<p> -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at a glance -the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunned; -Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move again; while right in the -centre, the squire was supporting the captain, one as pale as the other. -</p> - -<p> -“The captain’s wounded,” said Mr. Trelawney. -</p> - -<p> -“Have they run?” asked Mr. Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -“All that could, you may be bound,” returned the doctor; “but there’s five of -them will never run again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Five!” cried the captain. “Come, that’s better. Five against three leaves us -four to nine. That’s better odds than we had at starting. We were seven to -nineteen then, or thought we were, and that’s as bad to bear.” * -</p> - -<p> -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. -Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But this -was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0207m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0207m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0207.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part05"></a> -PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap22"></a> -<img src="images/0209m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0209m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXII<br/> -How I Began My Sea Adventure</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9209m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9209m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here was no return of the mutineers—not so much as another shot out of the -woods. They had “got their rations for that day,” as the captain put it, and we -had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the wounded and get -dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the danger, and even outside we -could hardly tell what we were at, for horror of the loud groans that reached -us from the doctor’s patients. -</p> - -<p> -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still -breathed—that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, Hunter, and -Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good as dead; the -mutineer indeed died under the doctor’s knife, and Hunter, do what we could, -never recovered consciousness in this world. He lingered all day, breathing -loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his apoplectic fit, but the bones of -his chest had been crushed by the blow and his skull fractured in falling, and -some time in the following night, without sign or sound, he went to his Maker. -</p> - -<p> -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. No -organ was fatally injured. Anderson’s ball—for it was Job that shot him -first—had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not badly; the second -had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. He was sure to recover, -the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for weeks to come, he must not walk -nor move his arm, nor so much as speak when he could help it. -</p> - -<p> -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor Livesey -patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the bargain. -</p> - -<p> -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain’s side awhile in -consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts’ content, it being then -a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, girt on a cutlass, -put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over his shoulder crossed the -palisade on the north side and set off briskly through the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to be out -of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out of his mouth -and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck he was at this -occurrence. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, in the name of Davy Jones,” said he, “is Dr. Livesey mad?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why no,” says I. “He’s about the last of this crew for that, I take it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, shipmate,” said Gray, “mad he may not be; but if <i>he’s</i> not, you -mark my words, <i>I</i> am.” -</p> - -<p> -“I take it,” replied I, “the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, he’s going -now to see Ben Gunn.” -</p> - -<p> -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being stifling -hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze with midday sun, I -began to get another thought into my head, which was not by any means so right. -What I began to do was to envy the doctor walking in the cool shadow of the -woods with the birds about him and the pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat -grilling, with my clothes stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me -and so many poor dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the -place that was almost as strong as fear. -</p> - -<p> -All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up the things -from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger and stronger, till at -last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing me, I took the first -step towards my escapade and filled both pockets of my coat with biscuit. -</p> - -<p> -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, over-bold -act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in my power. These -biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at least, from starving -till far on in the next day. -</p> - -<p> -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already had a -powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. -</p> - -<p> -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I was to go -down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east from the open sea, -find the white rock I had observed last evening, and ascertain whether it was -there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, a thing quite worth doing, as I -still believe. But as I was certain I should not be allowed to leave the -enclosure, my only plan was to take French leave and slip out when nobody was -watching, and that was so bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong. -But I was only a boy, and I had made my mind up. -</p> - -<p> -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The squire -and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the coast was clear, -I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest of the trees, and -before my absence was observed I was out of cry of my companions. -</p> - -<p> -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two sound men -to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards saving all of us. -</p> - -<p> -I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was determined -to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of observation from the -anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, although still warm and sunny. -As I continued to thread the tall woods, I could hear from far before me not -only the continuous thunder of the surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and -grinding of boughs which showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. -Soon cool draughts of air began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came -forth into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny -to the horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the beach. -</p> - -<p> -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might blaze -overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and blue, but still -these great rollers would be running along all the external coast, thundering -and thundering by day and night; and I scarce believe there is one spot in the -island where a man would be out of earshot of their noise. -</p> - -<p> -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking I was now -got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick bushes and crept -warily up to the ridge of the spit. -</p> - -<p> -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though it had -the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already at an end; it -had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south and south-east, -carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under lee of Skeleton Island, -lay still and leaden as when first we entered it. The <i>Hispaniola</i>, in -that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from the truck to the waterline, -the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. -</p> - -<p> -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets—him I could always -recognize—while a couple of men were leaning over the stern bulwarks, one of -them with a red cap—the very rogue that I had seen some hours before -stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were talking and laughing, -though at that distance—upwards of a mile—I could, of course, hear no word of -what was said. All at once there began the most horrid, unearthly screaming, -which at first startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the voice of -Captain Flint and even thought I could make out the bird by her bright plumage -as she sat perched upon her master’s wrist. -</p> - -<p> -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man with -the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. -</p> - -<p> -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, and as -the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw I must -lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. -</p> - -<p> -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of a mile -further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up with it, -crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost come when I -laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was an exceedingly small -hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick underwood about knee-deep, -that grew there very plentifully; and in the centre of the dell, sure enough, a -little tent of goat-skins, like what the gipsies carry about with them in -England. -</p> - -<p> -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was Ben -Gunn’s boat—home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, lop-sided -framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of goat-skin, with -the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly -imagine that it could have floated with a full-sized man. There was one thwart -set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle -for propulsion. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0213m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0213m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0213.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but I have -seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn’s boat than by -saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever made by man. But the -great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for it was exceedingly -light and portable. -</p> - -<p> -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had enough of -truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another notion and become so -obstinately fond of it that I would have carried it out, I believe, in the -teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was to slip out under cover of the -night, cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> adrift, and let her go ashore where she -fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the mutineers, after their repulse of -the morning, had nothing nearer their hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; -this, I thought, it would be a fine thing to prevent, and now that I had seen -how they left their watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be done -with little risk. -</p> - -<p> -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It was a -night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried all heaven. As -the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, absolute blackness settled -down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, I shouldered the coracle and groped -my way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped, there were but two -points visible on the whole anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay carousing in -the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the darkness, indicated the -position of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the ebb—her bow was now -towards me—the only lights on board were in the cabin, and what I saw was -merely a reflection on the fog of the strong rays that flowed from the stern -window. -</p> - -<p> -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt of -swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I came to the -edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, with some strength -and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the surface. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap23"></a> -<img src="images/0217m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0217m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIII<br/> -The Ebb-tide Runs</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9217m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9217m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he coracle—as I had ample reason to know before I was done with her—was a very -safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a -seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided craft to manage. Do as -you pleased, she always made more leeway than anything else, and turning round -and round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted -that she was “queer to handle till you knew her way.” -</p> - -<p> -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the one I -was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, and I am very -sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the tide. By good -fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping me down; and there -lay the <i>Hispaniola</i> right in the fairway, hardly to be missed. -</p> - -<p> -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than darkness, -then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next moment, as it seemed -(for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the current of the ebb), I was -alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. -</p> - -<p> -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she pulled -upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the rippling current -bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. One cut with my sea-gully -and the <i>Hispaniola</i> would go humming down the tide. -</p> - -<p> -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut hawser, -suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to one, if I were -so foolhardy as to cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> from her anchor, I and the coracle -would be knocked clean out of the water. -</p> - -<p> -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again particularly -favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But the light airs which -had begun blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round after -nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was meditating, a puff came, caught -the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and forced her up into the current; and to my great joy, -I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by which I held it dip for -a second under water. -</p> - -<p> -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and -cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. Then I lay -quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be once more -lightened by a breath of wind. -</p> - -<p> -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but to say -truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts that I had -scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to do, I began to pay -more heed. -</p> - -<p> -One I recognized for the coxswain’s, Israel Hands, that had been Flint’s gunner -in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red night-cap. Both -men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still drinking, for even -while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken cry, opened the stern window -and threw out something, which I divined to be an empty bottle. But they were -not only tipsy; it was plain that they were furiously angry. Oaths flew like -hailstones, and every now and then there came forth such an explosion as I -thought was sure to end in blows. But each time the quarrel passed off and the -voices grumbled lower for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn -passed away without result. -</p> - -<p> -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly through -the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor’s song, -with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and seemingly no end to it -at all but the patience of the singer. I had heard it on the voyage more than -once and remembered these words: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“But one man of her crew alive,<br/> -What put to sea with seventy-five.” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a company -that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from what I saw, -all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on. -</p> - -<p> -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the dark; I -felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough effort, cut the last -fibres through. -</p> - -<p> -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost instantly -swept against the bows of the <i>Hispaniola</i>. At the same time, the schooner -began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, across the current. -</p> - -<p> -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and since I -found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved straight astern. -At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just as I gave the last -impulsion, my hands came across a light cord that was trailing overboard across -the stern bulwarks. Instantly I grasped it. -</p> - -<p> -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere instinct, but -once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity began to get the upper -hand, and I determined I should have one look through the cabin window. -</p> - -<p> -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near enough, -rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a -slice of the interior of the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty swiftly -through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with the camp-fire. -The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable ripples -with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got my eye above the -window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen had taken no alarm. One -glance, however, was sufficient; and it was only one glance that I durst take -from that unsteady skiff. It showed me Hands and his companion locked together -in deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other’s throat. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0223m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0223m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0223.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near overboard. I -could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, encrimsoned faces -swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my eyes to let them grow once -more familiar with the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished company -about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so often: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!<br/> -Drink and the devil had done for the rest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very moment in -the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of -the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed to change her -course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. -</p> - -<p> -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing over with a -sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The <i>Hispaniola</i> -herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled along, seemed to -stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a little against the blackness -of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I made sure she also was wheeling to the -southward. -</p> - -<p> -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, right -behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned at right -angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the little dancing -coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever muttering louder, it went -spinning through the narrows for the open sea. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, perhaps, -through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one shout followed -another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the companion ladder and I -knew that the two drunkards had at last been interrupted in their quarrel and -awakened to a sense of their disaster. -</p> - -<p> -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly recommended -my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I made sure we must fall -into some bar of raging breakers, where all my troubles would be ended -speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to die, I could not bear to look -upon my fate as it approached. -</p> - -<p> -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the billows, -now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at -the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a numbness, an occasional -stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of my terrors, until sleep at last -supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay and dreamed of home and the old -Admiral Benbow. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap24"></a> -<img src="images/0226m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0226m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIV<br/> -The Cruise of the Coracle</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9226m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9226m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west end of -Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind the great bulk -of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to the sea in formidable -cliffs. -</p> - -<p> -Haulbowline Head and Mizzenmast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare and dark, -the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and fringed with great -masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile to seaward, and it was -my first thought to paddle in and land. -</p> - -<p> -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers spouted -and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and falling, succeeded -one another from second to second; and I saw myself, if I ventured nearer, -dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending my strength in vain to scale -the beetling crags. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or letting -themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge slimy -monsters—soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness—two or three score of -them together, making the rocks to echo with their barkings. -</p> - -<p> -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. But -the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the high running of -the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that landing-place. I felt -willing rather to starve at sea than to confront such perils. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0229m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0229m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0229.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North of -Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide a long -stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes another -cape—Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart—buried in tall green -pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. -</p> - -<p> -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward along -the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my position that I was -already under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline Head behind me -and reserve my strength for an attempt to land upon the kindlier-looking Cape -of the Woods. -</p> - -<p> -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady and -gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the current, -and the billows rose and fell unbroken. -</p> - -<p> -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, it is -surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could ride. Often, -as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above the gunwale, I -would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; yet the coracle would but -bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and subside on the other side into the -trough as lightly as a bird. -</p> - -<p> -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at -paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will produce -violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly moved before -the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, ran straight down a -slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a -spout of spray, deep into the side of the next wave. -</p> - -<p> -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old position, -whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led me as softly as -before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be interfered with, and -at that rate, since I could in no way influence her course, what hope had I -left of reaching land? -</p> - -<p> -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. First, -moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my sea-cap; then, -getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself to study how it was -she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. -</p> - -<p> -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks from -shore or from a vessel’s deck, was for all the world like any range of hills on -dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The coracle, left to -herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to speak, her way through -these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes and higher, toppling summits of -the wave. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now,” thought I to myself, “it is plain I must lie where I am and not -disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle over the -side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove or two towards -land.” No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on my elbows in the most -trying attitude, and every now and again gave a weak stroke or two to turn her -head to shore. -</p> - -<p> -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as we drew -near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly miss that point, I -had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, indeed, close in. I could -see the cool green tree-tops swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I -should make the next promontory without fail. -</p> - -<p> -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow of the -sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the sea-water that -fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, combined to make my -throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the trees so near at hand had -almost made me sick with longing, but the current had soon carried me past the -point, and as the next reach of sea opened out, I beheld a sight that changed -the nature of my thoughts. -</p> - -<p> -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the <i>Hispaniola</i> -under sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was so -distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or sorry at -the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, surprise had taken -entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing but stare and wonder. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful -white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first sighted her, -all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about north-west, and I -presumed the men on board were going round the island on their way back to the -anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more and more to the westward, so that -I thought they had sighted me and were going about in chase. At last, however, -she fell right into the wind’s eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there -awhile helpless, with her sails shivering. -</p> - -<p> -“Clumsy fellows,” said I; “they must still be drunk as owls.” And I thought how -Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another tack, -sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead in the wind’s -eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and down, north, south, -east, and west, the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailed by swoops and dashes, and at each -repetition ended as she had begun, with idly flapping canvas. It became plain -to me that nobody was steering. And if so, where were the men? Either they were -dead drunk or had deserted her, I thought, and perhaps if I could get on board -I might return the vessel to her captain. -</p> - -<p> -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. As for -the latter’s sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she hung each time -so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if she did not even lose. -If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made sure that I could overhaul her. -The scheme had an air of adventure that inspired me, and the thought of the -water breaker beside the fore companion doubled my growing courage. -</p> - -<p> -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but this -time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and caution, to -paddle after the unsteered <i>Hispaniola</i>. Once I shipped a sea so heavy -that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like a bird, but -gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my coracle among the -waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash of foam in my -face. -</p> - -<p> -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten on the -tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her decks. I could -not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men were lying drunk -below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do what I chose with the -ship. -</p> - -<p> -For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for me—standing -still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each time -she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these brought her in a moment right -to the wind again. I have said this was the worst thing possible for me, for -helpless as she looked in this situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon -and the blocks trundling and banging on the deck, she still continued to run -away from me, not only with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount -of her leeway, which was naturally great. -</p> - -<p> -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, very low, -and the current gradually turning her, the <i>Hispaniola</i> revolved slowly -round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the cabin window -still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning on into the day. -The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was stock-still but for the -current. -</p> - -<p> -For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my efforts, I -began once more to overhaul the chase. -</p> - -<p> -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; she -filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming like a -swallow. -</p> - -<p> -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. Round she -came, till she was broadside on to me—round still till she had covered a half -and then two thirds and then three quarters of the distance that separated us. -I could see the waves boiling white under her forefoot. Immensely tall she -looked to me from my low station in the coracle. -</p> - -<p> -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to think—scarce -time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one swell when the schooner -came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was over my head. I sprang to my feet -and leaped, stamping the coracle under water. With one hand I caught the -jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay and the brace; and as I -still clung there panting, a dull blow told me that the schooner had charged -down upon and struck the coracle and that I was left without retreat on the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap25"></a> -<img src="images/0234m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0234m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXV<br/> -I Strike the Jolly Roger</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9234m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9234m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib flapped and -filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to -her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails still drawing, the -jib flapped back again and hung idle. -</p> - -<p> -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, crawled -back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was still -drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. Not a soul was -to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since the mutiny, bore the -print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by the neck, tumbled to and fro -like a live thing in the scuppers. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> came right into the wind. The jibs behind me -cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening heave and -shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, the sheet groaning -in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. -</p> - -<p> -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff as a -handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and his teeth -showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against the bulwarks, his -chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on the deck, his face as -white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. -</p> - -<p> -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the sails -filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to and fro till -the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too there would come a -cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy blow of the ship’s bows -against the swell; so much heavier weather was made of it by this great rigged -ship than by my home-made, lop-sided coracle, now gone to the bottom of the -sea. -</p> - -<p> -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but—what was ghastly -to behold—neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway -disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, Hands appeared still more to -sink into himself and settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the -farther out, and the whole body canting towards the stern, so that his face -became, little by little, hid from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond -his ear and the frayed ringlet of one whisker. -</p> - -<p> -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark blood upon -the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each other in their -drunken wrath. -</p> - -<p> -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship was -still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed himself -back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, which told of -pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw hung open went right to -my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from the apple barrel, -all pity left me. -</p> - -<p> -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. -</p> - -<p> -“Come aboard, Mr. Hands,” I said ironically. -</p> - -<p> -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express surprise. -All he could do was to utter one word, “Brandy.” -</p> - -<p> -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once -more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into -the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast -places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mud -where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading in the marshes -round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in clear white and beaded round -with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles clinked -together in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of the doctor’s medical -books lay open on the table, half of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for -pipelights. In the midst of all this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure -and brown as umber. -</p> - -<p> -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles a most -surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, since the -mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. -</p> - -<p> -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for -myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of -raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down my own -stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain’s reach, went forward -to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of water, and then, and not -till then, gave Hands the brandy. -</p> - -<p> -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye,” said he, “by thunder, but I wanted some o’ that!” -</p> - -<p> -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. -</p> - -<p> -“Much hurt?” I asked him. -</p> - -<p> -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. -</p> - -<p> -“If that doctor was aboard,” he said, “I’d be right enough in a couple of -turns, but I don’t have no manner of luck, you see, and that’s what’s the -matter with me. As for that swab, he’s good and dead, he is,” he added, -indicating the man with the red cap. “He warn’t no seaman anyhow. And where -mought you have come from?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, Mr. Hands; -and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further notice.” -</p> - -<p> -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had come -back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still continued to -slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. -</p> - -<p> -“By the by,” I continued, “I can’t have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by your -leave, I’ll strike ’em. Better none than these.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0237m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0237m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0237.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their cursed -black flag, and chucked it overboard. -</p> - -<p> -“God save the king!” said I, waving my cap. “And there’s an end to Captain -Silver!” -</p> - -<p> -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. -</p> - -<p> -“I reckon,” he said at last, “I reckon, Cap’n Hawkins, you’ll kind of want to -get ashore now. S’pose we talks.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, yes,” says I, “with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on.” And I went back to -my meal with a good appetite. -</p> - -<p> -“This man,” he began, nodding feebly at the corpse “—O’Brien were his name, a -rank Irelander—this man and me got the canvas on her, meaning for to sail her -back. Well, <i>he’s</i> dead now, he is—as dead as bilge; and who’s to sail -this ship, I don’t see. Without I gives you a hint, you ain’t that man, as -far’s I can tell. Now, look here, you gives me food and drink and a old scarf -or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and I’ll tell you how to sail her, and -that’s about square all round, I take it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll tell you one thing,” says I: “I’m not going back to Captain Kidd’s -anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there.” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure you did,” he cried. “Why, I ain’t sich an infernal lubber after -all. I can see, can’t I? I’ve tried my fling, I have, and I’ve lost, and it’s -you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven’t no ch’ice, not I! I’d help -you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! So I would.” -</p> - -<p> -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our bargain -on the spot. In three minutes I had the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailing easily before -the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of turning the -northern point ere noon and beating down again as far as North Inlet before -high water, when we might beach her safely and wait till the subsiding tide -permitted us to land. -</p> - -<p> -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a soft -silk handkerchief of my mother’s. With this, and with my aid, Hands bound up -the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after he had eaten a -little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he began to pick up -visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, and looked in every way -another man. -</p> - -<p> -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the coast of -the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. Soon we were past -the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, sparsely dotted with -dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again and had turned the corner of -the rocky hill that ends the island on the north. -</p> - -<p> -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, sunshiny -weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now plenty of water -and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had smitten me hard for my -desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I had made. I should, I think, -have had nothing left me to desire but for the eyes of the coxswain as they -followed me derisively about the deck and the odd smile that appeared -continually on his face. It was a smile that had in it something both of pain -and weakness—a haggard old man’s smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of -derision, a shadow of treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and -watched, and watched me at my work. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap26"></a> -<img src="images/0241m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0241m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVI<br/> -Israel Hands</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9241m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9241m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run so much -the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth of the North -Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till the tide -had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. The coxswain told me -how to lay the ship to; after a good many trials I succeeded, and we both sat -in silence over another meal. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n,” said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, “here’s my old -shipmate, O’Brien; s’pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain’t partic’lar as -a rule, and I don’t take no blame for settling his hash, but I don’t reckon him -ornamental now, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not strong enough, and I don’t like the job; and there he lies, for me,” -said I. -</p> - -<p> -“This here’s an unlucky ship, this <i>Hispaniola</i>, Jim,” he went on, -blinking. “There’s a power of men been killed in this <i>Hispaniola</i>—a sight -o’ poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to Bristol. I never -seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here O’Brien now—he’s dead, ain’t -he? Well now, I’m no scholar, and you’re a lad as can read and figure, and to -put it straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for good, or do he come -alive again?” -</p> - -<p> -“You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know that -already,” I replied. “O’Brien there is in another world, and may be watching -us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” says he. “Well, that’s unfort’nate—appears as if killing parties was a -waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don’t reckon for much, by what I’ve seen. -I’ll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you’ve spoke up free, and I’ll -take it kind if you’d step down into that there cabin and get me a—well, -a—shiver my timbers! I can’t hit the name on ’t; well, you get me a bottle of -wine, Jim—this here brandy’s too strong for my head.” -</p> - -<p> -Now, the coxswain’s hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the notion of -his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was a -pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck—so much was plain; but with what -purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering -to and fro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now with a flitting glance -upon the dead O’Brien. All the time he kept smiling and putting his tongue out -in the most guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he -was bent on some deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw -where my advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily -conceal my suspicions to the end. -</p> - -<p> -“Some wine?” I said. “Far better. Will you have white or red?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I reckon it’s about the blessed same to me, shipmate,” he replied; “so -it’s strong, and plenty of it, what’s the odds?” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” I answered. “I’ll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I’ll have to dig -for it.” -</p> - -<p> -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, slipped off -my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, -and popped my head out of the fore companion. I knew he would not expect to see -me there, yet I took every precaution possible, and certainly the worst of my -suspicions proved too true. -</p> - -<p> -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his leg -obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved—for I could hear him stifle a -groan—yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himself across the -deck. In half a minute he had reached the port scuppers and picked, out of a -coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hilt -with blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting forth his under jaw, -tried the point upon his hand, and then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of -his jacket, trundled back again into his old place against the bulwark. -</p> - -<p> -This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was now -armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, it was plain -that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards—whether he would -try to crawl right across the island from North Inlet to the camp among the -swamps or whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own comrades might -come first to help him—was, of course, more than I could say. -</p> - -<p> -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that our -interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of the schooner. We -both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a sheltered place, and so -that, when the time came, she could be got off again with as little labour and -danger as might be; and until that was done I considered that my life would -certainly be spared. -</p> - -<p> -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been idle with -my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and -laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with this for an excuse, I -made my reappearance on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with his -eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He looked up, -however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man who had done -the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his favourite toast of “Here’s -luck!” Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of -tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. -</p> - -<p> -“Cut me a junk o’ that,” says he, “for I haven’t no knife and hardly strength -enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I’ve missed stays! Cut me a -quid, as’ll likely be the last, lad, for I’m for my long home, and no mistake.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I’ll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought myself -so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” said he. “Now, you tell me why.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” I cried. “You were asking me just now about the dead. You’ve broken your -trust; you’ve lived in sin and lies and blood; there’s a man you killed lying -at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God’s mercy, Mr. Hands, -that’s why.” -</p> - -<p> -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden in his -pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, -took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most unusual solemnity. -</p> - -<p> -“For thirty years,” he said, “I’ve sailed the seas and seen good and bad, -better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knives going, -and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o’ goodness yet. Him -as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don’t bite; them’s my views—amen, so be -it. And now, you look here,” he added, suddenly changing his tone, “we’ve had -about enough of this foolery. The tide’s made good enough by now. You just take -my orders, Cap’n Hawkins, and we’ll sail slap in and be done with it.” -</p> - -<p> -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was delicate, the -entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east -and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be got in. I think I -was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent -pilot, for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a -certainty and a neatness that were a pleasure to behold. -</p> - -<p> -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The shores -of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern anchorage, but -the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in truth it was, the -estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern end, we saw the wreck of a -ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It had been a great vessel of three -masts but had lain so long exposed to the injuries of the weather that it was -hung about with great webs of dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore -bushes had taken root and now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad -sight, but it showed us that the anchorage was calm. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship in. Fine -flat sand, never a cat’s paw, trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing -like a garding on that old ship.” -</p> - -<p> -“And once beached,” I inquired, “how shall we get her off again?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, so,” he replied: “you take a line ashore there on the other side at low -water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, take a turn -around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, all hands take a -pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet as natur’. And now, boy, you -stand by. We’re near the bit now, and she’s too much way on her. Starboard a -little—so—steady—starboard—larboard a little—steady—steady!” -</p> - -<p> -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a sudden, -he cried, “Now, my hearty, luff!” And I put the helm hard up, and the -<i>Hispaniola</i> swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, wooded -shore. -</p> - -<p> -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the watch -I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was still -so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I had quite forgot the -peril that hung over my head and stood craning over the starboard bulwarks and -watching the ripples spreading wide before the bows. I might have fallen -without a struggle for my life had not a sudden disquietude seized upon me and -made me turn my head. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving -with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an instinct like a cat’s; but, sure -enough, when I looked round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, with -the dirk in his right hand. -</p> - -<p> -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine was the -shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging bully’s. At the -same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways towards the bows. -As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think -this saved my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and stopped him, for -the moment, dead. -</p> - -<p> -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me trapped, -with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew -a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had already turned and was -once more coming directly after me, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but -there followed neither flash nor sound; the priming was useless with sea-water. -I cursed myself for my neglect. Why had not I, long before, reprimed and -reloaded my only weapons? Then I should not have been as now, a mere fleeing -sheep before this butcher. -</p> - -<p> -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled hair -tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign with his -haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeed much -inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I saw plainly: I -must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into the -bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in the stern. Once so caught, -and nine or ten inches of the blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on -this side of eternity. I placed my palms against the main-mast, which was of a -goodish bigness, and waited, every nerve upon the stretch. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed in -feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game as -I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, but never -before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I -say, it was a boy’s game, and I thought I could hold my own at it against an -elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my courage had begun to rise so -high that I allowed myself a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of -the affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw -no hope of any ultimate escape. -</p> - -<p> -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> struck, -staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a blow, canted -over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees and -about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes and lay, in a pool, -between the deck and bulwark. -</p> - -<p> -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost -together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still spread out, -tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my head came against -the coxswain’s foot with a crack that made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was -the first afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead body. The -sudden canting of the ship had made the deck no place for running on; I had to -find some new way of escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost -touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up -hand over hand, and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. -</p> - -<p> -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot below me -as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open -and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise and disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the priming of my -pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to make assurance doubly -sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it afresh from the -beginning. -</p> - -<p> -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice going -against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily -into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly and painfully to -mount. It cost him no end of time and groans to haul his wounded leg behind -him, and I had quietly finished my arrangements before he was much more than a -third of the way up. Then, with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him. -</p> - -<p> -“One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I, “and I’ll blow your brains out! Dead men -don’t bite, you know,” I added with a chuckle. -</p> - -<p> -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was trying -to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found -security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he spoke, his face -still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he -had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else he remained unmoved. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” says he, “I reckon we’re fouled, you and me, and we’ll have to sign -articles. I’d have had you but for that there lurch, but I don’t have no luck, -not I; and I reckon I’ll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, for a -master mariner to a ship’s younker like you, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock upon a -wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his shoulder. -Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and then a sharp -pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain -and surprise of the moment—I scarce can say it was by my own volition, and I am -sure it was without a conscious aim—both my pistols went off, and both escaped -out of my hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain -loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged head first into the water. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0219m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0219m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0219.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0247m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0247m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0247.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap27"></a> -<img src="images/0251m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0251m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVII<br/> -“Pieces of Eight”</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9251m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9251m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -wing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, and from -my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. -Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer to the ship and fell -between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to the surface in a lather of foam -and blood and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I could see him -lying huddled together on the clean, bright sand in the shadow of the vessel’s -sides. A fish or two whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the -water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was -dead enough, for all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish -in the very place where he had designed my slaughter. -</p> - -<p> -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and -terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, where it -had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot iron; yet it was -not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, for these, it seemed to -me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind of -falling from the cross-trees into that still green water, beside the body of -the coxswain. -</p> - -<p> -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to cover -up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted down to a -more natural time, and I was once more in possession of myself. -</p> - -<p> -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too hard -or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, -that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come the nearest in -the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and -this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to be sure, but I -was my own master again and only tacked to the mast by my coat and shirt. -</p> - -<p> -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the deck by -the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have again ventured, -shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from which Israel had so -lately fallen. -</p> - -<p> -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal and -still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly -gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, -in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from its last passenger—the -dead man, O’Brien. -</p> - -<p> -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay like some -horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how different from -life’s colour or life’s comeliness! In that position I could easily have my way -with him, and as the habit of tragical adventures had worn off almost all my -terror for the dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran -and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding -plunge; the red cap came off and remained floating on the surface; and as soon -as the splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side, both -wavering with the tremulous movement of the water. O’Brien, though still quite -a young man, was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the knees -of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and fro over -both. -</p> - -<p> -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was within so -few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines upon the western -shore began to reach right across the anchorage and fall in patterns on the -deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and though it was well warded off by -the hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had begun to sing a -little softly to itself and the idle sails to rattle to and fro. -</p> - -<p> -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and brought -tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when -the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and the cap of it and a -foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought this made it still more -dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to meddle. At last I -got my knife and cut the halyards. The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of -loose canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could -not budge the downhall, that was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the -rest, the <i>Hispaniola</i> must trust to luck, like myself. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow—the last rays, I -remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on -the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly -fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends. -</p> - -<p> -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and holding the -cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself drop softly -overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was firm and covered -with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, leaving the -<i>Hispaniola</i> on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide upon the -surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly down and the -breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. -</p> - -<p> -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence -empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers and ready -for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer my fancy -than to get home to the stockade and boast of my achievements. Possibly I might -be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the recapture of the <i>Hispaniola</i> was -a clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain Smollett would confess I had -not lost my time. -</p> - -<p> -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for the -block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly of the -rivers which drain into Captain Kidd’s anchorage ran from the two-peaked hill -upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction that I might pass the -stream while it was small. The wood was pretty open, and keeping along the -lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner of that hill, and not long after -waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse. -</p> - -<p> -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; and I -walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had come nigh -hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the two peaks, I became -aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the -island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire. And yet I wondered, in my -heart, that he should show himself so careless. For if I could see this -radiance, might it not reach the eyes of Silver himself where he camped upon -the shore among the marshes? -</p> - -<p> -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself even -roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on -my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and pale; and in the -low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy -pits. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer of -moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I saw -something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and knew the moon -had risen. -</p> - -<p> -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my journey, -and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near to the -stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it, I was not so -thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle warily. It would have -been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down by my own party in mistake. -</p> - -<p> -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here and there -in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and right in front of me -a glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. It was red and hot, and -now and again it was a little darkened—as it were, the embers of a bonfire -smouldering. -</p> - -<p> -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. -</p> - -<p> -At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western end was -already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house itself, still lay -in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks of light. On the other -side of the house an immense fire had burned itself into clear embers and shed -a steady, red reverberation, contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of -the moon. There was not a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the -breeze. -</p> - -<p> -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror also. It -had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, by the captain’s -orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to fear that something had -gone wrong while I was absent. -</p> - -<p> -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a convenient -place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, without a -sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly -and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in itself, and I have often -complained of it at other times, but just then it was like music to hear my -friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their sleep. The sea-cry of -the watch, that beautiful “All’s well,” never fell more reassuringly on my ear. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous bad -watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping in on them, -not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it was, thought I, to have -the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that -danger with so few to mount guard. -</p> - -<p> -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, so that I -could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there was the steady drone -of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering or pecking that I -could in no way account for. -</p> - -<p> -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own place -(I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they found me in -the morning. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0255m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0255m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0255.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -My foot struck something yielding—it was a sleeper’s leg; and he turned and -groaned, but without awaking. -</p> - -<p> -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness: -</p> - -<p> -“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of -eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny -mill. -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard pecking at a -piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, who thus -announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. -</p> - -<p> -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the parrot, -the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the voice of Silver -cried, “Who goes?” -</p> - -<p> -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran full -into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me tight. -</p> - -<p> -“Bring a torch, Dick,” said Silver when my capture was thus assured. -</p> - -<p> -And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a lighted -brand. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0259m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0259m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0259.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part06"></a> -PART SIX—Captain Silver</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap28"></a> -<img src="images/0261m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0261m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVIII<br/> -In the Enemy’s Camp</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9261m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9261m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, showed -me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in possession of -the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, there were the pork and -bread, as before, and what tenfold increased my horror, not a sign of any -prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, and my heart smote me -sorely that I had not been there to perish with them. -</p> - -<p> -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left alive. -Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly called out of -the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen upon his elbow; he was -deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round his head told that he had -recently been wounded, and still more recently dressed. I remembered the man -who had been shot and had run back among the woods in the great attack, and -doubted not that this was he. -</p> - -<p> -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John’s shoulder. He himself, I -thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used to. He still wore -the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his mission, but it was -bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and torn with the sharp briers of -the wood. -</p> - -<p> -“So,” said he, “here’s Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, eh? -Well, come, I take that friendly.” -</p> - -<p> -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me a loan of the link, Dick,” said he; and then, when he had a good -light, “That’ll do, lad,” he added; “stick the glim in the wood heap; and you, -gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn’t stand up for Mr. Hawkins; -<i>he’ll</i> excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, Jim”—stopping the -tobacco—“here you were, and quite a pleasant surprise for poor old John. I see -you were smart when first I set my eyes on you, but this here gets away from me -clean, it do.” -</p> - -<p> -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me with my -back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the face, pluckily -enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black despair in my heart. -</p> - -<p> -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran on -again. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, you see, Jim, so be as you <i>are</i> here,” says he, “I’ll give you a -piece of my mind. I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the -picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always wanted you to -jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my cock, you’ve got to. -Cap’n Smollett’s a fine seaman, as I’ll own up to any day, but stiff on -discipline. ‘Dooty is dooty,’ says he, and right he is. Just you keep clear of -the cap’n. The doctor himself is gone dead again’ you—‘ungrateful scamp’ was -what he said; and the short and the long of the whole story is about here: you -can’t go back to your own lot, for they won’t have you; and without you start a -third ship’s company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you’ll have to -jine with Cap’n Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly -believed the truth of Silver’s statement, that the cabin party were incensed at -me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by what I heard. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t say nothing as to your being in our hands,” continued Silver, “though -there you are, and you may lay to it. I’m all for argyment; I never seen good -come out o’ threatening. If you like the service, well, you’ll jine; and if you -don’t, Jim, why, you’re free to answer no—free and welcome, shipmate; and if -fairer can be said by mortal seaman, shiver my sides!” -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to answer, then?” I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all this -sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung me, and my -cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. -</p> - -<p> -“Lad,” said Silver, “no one’s a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. None of us -won’t hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” says I, growing a bit bolder, “if I’m to choose, I declare I have a -right to know what’s what, and why you’re here, and where my friends are.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wot’s wot?” repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. “Ah, he’d be a -lucky one as knowed that!” -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll perhaps batten down your hatches till you’re spoke to, my friend,” -cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in his first gracious -tones, he replied to me, “Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins,” said he, “in the -dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a flag of truce. Says he, ‘Cap’n -Silver, you’re sold out. Ship’s gone.’ Well, maybe we’d been taking a glass, -and a song to help it round. I won’t say no. Leastways, none of us had looked -out. We looked out, and by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack -o’ fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the -fishiest. ‘Well,’ says the doctor, ‘let’s bargain.’ We bargained, him and I, -and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you was thoughtful -enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole blessed boat, from -cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they’ve tramped; I don’t know where’s they -are.” -</p> - -<p> -He drew again quietly at his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“And lest you should take it into that head of yours,” he went on, “that you -was included in the treaty, here’s the last word that was said: ‘How many are -you,’ says I, ‘to leave?’ ‘Four,’ says he; ‘four, and one of us wounded. As for -that boy, I don’t know where he is, confound him,’ says he, ‘nor I don’t much -care. We’re about sick of him.’ These was his words.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it’s all that you’re to hear, my son,” returned Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“And now I am to choose?” -</p> - -<p> -“And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have to -look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it’s little I care. I’ve seen too -many die since I fell in with you. But there’s a thing or two I have to tell -you,” I said, and by this time I was quite excited; “and the first is this: -here you are, in a bad way—ship lost, treasure lost, men lost, your whole -business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who did it—it was I! I was in -the apple barrel the night we sighted land, and I heard you, John, and you, -Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now at the bottom of the sea, and told every -word you said before the hour was out. And as for the schooner, it was I who -cut her cable, and it was I that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it -was I who brought her where you’ll never see her more, not one of you. The -laugh’s on my side; I’ve had the top of this business from the first; I no more -fear you than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing -I’ll say, and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when you -fellows are in court for piracy, I’ll save you all I can. It is for you to -choose. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness -to save you from the gallows.” -</p> - -<p> -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not a man of -them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And while they were -still staring, I broke out again, “And now, Mr. Silver,” I said, “I believe -you’re the best man here, and if things go to the worst, I’ll take it kind of -you to let the doctor know the way I took it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll bear it in mind,” said Silver with an accent so curious that I could not, -for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my request or had been -favourably affected by my courage. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll put one to that,” cried the old mahogany-faced seaman—Morgan by name—whom -I had seen in Long John’s public-house upon the quays of Bristol. “It was him -that knowed Black Dog.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and see here,” added the sea-cook. “I’ll put another again to that, by -thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. First -and last, we’ve split upon Jim Hawkins!” -</p> - -<p> -“Then here goes!” said Morgan with an oath. -</p> - -<p> -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. -</p> - -<p> -“Avast, there!” cried Silver. “Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you thought you -was cap’n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I’ll teach you better! Cross me, -and you’ll go where many a good man’s gone before you, first and last, these -thirty year back—some to the yard-arm, shiver my timbers, and some by the -board, and all to feed the fishes. There’s never a man looked me between the -eyes and seen a good day a’terwards, Tom Morgan, you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom’s right,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“I stood hazing long enough from one,” added another. “I’ll be hanged if I’ll -be hazed by you, John Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with <i>me</i>?” roared Silver, -bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing -in his right hand. “Put a name on what you’re at; you ain’t dumb, I reckon. Him -that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many years, and a son of a rum -puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You know the -way; you’re all gentlemen o’ fortune, by your account. Well, I’m ready. Take a -cutlass, him that dares, and I’ll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, -before that pipe’s empty.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0267m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0267m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0267.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s your sort, is it?” he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. “Well, -you’re a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain’t. -P’r’aps you can understand King George’s English. I’m cap’n here by ’lection. -I’m cap’n here because I’m the best man by a long sea-mile. You won’t fight, as -gentlemen o’ fortune should; then, by thunder, you’ll obey, and you may lay to -it! I like that boy, now; I never seen a better boy than that. He’s more a man -than any pair of rats of you in this here house, and what I say is this: let me -see him that’ll lay a hand on him—that’s what I say, and you may lay to it.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, my -heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope now shining in -my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, his pipe in the -corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had been in church; yet his eye kept -wandering furtively, and he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers. They, -on their part, drew gradually together towards the far end of the block house, -and the low hiss of their whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a -stream. One after another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch -would fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it -was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“You seem to have a lot to say,” remarked Silver, spitting far into the air. -“Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ax your pardon, sir,” returned one of the men; “you’re pretty free with some -of the rules; maybe you’ll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This crew’s -dissatisfied; this crew don’t vally bullying a marlin-spike; this crew has its -rights like other crews, I’ll make so free as that; and by your own rules, I -take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, acknowledging you for to -be capting at this present; but I claim my right, and steps outside for a -council.” -</p> - -<p> -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, yellow-eyed -man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and disappeared out of -the house. One after another the rest followed his example, each making a -salute as he passed, each adding some apology. “According to rules,” said one. -“Forecastle council,” said Morgan. And so with one remark or another all -marched out and left Silver and me alone with the torch. -</p> - -<p> -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins,” he said in a steady whisper that was no more -than audible, “you’re within half a plank of death, and what’s a long sight -worse, of torture. They’re going to throw me off. But, you mark, I stand by you -through thick and thin. I didn’t mean to; no, not till you spoke up. I was -about desperate to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into the bargain. But I -see you was the right sort. I says to myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and -Hawkins’ll stand by you. You’re his last card, and by the living thunder, John, -he’s yours! Back to back, says I. You save your witness, and he’ll save your -neck!” -</p> - -<p> -I began dimly to understand. -</p> - -<p> -“You mean all’s lost?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, by gum, I do!” he answered. “Ship gone, neck gone—that’s the size of it. -Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no schooner—well, I’m tough, -but I gave out. As for that lot and their council, mark me, they’re outright -fools and cowards. I’ll save your life—if so be as I can—from them. But, see -here, Jim—tit for tat—you save Long John from swinging.” -</p> - -<p> -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking—he, the old -buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. -</p> - -<p> -“What I can do, that I’ll do,” I said. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a bargain!” cried Long John. “You speak up plucky, and by thunder, I’ve a -chance!” -</p> - -<p> -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and took a -fresh light to his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Understand me, Jim,” he said, returning. “I’ve a head on my shoulders, I have. -I’m on squire’s side now. I know you’ve got that ship safe somewheres. How you -done it, I don’t know, but safe it is. I guess Hands and O’Brien turned soft. I -never much believed in neither of <i>them</i>. Now you mark me. I ask no -questions, nor I won’t let others. I know when a game’s up, I do; and I know a -lad that’s staunch. Ah, you that’s young—you and me might have done a power of -good together!” -</p> - -<p> -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. -</p> - -<p> -“Will you taste, messmate?” he asked; and when I had refused: “Well, I’ll take -a dram myself, Jim,” said he. “I need a caulker, for there’s trouble on hand. -And talking o’ trouble, why did that doctor give me the chart, Jim?” -</p> - -<p> -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of -further questions. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well, he did, though,” said he. “And there’s something under that, no -doubt—something, surely, under that, Jim—bad or good.” -</p> - -<p> -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head like a -man who looks forward to the worst. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap29"></a> -<img src="images/0271m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0271m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIX<br/> -The Black Spot Again</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9271m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9271m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them re-entered the -house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which had in my eyes an -ironical air, begged for a moment’s loan of the torch. Silver briefly agreed, -and this emissary retired again, leaving us together in the dark. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a breeze coming, Jim,” said Silver, who had by this time adopted quite -a friendly and familiar tone. -</p> - -<p> -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the great -fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and duskily that I -understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About half-way down the -slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; one held the light, -another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw the blade of an open knife -shine in his hand with varying colours in the moon and torchlight. The rest -were all somewhat stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of this last. I -could just make out that he had a book as well as a knife in his hand, and was -still wondering how anything so incongruous had come in their possession when -the kneeling figure rose once more to his feet and the whole party began to -move together towards the house. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0273m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0273m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0273.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“Here they come,” said I; and I returned to my former position, for it seemed -beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, let ’em come, lad—let ’em come,” said Silver cheerily. “I’ve still a -shot in my locker.” -</p> - -<p> -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just inside, -pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances it would have -been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set down each foot, but -holding his closed right hand in front of him. -</p> - -<p> -“Step up, lad,” cried Silver. “I won’t eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I know -the rules, I do; I won’t hurt a depytation.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having passed -something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly back again to -his companions. -</p> - -<p> -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. -</p> - -<p> -“The black spot! I thought so,” he observed. “Where might you have got the -paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain’t lucky! You’ve gone and cut this -out of a Bible. What fool’s cut a Bible?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, there!” said Morgan. “There! Wot did I say? No good’ll come o’ that, I -said.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you’ve about fixed it now, among you,” continued Silver. “You’ll all -swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was Dick,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers,” said Silver. “He’s seen his slice -of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. -</p> - -<p> -“Belay that talk, John Silver,” he said. “This crew has tipped you the black -spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as in dooty -bound, and see what’s wrote there. Then you can talk.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanky, George,” replied the sea-cook. “You always was brisk for business, and -has the rules by heart, George, as I’m pleased to see. Well, what is it, -anyway? Ah! ‘Deposed’—that’s it, is it? Very pretty wrote, to be sure; like -print, I swear. Your hand o’ write, George? Why, you was gettin’ quite a -leadin’ man in this here crew. You’ll be cap’n next, I shouldn’t wonder. Just -oblige me with that torch again, will you? This pipe don’t draw.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, now,” said George, “you don’t fool this crew no more. You’re a funny -man, by your account; but you’re over now, and you’ll maybe step down off that -barrel and help vote.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought you said you knowed the rules,” returned Silver contemptuously. -“Leastways, if you don’t, I do; and I wait here—and I’m still your cap’n, -mind—till you outs with your grievances and I reply; in the meantime, your -black spot ain’t worth a biscuit. After that, we’ll see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” replied George, “you don’t be under no kind of apprehension; <i>we’re</i> -all square, we are. First, you’ve made a hash of this cruise—you’ll be a bold -man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o’ this here trap for -nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it’s pretty plain they wanted it. -Third, you wouldn’t let us go at them upon the march. Oh, we see through you, -John Silver; you want to play booty, that’s what’s wrong with you. And then, -fourth, there’s this here boy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly. -</p> - -<p> -“Enough, too,” retorted George. “We’ll all swing and sun-dry for your -bungling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well now, look here, I’ll answer these four p’ints; one after another I’ll -answer ’em. I made a hash o’ this cruise, did I? Well now, you all know what I -wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we’d ’a been aboard the -<i>Hispaniola</i> this night as ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and -full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by thunder! Well, -who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the lawful cap’n? Who tipped me the -black spot the day we landed and began this dance? Ah, it’s a fine dance—I’m -with you there—and looks mighty like a hornpipe in a rope’s end at Execution -Dock by London town, it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, -and you, George Merry! And you’re the last above board of that same meddling -crew; and you have the Davy Jones’s insolence to up and stand for cap’n over -me—you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the stiffest yarn -to nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late comrades -that these words had not been said in vain. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s for number one,” cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his brow, for -he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. “Why, I give you my -word, I’m sick to speak to you. You’ve neither sense nor memory, and I leave it -to fancy where your mothers was that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o’ -fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go on, John,” said Morgan. “Speak up to the others.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the others!” returned John. “They’re a nice lot, ain’t they? You say this -cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad it’s bungled, -you would see! We’re that near the gibbet that my neck’s stiff with thinking on -it. You’ve seen ’em, maybe, hanged in chains, birds about ’em, seamen p’inting -’em out as they go down with the tide. ‘Who’s that?’ says one. ‘That! Why, -that’s John Silver. I knowed him well,’ says another. And you can hear the -chains a-jangle as you go about and reach for the other buoy. Now, that’s about -where we are, every mother’s son of us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, -and other ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about number four, -and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, isn’t he a hostage? Are we a-going to -waste a hostage? No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I shouldn’t -wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, well, there’s a -deal to say to number three. Maybe you don’t count it nothing to have a real -college doctor to see you every day—you, John, with your head broke—or you, -George Merry, that had the ague shakes upon you not six hours agone, and has -your eyes the colour of lemon peel to this same moment on the clock? And maybe, -perhaps, you didn’t know there was a consort coming either? But there is, and -not so long till then; and we’ll see who’ll be glad to have a hostage when it -comes to that. And as for number two, and why I made a bargain—well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it—on your knees you came, you was that -downhearted—and you’d have starved too if I hadn’t—but that’s a trifle! You -look there—that’s why!” -</p> - -<p> -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly recognized—none other -than the chart on yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I had found in -the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain’s chest. Why the doctor had given it -to him was more than I could fancy. -</p> - -<p> -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was incredible -to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats upon a mouse. It went -from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by the oaths and the cries -and the childish laughter with which they accompanied their examination, you -would have thought, not only they were fingering the very gold, but were at sea -with it, besides, in safety. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said one, “that’s Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, with a -clove hitch to it; so he done ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mighty pretty,” said George. “But how are we to get away with it, and us no -ship.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against the wall: -“Now I give you warning, George,” he cried. “One more word of your sauce, and -I’ll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I know? You had ought to -tell me that—you and the rest, that lost me my schooner, with your -interference, burn you! But not you, you can’t; you hain’t got the invention of -a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and shall, George Merry, you may lay to -that.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s fair enow,” said the old man Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Fair! I reckon so,” said the sea-cook. “You lost the ship; I found the -treasure. Who’s the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! Elect -whom you please to be your cap’n now; I’m done with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver!” they cried. “Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap’n!” -</p> - -<p> -“So that’s the toon, is it?” cried the cook. “George, I reckon you’ll have to -wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I’m not a revengeful man. But -that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? ’Tain’t much good -now, is it? Dick’s crossed his luck and spoiled his Bible, and that’s about -all.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’ll do to kiss the book on still, won’t it?” growled Dick, who was evidently -uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. -</p> - -<p> -“A Bible with a bit cut out!” returned Silver derisively. “Not it. It don’t -bind no more’n a ballad-book.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t it, though?” cried Dick with a sort of joy. “Well, I reckon that’s worth -having too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here, Jim—here’s a cur’osity for you,” said Silver, and he tossed me the -paper. -</p> - -<p> -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, for it had -been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of Revelation—these -words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my mind: “Without are dogs -and murderers.” The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, which -already began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had been -written with the same material the one word “Depposed.” I have that curiosity -beside me at this moment, but not a trace of writing now remains beyond a -single scratch, such as a man might make with his thumb-nail. -</p> - -<p> -That was the end of the night’s business. Soon after, with a drink all round, -we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver’s vengeance was to put George -Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he should prove -unfaithful. -</p> - -<p> -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter enough for -thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own most perilous -position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw Silver now engaged -upon—keeping the mutineers together with one hand and grasping with the other -after every means, possible and impossible, to make his peace and save his -miserable life. He himself slept peacefully and snored aloud, yet my heart was -sore for him, wicked as he was, to think on the dark perils that environed and -the shameful gibbet that awaited him. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap30"></a> -<img src="images/0280m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0280m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXX<br/> -On Parole</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9280m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9280m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - was wakened—indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the sentinel -shake himself together from where he had fallen against the door-post—by a -clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the wood: -</p> - -<p> -“Block house, ahoy!” it cried. “Here’s the doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my gladness -was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my insubordinate and -stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me—among what companions -and surrounded by what dangers—I felt ashamed to look him in the face. -</p> - -<p> -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I ran to -a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to -the mid-leg in creeping vapour. -</p> - -<p> -“You, doctor! Top o’ the morning to you, sir!” cried Silver, broad awake and -beaming with good nature in a moment. “Bright and early, to be sure; and it’s -the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. George, shake up -your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship’s side. All a-doin’ well, -your patients was—all well and merry.” -</p> - -<p> -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his elbow and -one hand upon the side of the log-house—quite the old John in voice, manner, -and expression. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ve quite a surprise for you too, sir,” he continued. “We’ve a little -stranger here—he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit and taut -as a fiddle; slep’ like a supercargo, he did, right alongside of John—stem to -stem we was, all night.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the cook, and -I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, “Not Jim?” -</p> - -<p> -“The very same Jim as ever was,” says Silver. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some seconds -before he seemed able to move on. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, well,” he said at last, “duty first and pleasure afterwards, as you -might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of yours.” -</p> - -<p> -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim nod to me -proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no apprehension, though -he must have known that his life, among these treacherous demons, depended on a -hair; and he rattled on to his patients as if he were paying an ordinary -professional visit in a quiet English family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on -the men, for they behaved to him as if nothing had occurred, as if he were -still ship’s doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. -</p> - -<p> -“You’re doing well, my friend,” he said to the fellow with the bandaged head, -“and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head must be as -hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You’re a pretty colour, certainly; -why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take that medicine? Did he take -that medicine, men?” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough,” returned Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Because, you see, since I am mutineers’ doctor, or prison doctor as I prefer -to call it,” says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, “I make it a point of -honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) and the gallows.” -</p> - -<p> -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick don’t feel well, sir,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t he?” replied the doctor. “Well, step up here, Dick, and let me see your -tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man’s tongue is fit to -frighten the French. Another fever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, there,” said Morgan, “that comed of sp’iling Bibles.” -</p> - -<p> -“That comes—as you call it—of being arrant asses,” retorted the doctor, “and -not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a -vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable—though of course it’s only -an opinion—that you’ll all have the deuce to pay before you get that malaria -out of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, I’m surprised at you. -You’re less of a fool than many, take you all round; but you don’t appear to me -to have the rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken his -prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity schoolchildren -than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates—“well, that’s done for today. And now I -should wish to have a talk with that boy, please.” -</p> - -<p> -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. -</p> - -<p> -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some bad-tasted -medicine; but at the first word of the doctor’s proposal he swung round with a -deep flush and cried “No!” and swore. -</p> - -<p> -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Si-lence!” he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. “Doctor,” he -went on in his usual tones, “I was a-thinking of that, knowing as how you had a -fancy for the boy. We’re all humbly grateful for your kindness, and as you see, -puts faith in you and takes the drugs down like that much grog. And I take it -I’ve found a way as’ll suit all. Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour -as a young gentleman—for a young gentleman you are, although poor born—your -word of honour not to slip your cable?” -</p> - -<p> -I readily gave the pledge required. -</p> - -<p> -“Then, doctor,” said Silver, “you just step outside o’ that stockade, and once -you’re there I’ll bring the boy down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn -through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our dooties to the squire and -Cap’n Smollett.” -</p> - -<p> -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver’s black looks had -restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver was -roundly accused of playing double—of trying to make a separate peace for -himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and victims, and, in -one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was doing. It seemed to me so -obvious, in this case, that I could not imagine how he was to turn their anger. -But he was twice the man the rest were, and his last night’s victory had given -him a huge preponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools and dolts -you can imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the doctor, fluttered -the chart in their faces, asked them if they could afford to break the treaty -the very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting. -</p> - -<p> -“No, by thunder!” he cried. “It’s us must break the treaty when the time comes; -and till then I’ll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy.” -</p> - -<p> -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, with -his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced by his -volubility rather than convinced. -</p> - -<p> -“Slow, lad, slow,” he said. “They might round upon us in a twinkle of an eye if -we was seen to hurry.” -</p> - -<p> -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the doctor -awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we were within -easy speaking distance Silver stopped. -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll make a note of this here also, doctor,” says he, “and the boy’ll tell -you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you may lay to that. -Doctor, when a man’s steering as near the wind as me—playing chuck-farthing -with the last breath in his body, like—you wouldn’t think it too much, mayhap, -to give him one good word? You’ll please bear in mind it’s not my life only -now—it’s that boy’s into the bargain; and you’ll speak me fair, doctor, and -give me a bit o’ hope to go on, for the sake of mercy.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his friends -and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his voice trembled; -never was a soul more dead in earnest. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, John, you’re not afraid?” asked Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor, I’m no coward; no, not I—not <i>so</i> much!” and he snapped his -fingers. “If I was I wouldn’t say it. But I’ll own up fairly, I’ve the shakes -upon me for the gallows. You’re a good man and a true; I never seen a better -man! And you’ll not forget what I done good, not any more than you’ll forget -the bad, I know. And I step aside—see here—and leave you and Jim alone. And -you’ll put that down for me too, for it’s a long stretch, is that!” -</p> - -<p> -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and there -sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round now and again -upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and the doctor and -sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and fro in the sand between -the fire—which they were busy rekindling—and the house, from which they brought -forth pork and bread to make the breakfast. -</p> - -<p> -“So, Jim,” said the doctor sadly, “here you are. As you have brewed, so shall -you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you, but -this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain Smollett was well, you -dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and couldn’t help it, by George, -it was downright cowardly!” -</p> - -<p> -I will own that I here began to weep. “Doctor,” I said, “you might spare me. I -have blamed myself enough; my life’s forfeit anyway, and I should have been -dead by now if Silver hadn’t stood for me; and doctor, believe this, I can -die—and I dare say I deserve it—but what I fear is torture. If they come to -torture me—” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, “Jim, I can’t -have this. Whip over, and we’ll run for it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” said I, “I passed my word.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know, I know,” he cried. “We can’t help that, Jim, now. I’ll take it on my -shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let -you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it like antelopes.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0285m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0285m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0285.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“No,” I replied; “you know right well you wouldn’t do the thing -yourself—neither you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver trusted -me; I passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me finish. If -they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of where the ship is, for I -got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, and she lies in North Inlet, on -the southern beach, and just below high water. At half tide she must be high -and dry.” -</p> - -<p> -“The ship!” exclaimed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a kind of fate in this,” he observed when I had done. “Every step, -it’s you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance that we are -going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my boy. You found out -the plot; you found Ben Gunn—the best deed that ever you did, or will do, -though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this -is the mischief in person. Silver!” he cried. “Silver! I’ll give you a piece of -advice,” he continued as the cook drew near again; “don’t you be in any great -hurry after that treasure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain’t,” said Silver. “I can only, -asking your pardon, save my life and the boy’s by seeking for that treasure; -and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Silver,” replied the doctor, “if that is so, I’ll go one step further: -look out for squalls when you find it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Silver, “as between man and man, that’s too much and too little. -What you’re after, why you left the block house, why you given me that there -chart, I don’t know, now, do I? And yet I done your bidding with my eyes shut -and never a word of hope! But no, this here’s too much. If you won’t tell me -what you mean plain out, just say so and I’ll leave the helm.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the doctor musingly; “I’ve no right to say more; it’s not my secret, -you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I’d tell it you. But I’ll go as far -with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I’ll have my wig sorted by the -captain or I’m mistaken! And first, I’ll give you a bit of hope; Silver, if we -both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I’ll do my best to save you, short of -perjury.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s face was radiant. “You couldn’t say more, I’m sure, sir, not if you -was my mother,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that’s my first concession,” added the doctor. “My second is a piece of -advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, halloo. I’m off -to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I speak at random. -Good-bye, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to Silver, and -set off at a brisk pace into the wood. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap31"></a> -<img src="images/0289m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0289m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXI<br/> -The Treasure-hunt—Flint’s Pointer</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9289m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9289m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -im,” said Silver when we were alone, “if I saved your life, you saved mine; and -I’ll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for it—with the tail of -my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. Jim, that’s one to -you. This is the first glint of hope I had since the attack failed, and I owe -it you. And now, Jim, we’re to go in for this here treasure-hunting, with -sealed orders too, and I don’t like it; and you and me must stick close, back -to back like, and we’ll save our necks in spite o’ fate and fortune.” -</p> - -<p> -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and we were -soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had -lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot that they could only -approach it from the windward, and even there not without precaution. In the -same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three times more than we -could eat; and one of them, with an empty laugh, threw what was left into the -fire, which blazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life -saw men so careless of the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can -describe their way of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, -though they were bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their -entire unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. -</p> - -<p> -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a word -of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, for I thought -he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, mates,” said he, “it’s lucky you have Barbecue to think for you with this -here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where -they have it, I don’t know yet; but once we hit the treasure, we’ll have to -jump about and find out. And then, mates, us that has the boats, I reckon, has -the upper hand.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he restored -their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired his own at the -same time. -</p> - -<p> -“As for hostage,” he continued, “that’s his last talk, I guess, with them he -loves so dear. I’ve got my piece o’ news, and thanky to him for that; but it’s -over and done. I’ll take him in a line when we go treasure-hunting, for we’ll -keep him like so much gold, in case of accidents, you mark, and in the -meantime. Once we got the ship and treasure both and off to sea like jolly -companions, why then we’ll talk Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we’ll give him -his share, to be sure, for all his kindness.” -</p> - -<p> -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I was horribly -cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, -already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt it. He had still a foot -in either camp, and there was no doubt he would prefer wealth and freedom with -the pirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was the best he had to hope on -our side. -</p> - -<p> -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith with -Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment that would be -when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty and he and I should -have to fight for dear life—he a cripple and I a boy—against five strong and -active seamen! -</p> - -<p> -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the behaviour -of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, their inexplicable -cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, the doctor’s last warning -to Silver, “Look out for squalls when you find it,” and you will readily -believe how little taste I found in my breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I -set forth behind my captors on the quest for treasure. -</p> - -<p> -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us—all in soiled sailor -clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about -him—one before and one behind—besides the great cutlass at his waist and a -pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed coat. To complete his strange -appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds and -ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about my waist and followed -obediently after the sea-cook, who held the loose end of the rope, now in his -free hand, now between his powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a -dancing bear. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0291m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0291m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0291.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and shovels—for -that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore from the -<i>Hispaniola</i>—others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the midday -meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I could see the -truth of Silver’s words the night before. Had he not struck a bargain with the -doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been driven to -subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their hunting. Water would have been -little to their taste; a sailor is not usually a good shot; and besides all -that, when they were so short of eatables, it was not likely they would be very -flush of powder. -</p> - -<p> -Well, thus equipped, we all set out—even the fellow with the broken head, who -should certainly have kept in shadow—and straggled, one after another, to the -beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore trace of the drunken -folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, and both in their muddy and -unbailed condition. Both were to be carried along with us for the sake of -safety; and so, with our numbers divided between them, we set forth upon the -bosom of the anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross was, -of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note on the back, -as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the reader may -remember, thus: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. -</p> - -<p> -Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -Ten feet. -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the anchorage was -bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the -north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass and rising again towards -the south into the rough, cliffy eminence called the Mizzenmast Hill. The top -of the plateau was dotted thickly with pine-trees of varying height. Every here -and there, one of a different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its -neighbours, and which of these was the particular “tall tree” of Captain Flint -could only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. -</p> - -<p> -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had picked a -favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his -shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. -</p> - -<p> -We pulled easily, by Silver’s directions, not to weary the hands prematurely, -and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of the second river—that -which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, bending to our left, we -began to ascend the slope towards the plateau. -</p> - -<p> -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation greatly -delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began to steepen and -become stony under foot, and the wood to change its character and to grow in a -more open order. It was, indeed, a most pleasant portion of the island that we -were now approaching. A heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs had -almost taken the place of grass. Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted -here and there with the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the -first mingled their spice with the aroma of the others. The air, besides, was -fresh and stirring, and this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. -</p> - -<p> -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to and -fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed—I -tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among the sliding gravel. -From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, or he must have missed his -footing and fallen backward down the hill. -</p> - -<p> -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the brow of -the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in -terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others began to run in his -direction. -</p> - -<p> -“He can’t ’a found the treasure,” said old Morgan, hurrying past us from the -right, “for that’s clean a-top.” -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something very -different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green creeper, -which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton lay, -with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a chill struck for a -moment to every heart. -</p> - -<p> -“He was a seaman,” said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had gone up -close and was examining the rags of clothing. “Leastways, this is good -sea-cloth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” said Silver; “like enough; you wouldn’t look to find a bishop here, -I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? ’Tain’t in natur’.” -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body was in -a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that -had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had gradually enveloped -his remains) the man lay perfectly straight—his feet pointing in one direction, -his hands, raised above his head like a diver’s, pointing directly in the -opposite. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ve taken a notion into my old numbskull,” observed Silver. “Here’s the -compass; there’s the tip-top p’int o’ Skeleton Island, stickin’ out like a -tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones.” -</p> - -<p> -It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, and the -compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought so,” cried the cook; “this here is a p’inter. Right up there is our -line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it don’t make -me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of <i>his</i> jokes, and no -mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed ’em, every man; and this -one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my timbers! They’re long -bones, and the hair’s been yellow. Aye, that would be Allardyce. You mind -Allardyce, Tom Morgan?” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” returned Morgan; “I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and took my -knife ashore with him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Speaking of knives,” said another, “why don’t we find his’n lying round? Flint -warn’t the man to pick a seaman’s pocket; and the birds, I guess, would leave -it be.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, and that’s true!” cried Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“There ain’t a thing left here,” said Merry, still feeling round among the -bones; “not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don’t look nat’ral to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, by gum, it don’t,” agreed Silver; “not nat’ral, nor not nice, says you. -Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for -you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what they are now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I saw him dead with these here deadlights,” said Morgan. “Billy took me in. -There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dead—aye, sure enough he’s dead and gone below,” said the fellow with the -bandage; “but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint’s. Dear heart, but he -died bad, did Flint!” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, that he did,” observed another; “now he raged, and now he hollered for -the rum, and now he sang. ‘Fifteen Men’ were his only song, mates; and I tell -you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was main hot, and the -windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as clear as clear—and the -death-haul on the man already.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t walk, that -I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a -cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.” -</p> - -<p> -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring daylight, -the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the wood, but kept side -by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of the dead buccaneer had -fallen on their spirits. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap32"></a> -<img src="images/0298m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0298m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXII<br/> -The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9298m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9298m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -artly from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver and the -sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained the brow of the -ascent. -</p> - -<p> -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which we had -paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, over the tree-tops, -we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; behind, we not only looked -down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, but saw—clear across the spit and -the eastern lowlands—a great field of open sea upon the east. Sheer above us -rose the Spy-glass, here dotted with single pines, there black with precipices. -There was no sound but that of the distant breakers, mounting from all round, -and the chirp of countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon -the sea; the very largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. -</p> - -<p> -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. -</p> - -<p> -“There are three ‘tall trees,’” said he, “about in the right line from Skeleton -Island. ‘Spy-glass shoulder,’ I take it, means that lower p’int there. It’s -child’s play to find the stuff now. I’ve half a mind to dine first.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t feel sharp,” growled Morgan. “Thinkin’ o’ Flint—I think it were—as -done me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he’s dead,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“He were an ugly devil,” cried a third pirate with a shudder; “that blue in the -face too!” -</p> - -<p> -“That was how the rum took him,” added Merry. “Blue! Well, I reckon he was -blue. That’s a true word.” -</p> - -<p> -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of thought, they -had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to whispering by now, so -that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence of the wood. All of -a sudden, out of the middle of the trees in front of us, a thin, high, -trembling voice struck up the well-known air and words: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The colour -went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their feet, some -clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s Flint, by ——!” cried Merry. -</p> - -<p> -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began—broken off, you would have said, -in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon the singer’s -mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the green tree-tops, I -thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the effect on my companions was -the stranger. -</p> - -<p> -“Come,” said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; “this -won’t do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can’t name the -voice, but it’s someone skylarking—someone that’s flesh and blood, and you may -lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his face along -with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this encouragement and -were coming a little to themselves, when the same voice broke out again—not -this time singing, but in a faint distant hail that echoed yet fainter among -the clefts of the Spy-glass. -</p> - -<p> -“Darby M’Graw,” it wailed—for that is the word that best describes the -sound—“Darby M’Graw! Darby M’Graw!” again and again and again; and then rising -a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: “Fetch aft the rum, Darby!” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0301m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0301m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0301.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from their -heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in silence, -dreadfully, before them. -</p> - -<p> -“That fixes it!” gasped one. “Let’s go.” -</p> - -<p> -“They was his last words,” moaned Morgan, “his last words above board.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought up, -had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. -</p> - -<p> -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, but he -had not yet surrendered. -</p> - -<p> -“Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby,” he muttered; “not one but us -that’s here.” And then, making a great effort: “Shipmates,” he cried, “I’m here -to get that stuff, and I’ll not be beat by man or devil. I never was feared of -Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I’ll face him dead. There’s seven -hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a mile from here. When did ever a -gentleman o’ fortune show his stern to that much dollars for a boozy old seaman -with a blue mug—and him dead too?” -</p> - -<p> -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, indeed, -of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. -</p> - -<p> -“Belay there, John!” said Merry. “Don’t you cross a sperrit.” -</p> - -<p> -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away -severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them close by -John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty well fought his -weakness down. -</p> - -<p> -“Sperrit? Well, maybe,” he said. “But there’s one thing not clear to me. There -was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what’s -he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That ain’t in natur’, -surely?” -</p> - -<p> -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will affect -the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly relieved. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that’s so,” he said. “You’ve a head upon your shoulders, John, and no -mistake. ’Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do believe. -And come to think on it, it was like Flint’s voice, I grant you, but not just -so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker somebody else’s voice now—it was -liker—” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, Ben Gunn!” roared Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, and so it were,” cried Morgan, springing on his knees. “Ben Gunn it -were!” -</p> - -<p> -“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here in the -body any more’n Flint.” -</p> - -<p> -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds him.” -</p> - -<p> -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural colour -had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, with intervals of -listening; and not long after, hearing no further sound, they shouldered the -tools and set forth again, Merry walking first with Silver’s compass to keep -them on the right line with Skeleton Island. He had said the truth: dead or -alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. -</p> - -<p> -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with fearful -glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on his -precautions. -</p> - -<p> -“I told you,” said he—“I told you you had sp’iled your Bible. If it ain’t no -good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that!” -and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his crutch. -</p> - -<p> -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that the lad -was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the -fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing swiftly higher. -</p> - -<p> -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little downhill, -for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The pines, great and -small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg and azalea, wide -open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, as we did, pretty near -north-west across the island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer under the -shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, looked ever wider over that -western bay where I had once tossed and trembled in the coracle. -</p> - -<p> -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the wrong -one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet into the air -above a clump of underwood—a giant of a vegetable, with a red column as big as -a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a company could have manoeuvred. -It was conspicuous far to sea both on the east and west and might have been -entered as a sailing mark upon the chart. -</p> - -<p> -But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the knowledge -that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere buried below its -spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they drew nearer, swallowed up -their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew -speedier and lighter; their whole soul was bound up in that fortune, that whole -lifetime of extravagance and pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. -</p> - -<p> -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and quivered; -he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and shiny -countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to him and from time -to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. Certainly he took no pains -to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate -nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten: his promise and the doctor’s -warning were both things of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to -seize upon the treasure, find and board the <i>Hispaniola</i> under cover of -night, cut every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at -first intended, laden with crimes and riches. -</p> - -<p> -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with the rapid -pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it was then that -Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his murderous glances. -Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought up the rear, was babbling to -himself both prayers and curses as his fever kept rising. This also added to my -wretchedness, and to crown all, I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy -that had once been acted on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the -blue face—he who died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink—had there, -with his own hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so -peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I -could believe I heard it ringing still. -</p> - -<p> -We were now at the margin of the thicket. -</p> - -<p> -“Huzza, mates, all together!” shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into a run. -</p> - -<p> -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry arose. -Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch like one -possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead halt. -</p> - -<p> -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had fallen in -and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft of a pick broken -in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around. On one of these -boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name <i>Walrus</i>—the name of -Flint’s ship. -</p> - -<p> -All was clear to probation. The <i>cache</i> had been found and rifled; the -seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap33"></a> -<img src="images/0306m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0306m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXIII<br/> -The Fall of a Chieftain</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9306m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9306m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men was as -though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. -Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a racer, on that -money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; and he kept his head, -found his temper, and changed his plan before the others had had time to -realize the disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he whispered, “take that, and stand by for trouble.” -</p> - -<p> -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. -</p> - -<p> -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps had put -the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at me and nodded, -as much as to say, “Here is a narrow corner,” as, indeed, I thought it was. His -looks were not quite friendly, and I was so revolted at these constant changes -that I could not forbear whispering, “So you’ve changed sides again.” -</p> - -<p> -There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths and -cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig with their -fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found a piece of -gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It was a two-guinea piece, -and it went from hand to hand among them for a quarter of a minute. -</p> - -<p> -“Two guineas!” roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. “That’s your seven hundred -thousand pounds, is it? You’re the man for bargains, ain’t you? You’re him that -never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!” -</p> - -<p> -“Dig away, boys,” said Silver with the coolest insolence; “you’ll find some -pig-nuts and I shouldn’t wonder.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pig-nuts!” repeated Merry, in a scream. “Mates, do you hear that? I tell you -now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him and you’ll see -it wrote there.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Merry,” remarked Silver, “standing for cap’n again? You’re a pushing lad, -to be sure.” -</p> - -<p> -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry’s favour. They began to scramble -out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One thing I -observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the opposite side -from Silver. -</p> - -<p> -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit between us, -and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. Silver never moved; -he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as cool as ever I saw -him. He was brave, and no mistake. -</p> - -<p> -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. -</p> - -<p> -“Mates,” says he, “there’s two of them alone there; one’s the old cripple that -brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the other’s that cub that I -mean to have the heart of. Now, mates—” -</p> - -<p> -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a charge. But -just then—crack! crack! crack!—three musket-shots flashed out of the thicket. -Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the man with the bandage spun -round like a teetotum and fell all his length upon his side, where he lay dead, -but still twitching; and the other three turned and ran for it with all their -might. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0309m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0309m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0309.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into the -struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the last agony, -“George,” said he, “I reckon I settled you.” -</p> - -<p> -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with smoking -muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. -</p> - -<p> -“Forward!” cried the doctor. “Double quick, my lads. We must head ’em off the -boats.” -</p> - -<p> -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to the -chest. -</p> - -<p> -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man went -through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, -was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the doctor. As it was, he -was already thirty yards behind us and on the verge of strangling when we -reached the brow of the slope. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” he hailed, “see there! No hurry!” -</p> - -<p> -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we could -see the three survivors still running in the same direction as they had -started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between them and the boats; -and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, mopping his face, came -slowly up with us. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank ye kindly, doctor,” says he. “You came in in about the nick, I guess, -for me and Hawkins. And so it’s you, Ben Gunn!” he added. “Well, you’re a nice -one, to be sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m Ben Gunn, I am,” replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his -embarrassment. “And,” he added, after a long pause, “how do, Mr. Silver? Pretty -well, I thank ye, says you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ben, Ben,” murmured Silver, “to think as you’ve done me!” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their flight, -by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to where the -boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. It was a story -that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the -hero from beginning to end. -</p> - -<p> -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the skeleton—it -was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he had dug it up (it was -the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the excavation); he had carried it -on his back, in many weary journeys, from the foot of the tall pine to a cave -he had on the two-pointed hill at the north-east angle of the island, and there -it had lain stored in safety since two months before the arrival of the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the attack, -and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone to Silver, -given him the chart, which was now useless—given him the stores, for Ben Gunn’s -cave was well supplied with goats’ meat salted by himself—given anything and -everything to get a chance of moving in safety from the stockade to the -two-pointed hill, there to be clear of malaria and keep a guard upon the money. -</p> - -<p> -“As for you, Jim,” he said, “it went against my heart, but I did what I thought -best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not one of these, -whose fault was it?” -</p> - -<p> -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid disappointment he -had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way to the cave, and leaving -the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray and the maroon and started, -making the diagonal across the island to be at hand beside the pine. Soon, -however, he saw that our party had the start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet -of foot, had been dispatched in front to do his best alone. Then it had -occurred to him to work upon the superstitions of his former shipmates, and he -was so far successful that Gray and the doctor had come up and were already -ambushed before the arrival of the treasure-hunters. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said Silver, “it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. You would -have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a thought, doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a thought,” replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. -</p> - -<p> -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, -demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out to go -round by sea for North Inlet. -</p> - -<p> -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost killed -already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and we were soon -skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the straits and -doubled the south-east corner of the island, round which, four days ago, we had -towed the <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben Gunn’s -cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the squire, and -we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which the voice of Silver -joined as heartily as any. -</p> - -<p> -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should we meet -but the <i>Hispaniola</i>, cruising by herself? The last flood had lifted her, -and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as in the southern -anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found her stranded beyond -help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the wreck of the main-sail. -Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a fathom and a half of water. We -all pulled round again to Rum Cove, the nearest point for Ben Gunn’s -treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned with the gig to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>, where he was to pass the night on guard. -</p> - -<p> -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the top, -the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing of my escapade -either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver’s polite salute he somewhat -flushed. -</p> - -<p> -“John Silver,” he said, “you’re a prodigious villain and imposter—a monstrous -imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not. But -the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like mill-stones.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you kindly, sir,” replied Long John, again saluting. -</p> - -<p> -“I dare you to thank me!” cried the squire. “It is a gross dereliction of my -duty. Stand back.” -</p> - -<p> -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with a -little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The floor was -sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily -flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals -built of bars of gold. That was Flint’s treasure that we had come so far to -seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, -what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank -blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man -alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon that island—Silver, and old -Morgan, and Ben Gunn—who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had -hoped in vain to share in the reward. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in, Jim,” said the captain. “You’re a good boy in your line, Jim, but I -don’t think you and me’ll go to sea again. You’re too much of the born -favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Come back to my dooty, sir,” returned Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” said the captain, and that was all he said. -</p> - -<p> -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and what a -meal it was, with Ben Gunn’s salted goat and some delicacies and a bottle of -old wine from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. Never, I am sure, were people gayer or -happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the firelight, but -eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was wanted, even -joining quietly in our laughter—the same bland, polite, obsequious seaman of -the voyage out. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap34"></a> -<img src="images/0314m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0314m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXIV<br/> -And Last</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9314m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9314m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this great -mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat -to the <i>Hispaniola</i>, was a considerable task for so small a number of -workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did not greatly trouble -us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us -against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, besides, they had had more than -enough of fighting. -</p> - -<p> -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and went with -the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure on the beach. Two -of the bars, slung in a rope’s end, made a good load for a grown man—one that -he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, as I was not much use at -carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave packing the minted money into -bread-bags. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0317m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0317m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0317.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones’s hoard for the diversity of -coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I never had -more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, -Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, -the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange -Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of string or bits of -spider’s web, round pieces and square pieces, and pieces bored through the -middle, as if to wear them round your neck—nearly every variety of money in the -world must, I think, have found a place in that collection; and for number, I -am sure they were like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping and -my fingers with sorting them out. -</p> - -<p> -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been stowed -aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and all this time -we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -At last—I think it was on the third night—the doctor and I were strolling on -the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of the isle, when, -from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise between -shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached our ears, followed by -the former silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Heaven forgive them,” said the doctor; “’tis the mutineers!” -</p> - -<p> -“All drunk, sir,” struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. -</p> - -<p> -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of daily -rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged and friendly -dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these slights and with -what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to ingratiate himself with all. -Yet, I think, none treated him better than a dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who -was still terribly afraid of his old quartermaster, or myself, who had really -something to thank him for; although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason -to think even worse of him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a -fresh treachery upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the -doctor answered him. -</p> - -<p> -“Drunk or raving,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“Right you were, sir,” replied Silver; “and precious little odds which, to you -and me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man,” returned the -doctor with a sneer, “and so my feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But -if I were sure they were raving—as I am morally certain one, at least, of them -is down with fever—I should leave this camp, and at whatever risk to my own -carcass, take them the assistance of my skill.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,” quoth Silver. “You would lose -your precious life, and you may lay to that. I’m on your side now, hand and -glove; and I shouldn’t wish for to see the party weakened, let alone yourself, -seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down there, they couldn’t keep -their word—no, not supposing they wished to; and what’s more, they couldn’t -believe as you could.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the doctor. “You’re the man to keep your word, we know that.” -</p> - -<p> -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only once we -heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. A council was -held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the island—to the huge -glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong approval of Gray. We left a -good stock of powder and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few medicines, and -some other necessaries, tools, clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, -and by the particular desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. -</p> - -<p> -That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the -treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the goat meat -in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we weighed anchor, -which was about all that we could manage, and stood out of North Inlet, the -same colours flying that the captain had flown and fought under at the -palisade. -</p> - -<p> -The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, as we -soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to lie very near the -southern point, and there we saw all three of them kneeling together on a spit -of sand, with their arms raised in supplication. It went to all our hearts, I -think, to leave them in that wretched state; but we could not risk another -mutiny; and to take them home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of -kindness. The doctor hailed them and told them of the stores we had left, and -where they were to find them. But they continued to call us by name and appeal -to us, for God’s sake, to be merciful and not leave them to die in such a -place. -</p> - -<p> -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly drawing -out of earshot, one of them—I know not which it was—leapt to his feet with a -hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent a shot whistling over -Silver’s head and through the main-sail. -</p> - -<p> -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked out -they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost melted out -of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end of that; and -before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of Treasure Island had -sunk into the blue round of sea. -</p> - -<p> -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand—only the -captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for though -greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her head for the -nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the voyage home without -fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds and a couple of fresh -gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. -</p> - -<p> -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful land-locked -gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full of Negroes and -Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and vegetables and offering to -dive for bits of money. The sight of so many good-humoured faces (especially -the blacks), the taste of the tropical fruits, and above all the lights that -began to shine in the town made a most charming contrast to our dark and bloody -sojourn on the island; and the doctor and the squire, taking me along with -them, went ashore to pass the early part of the night. Here they met the -captain of an English man-of-war, fell in talk with him, went on board his -ship, and, in short, had so agreeable a time that day was breaking when we came -alongside the <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, with -wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. The maroon had -connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, and he now assured us he -had only done so to preserve our lives, which would certainly have been forfeit -if “that man with the one leg had stayed aboard.” But this was not all. The -sea-cook had not gone empty-handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved -and had removed one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred -guineas, to help him on his further wanderings. -</p> - -<p> -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. -</p> - -<p> -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a good -cruise home, and the <i>Hispaniola</i> reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was -beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of those who had -sailed returned with her. “Drink and the devil had done for the rest,” with a -vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite in so bad a case as that -other ship they sang about: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -With one man of her crew alive,<br/> -What put to sea with seventy-five. -</p> - -<p> -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or foolishly, -according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired from the sea. Gray -not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit with the desire to rise, also -studied his profession, and he is now mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged -ship, married besides, and the father of a family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a -thousand pounds, which he spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in -nineteen days, for he was back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a -lodge to keep, exactly as he had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a -great favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys, and a -notable singer in church on Sundays and saints’ days. -</p> - -<p> -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one leg has -at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old Negress, and -perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. It is to be hoped -so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small. -</p> - -<p> -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where Flint buried -them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not -bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I -have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts or start upright in bed -with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: “Pieces of -eight! Pieces of eight!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 ***</div> -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/120-h/images/0010.jpg b/old/120-h/images/0010.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0f86e95..0000000 --- a/old/120-h/images/0010.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/120-h/images/0010m.jpg b/old/120-h/images/0010m.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6d7de02..0000000 --- a/old/120-h/images/0010m.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/120-h/images/0017.jpg b/old/120-h/images/0017.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 518424d..0000000 --- a/old/120-h/images/0017.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/120-h/images/0017m.jpg b/old/120-h/images/0017m.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 92da86d..0000000 --- a/old/120-h/images/0017m.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/120-h/images/0021.jpg b/old/120-h/images/0021.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 618cac2..0000000 --- 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-numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his -affectionate friend, the author. - - - - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - --So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! - - - CONTENTS - - PART ONE - The Old Buccaneer - - I. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE ADMIRAL BENBOW . . . . 11 - II. BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS . . . . . . 17 - III. THE BLACK SPOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - IV. THE SEA-CHEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 - V. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN . . . . . . . . . . 36 - VI. THE CAPTAIN’S PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 - - PART TWO - The Sea Cook - - VII. I GO TO BRISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 - VIII. AT THE SIGN OF THE SPY-GLASS . . . . . . . 54 - IX. POWDER AND ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - X. THE VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 - XI. WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE-BARREL . . . . . . 70 - XII. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 - - PART THREE - My Shore Adventure - - XIII. HOW I BEGAN MY SHORE ADVENTURE . . . . . . 82 - XIV. THE FIRST BLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 - XV. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 - - PART FOUR - The Stockade - - XVI. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED . . . . . . . . 100 - XVII. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - THE JOLLY-BOAT’S LAST TRIP . . . . . . . . 105 - XVIII. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - END OF THE FIRST DAY’S FIGHTING . . . . . 109 - XIX. NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: - THE GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE . . . . . . . 114 - XX. SILVER’S EMBASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 - XXI. THE ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 - - PART FIVE - My Sea Adventure - - XXII. HOW I BEGAN MY SEA ADVENTURE . . . . . . . 132 - XXIII. THE EBB-TIDE RUNS . . . . . . . . . . . 138 - XXIV. THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE . . . . . . . . 143 - XXV. I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER . . . . . . . . . 148 - XXVI. ISRAEL HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 - XXVII. “PIECES OF EIGHT” . . . . . . . . . . . 161 - - PART SIX - Captain Silver - - XXVIII. IN THE ENEMY’S CAMP . . . . . . . . . . 168 - XXIX. THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN . . . . . . . . . . . 176 - XXX. ON PAROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 - XXXI. THE TREASURE-HUNT--FLINT’S POINTER . . . . 189 - XXXII. THE TREASURE-HUNT--THE VOICE AMONG - THE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 - XXXIII. THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN . . . . . . . . 201 - XXXIV. AND LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - - - - -PART ONE--The Old Buccaneer - - - - -I -The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow - - -Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having -asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from -the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the -island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I -take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when -my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the -sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof. - -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the -inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow--a -tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the -shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with -black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid -white. I remember him looking round the cove and whistling to himself -as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so -often afterwards: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and -broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of -stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, -called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, -he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still -looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard. - -“This is a handy cove,” says he at length; “and a pleasant sittyated -grog-shop. Much company, mate?” - -My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. - -“Well, then,” said he, “this is the berth for me. Here you, matey,” he -cried to the man who trundled the barrow; “bring up alongside and help -up my chest. I’ll stay here a bit,” he continued. “I’m a plain man; rum -and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch -ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I -see what you’re at--there”; and he threw down three or four gold pieces -on the threshold. “You can tell me when I’ve worked through that,” says -he, looking as fierce as a commander. - -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none -of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like -a mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came -with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at -the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the -coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as -lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And -that was all we could learn of our guest. - -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or -upon the cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner -of the parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly -he would not speak when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and -blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came -about our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when he came back -from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the -road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind -that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was -desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the Admiral Benbow -(as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) he -would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such -was present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for -I was, in a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day -and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I -would only keep my “weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg” - and let him know the moment he appeared. Often enough when the first -of the month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he would only -blow through his nose at me and stare me down, but before the week was -out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and -repeat his orders to look out for “the seafaring man with one leg.” - -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On -stormy nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and -the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a -thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg -would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; now he was a monstrous -kind of a creature who had never had but the one leg, and that in the -middle of his body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and -ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I paid pretty dear for -my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies. - -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one -leg, I was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who -knew him. There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water -than his head would carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his -wicked, old, wild sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call -for glasses round and force all the trembling company to listen to his -stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have heard the house -shaking with “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum,” all the neighbours joining -in for dear life, with the fear of death upon them, and each singing -louder than the other to avoid remark. For in these fits he was the most -overriding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on the table for -silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, -or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was not -following his story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he -had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories -they were--about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and -the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his -own account he must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men -that God ever allowed upon the sea, and the language in which he told -these stories shocked our plain country people almost as much as the -crimes that he described. My father was always saying the inn would be -ruined, for people would soon cease coming there to be tyrannized over -and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I really believe his -presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on looking -back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet country -life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a “true sea-dog” and a “real old salt” and -such like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England -terrible at sea. - -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week -after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had -been long exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to -insist on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through -his nose so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared my poor -father out of the room. I have seen him wringing his hands after such a -rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the terror he lived in must have -greatly hastened his early and unhappy death. - -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his -dress but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his -hat having fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it -was a great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his -coat, which he patched himself upstairs in his room, and which, before -the end, was nothing but patches. He never wrote or received a letter, -and he never spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these, for the -most part, only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us had -ever seen open. - -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor -father was far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came -late one afternoon to see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my -mother, and went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse should -come down from the hamlet, for we had no stabling at the old Benbow. I -followed him in, and I remember observing the contrast the neat, bright -doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his bright, black eyes and -pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, and above all, -with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, -far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he--the captain, -that is--began to pipe up his eternal song: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -At first I had supposed “the dead man’s chest” to be that identical big -box of his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled -in my nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this -time we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it -was new, that night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it -did not produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite -angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on -a new cure for the rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually -brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his hand upon -the table before him in a way we all knew to mean silence. The voices -stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey’s; he went on as before speaking -clear and kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or -two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, -glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, -“Silence, there, between decks!” - -“Were you addressing me, sir?” says the doctor; and when the ruffian had -told him, with another oath, that this was so, “I have only one thing to -say to you, sir,” replies the doctor, “that if you keep on drinking rum, -the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” - -The old fellow’s fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened -a sailor’s clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, -threatened to pin the doctor to the wall. - -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his -shoulder and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the -room might hear, but perfectly calm and steady: “If you do not put that -knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall -hang at the next assizes.” - -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon -knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like -a beaten dog. - -“And now, sir,” continued the doctor, “since I now know there’s such a -fellow in my district, you may count I’ll have an eye upon you day and -night. I’m not a doctor only; I’m a magistrate; and if I catch a breath -of complaint against you, if it’s only for a piece of incivility like -tonight’s, I’ll take effectual means to have you hunted down and routed -out of this. Let that suffice.” - -Soon after, Dr. Livesey’s horse came to the door and he rode away, but -the captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. - - - - -II -Black Dog Appears and Disappears - - -It was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the -mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you -will see, of his affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard -frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor -father was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my mother -and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without -paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - -It was one January morning, very early--a pinching, frosty morning--the -cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, -the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to -seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and set out down the -beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat, -his brass telescope under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I -remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and -the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort -of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the -breakfast-table against the captain’s return when the parlour door -opened and a man stepped in on whom I had never set my eyes before. He -was a pale, tallowy creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and -though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a fighter. I -had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one leg or two, and I -remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a -smack of the sea about him too. - -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but -as I was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table -and motioned me to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my -hand. - -“Come here, sonny,” says he. “Come nearer here.” - -I took a step nearer. - -“Is this here table for my mate Bill?” he asked with a kind of leer. - -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who -stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - -“Well,” said he, “my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like -as not. He has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, -particularly in drink, has my mate Bill. We’ll put it, for argument -like, that your captain has a cut on one cheek--and we’ll put it, if you -like, that that cheek’s the right one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my -mate Bill in this here house?” - -I told him he was out walking. - -“Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?” - -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was -likely to return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, -“Ah,” said he, “this’ll be as good as drink to my mate Bill.” - -The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all -pleasant, and I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was -mistaken, even supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of -mine, I thought; and besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The -stranger kept hanging about just inside the inn door, peering round the -corner like a cat waiting for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into -the road, but he immediately called me back, and as I did not obey quick -enough for his fancy, a most horrible change came over his tallowy face, -and he ordered me in with an oath that made me jump. As soon as I -was back again he returned to his former manner, half fawning, half -sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and he had -taken quite a fancy to me. “I have a son of my own,” said he, “as like -you as two blocks, and he’s all the pride of my ’art. But the great -thing for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you had sailed -along of Bill, you wouldn’t have stood there to be spoke to twice--not -you. That was never Bill’s way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. -And here, sure enough, is my mate Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, -bless his old ’art, to be sure. You and me’ll just go back into the -parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we’ll give Bill a little -surprise--bless his ’art, I say again.” - -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me -behind him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I -was very uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my -fears to observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He -cleared the hilt of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; -and all the time we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt -what we used to call a lump in the throat. - -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without -looking to the right or left, and marched straight across the room to -where his breakfast awaited him. - -“Bill,” said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make -bold and big. - -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had -gone out of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a -man who sees a ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything -can be; and upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn -so old and sick. - -“Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely,” said -the stranger. - -The captain made a sort of gasp. - -“Black Dog!” said he. - -“And who else?” returned the other, getting more at his ease. “Black -Dog as ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral -Benbow inn. Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since -I lost them two talons,” holding up his mutilated hand. - -“Now, look here,” said the captain; “you’ve run me down; here I am; -well, then, speak up; what is it?” - -“That’s you, Bill,” returned Black Dog, “you’re in the right of it, -Billy. I’ll have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I’ve took -such a liking to; and we’ll sit down, if you please, and talk square, -like old shipmates.” - -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side -of the captain’s breakfast-table--Black Dog next to the door and -sitting sideways so as to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I -thought, on his retreat. - -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. “None of your keyholes for -me, sonny,” he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. - -For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear -nothing but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, -and I could pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - -“No, no, no, no; and an end of it!” he cried once. And again, “If it -comes to swinging, swing all, say I.” - -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and -other noises--the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel -followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black -Dog in full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn -cutlasses, and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just -at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous -cut, which would certainly have split him to the chine had it not been -intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You may see the -notch on the lower side of the frame to this day. - -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black -Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and -disappeared over the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for -his part, stood staring at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he -passed his hand over his eyes several times and at last turned back into -the house. - -“Jim,” says he, “rum”; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught -himself with one hand against the wall. - -“Are you hurt?” cried I. - -“Rum,” he repeated. “I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!” - -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen -out, and I broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still -getting in my own way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running -in, beheld the captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same -instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting, came running -downstairs to help me. Between us we raised his head. He was breathing -very loud and hard, but his eyes were closed and his face a horrible -colour. - -“Dear, deary me,” cried my mother, “what a disgrace upon the house! And -your poor father sick!” - -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any -other thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with -the stranger. I got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his -throat, but his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. -It was a happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor Livesey -came in, on his visit to my father. - -“Oh, doctor,” we cried, “what shall we do? Where is he wounded?” - -“Wounded? A fiddle-stick’s end!” said the doctor. “No more wounded than -you or I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, -just you run upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing -about it. For my part, I must do my best to save this fellow’s trebly -worthless life; Jim, you get me a basin.” - -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the -captain’s sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed -in several places. “Here’s luck,” “A fair wind,” and “Billy Bones his -fancy,” were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm; and up -near the shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows and a man hanging from -it--done, as I thought, with great spirit. - -“Prophetic,” said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. -“And now, Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we’ll have a look at -the colour of your blood. Jim,” he said, “are you afraid of blood?” - -“No, sir,” said I. - -“Well, then,” said he, “you hold the basin”; and with that he took his -lancet and opened a vein. - -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes -and looked mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with -an unmistakable frown; then his glance fell upon me, and he looked -relieved. But suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise -himself, crying, “Where’s Black Dog?” - -“There is no Black Dog here,” said the doctor, “except what you have -on your own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, -precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, -dragged you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones--” - -“That’s not my name,” he interrupted. - -“Much I care,” returned the doctor. “It’s the name of a buccaneer of my -acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I -have to say to you is this; one glass of rum won’t kill you, but if -you take one you’ll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you -don’t break off short, you’ll die--do you understand that?--die, and go -to your own place, like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. -I’ll help you to your bed for once.” - -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and -laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he -were almost fainting. - -“Now, mind you,” said the doctor, “I clear my conscience--the name of -rum for you is death.” - -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the -arm. - -“This is nothing,” he said as soon as he had closed the door. “I have -drawn blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week -where he is--that is the best thing for him and you; but another stroke -would settle him.” - - - - -III -The Black Spot - - -About noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks -and medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little -higher, and he seemed both weak and excited. - -“Jim,” he said, “you’re the only one here that’s worth anything, and you -know I’ve been always good to you. Never a month but I’ve given you a -silver fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I’m pretty low, -and deserted by all; and Jim, you’ll bring me one noggin of rum, now, -won’t you, matey?” - -“The doctor--” I began. - -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. -“Doctors is all swabs,” he said; “and that doctor there, why, what do -he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates -dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the -sea with earthquakes--what to the doctor know of lands like that?--and I -lived on rum, I tell you. It’s been meat and drink, and man and wife, -to me; and if I’m not to have my rum now I’m a poor old hulk on a lee -shore, my blood’ll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab”; and he ran on -again for a while with curses. “Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges,” - he continued in the pleading tone. “I can’t keep ’em still, not I. I -haven’t had a drop this blessed day. That doctor’s a fool, I tell you. -If I don’t have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some -on ’em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as -plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that -has lived rough, and I’ll raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass -wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim.” - -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, -who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by -the doctor’s words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer -of a bribe. - -“I want none of your money,” said I, “but what you owe my father. I’ll -get you one glass, and no more.” - -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. - -“Aye, aye,” said he, “that’s some better, sure enough. And now, matey, -did that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?” - -“A week at least,” said I. - -“Thunder!” he cried. “A week! I can’t do that; they’d have the black -spot on me by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me -this blessed moment; lubbers as couldn’t keep what they got, and want to -nail what is another’s. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? -But I’m a saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost it -neither; and I’ll trick ’em again. I’m not afraid on ’em. I’ll shake out -another reef, matey, and daddle ’em again.” - -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, -holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and -moving his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they -were in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in -which they were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting -position on the edge. - -“That doctor’s done me,” he murmured. “My ears is singing. Lay me back.” - -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his -former place, where he lay for a while silent. - -“Jim,” he said at length, “you saw that seafaring man today?” - -“Black Dog?” I asked. - -“Ah! Black Dog,” says he. “_He’s_ a bad ’un; but there’s worse that put him -on. Now, if I can’t get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind -you, it’s my old sea-chest they’re after; you get on a horse--you can, -can’t you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to--well, yes, -I will!--to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all -hands--magistrates and sich--and he’ll lay ’em aboard at the Admiral -Benbow--all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, all on ’em that’s left. I was -first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and I’m the on’y one as knows -the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I -was to now, you see. But you won’t peach unless they get the black spot -on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man with -one leg, Jim--him above all.” - -“But what is the black spot, captain?” I asked. - -“That’s a summons, mate. I’ll tell you if they get that. But you keep -your weather-eye open, Jim, and I’ll share with you equals, upon my -honour.” - -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I -had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, -“If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it’s me,” he fell at last into a heavy, -swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all -gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to -the doctor, for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of -his confessions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my poor -father died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters -on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the -arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on -in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of -the captain, far less to be afraid of him. - -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, -though he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of -rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through -his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral -he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, -to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, -we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly -taken up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after -my father’s death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he -seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up -and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, -and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man -on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my -belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was -more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than -ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his -cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But with all that, -he minded people less and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather -wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a -different air, a kind of country love-song that he must have learned in -his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. - -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three -o’clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door -for a moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone -drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped -before him with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and -nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge -old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively -deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. -He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd -sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, “Will any kind friend -inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in -the gracious defence of his native country, England--and God bless King -George!--where or in what part of this country he may now be?” - -“You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man,” said I. - -“I hear a voice,” said he, “a young voice. Will you give me your hand, -my kind young friend, and lead me in?” - -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature -gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I -struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with -a single action of his arm. - -“Now, boy,” he said, “take me in to the captain.” - -“Sir,” said I, “upon my word I dare not.” - -“Oh,” he sneered, “that’s it! Take me in straight or I’ll break your -arm.” - -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - -“Sir,” said I, “it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he -used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman--” - -“Come, now, march,” interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, -and cold, and ugly as that blind man’s. It cowed me more than the pain, -and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and -towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed -with rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist -and leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. “Lead me -straight up to him, and when I’m in view, cry out, ‘Here’s a friend -for you, Bill.’ If you don’t, I’ll do this,” and with that he gave me a -twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I -was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of -the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he -had ordered in a trembling voice. - -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of -him and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so -much of terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I -do not believe he had enough force left in his body. - -“Now, Bill, sit where you are,” said the beggar. “If I can’t see, I can -hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. -Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right.” - -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the -hollow of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain’s, -which closed upon it instantly. - -“And now that’s done,” said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly -left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, -skipped out of the parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood -motionless, I could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our -senses, but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his -wrist, which I was still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked -sharply into the palm. - -“Ten o’clock!” he cried. “Six hours. We’ll do them yet,” and he sprang -to his feet. - -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying -for a moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole -height face foremost to the floor. - -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. -The captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious -thing to understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of -late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I -burst into a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and -the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart. - - - - -IV -The Sea-chest - - -I lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and -perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once -in a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money--if -he had any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our -captain’s shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black -Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in -payment of the dead man’s debts. The captain’s order to mount at -once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone -and unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed -impossible for either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall -of coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled -us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by -approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain -on the parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind beggar -hovering near at hand and ready to return, there were moments when, as -the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. Something must speedily -be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth together -and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than done. -Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and -the frosty fog. - -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the -other side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was -in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his -appearance and whither he had presumably returned. We were not many -minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each -other and hearken. But there was no unusual sound--nothing but the low -wash of the ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall -never forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and -windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely -to get in that quarter. For--you would have thought men would have been -ashamed of themselves--no soul would consent to return with us to the -Admiral Benbow. The more we told of our troubles, the more--man, woman, -and child--they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of -Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well enough known to -some there and carried a great weight of terror. Some of the men who -had been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, -besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and taking them to -be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a little -lugger in what we called Kitt’s Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain’s was enough to frighten them to death. And the -short and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several -who were willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey’s, which lay in another -direction, not one would help us to defend the inn. - -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other -hand, a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother -made them a speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that -belonged to her fatherless boy; “If none of the rest of you dare,” - she said, “Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we came, and small -thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. We’ll have that chest -open, if we die for it. And I’ll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, -to bring back our lawful money in.” - -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried -out at our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with -us. All they would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were -attacked, and to promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were -pursued on our return, while one lad was to ride forward to the doctor’s -in search of armed assistance. - -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon -this dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered -redly through the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, -for it was plain, before we came forth again, that all would be as -bright as day, and our departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. -We slipped along the hedges, noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear -anything to increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of the -Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. - -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the -dark, alone in the house with the dead captain’s body. Then my mother -got a candle in the bar, and holding each other’s hands, we advanced -into the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes -open and one arm stretched out. - -“Draw down the blind, Jim,” whispered my mother; “they might come and -watch outside. And now,” said she when I had done so, “we have to get -the key off _that;_ and who’s to touch it, I should like to know!” and she -gave a kind of sob as she said the words. - -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there -was a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not -doubt that this was the _black spot;_ and taking it up, I found written -on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You -have till ten tonight.” - -“He had till ten, Mother,” said I; and just as I said it, our old clock -began striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news -was good, for it was only six. - -“Now, Jim,” she said, “that key.” - -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, -and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away -at the end, his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a -tinder box were all that they contained, and I began to despair. - -“Perhaps it’s round his neck,” suggested my mother. - -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and -there, sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with -his own gully, we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with -hope and hurried upstairs without delay to the little room where he had -slept so long and where his box had stood since the day of his arrival. - -It was like any other seaman’s chest on the outside, the initial “B” - burned on the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat -smashed and broken as by long, rough usage. - -“Give me the key,” said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, -she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. - -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing -was to be seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully -brushed and folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under -that, the miscellany began--a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of -tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an -old Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of -foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six -curious West Indian shells. I have often wondered since why he should -have carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and -hunted life. - -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and -the trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there -was an old boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My -mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last -things in the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like -papers, and a canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of -gold. - -“I’ll show these rogues that I’m an honest woman,” said my mother. “I’ll -have my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley’s bag.” And -she began to count over the amount of the captain’s score from the -sailor’s bag into the one that I was holding. - -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries -and sizes--doubloons, and louis d’ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, -and I know not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, -too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother -knew how to make her count. - -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her -arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my -heart into my mouth--the tap-tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the -frozen road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. -Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then we could hear the handle -being turned and the bolt rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; -and then there was a long time of silence both within and without. -At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable joy and -gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be heard. - -“Mother,” said I, “take the whole and let’s be going,” for I was sure -the bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole -hornet’s nest about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had -bolted it, none could tell who had never met that terrible blind man. - -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a -fraction more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be -content with less. It was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she -knew her rights and she would have them; and she was still arguing with -me when a little low whistle sounded a good way off upon the hill. That -was enough, and more than enough, for both of us. - -“I’ll take what I have,” she said, jumping to her feet. - -“And I’ll take this to square the count,” said I, picking up the oilskin -packet. - -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by -the empty chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full -retreat. We had not started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly -dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the high ground on -either side; and it was only in the exact bottom of the dell and round -the tavern door that a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the -first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very -little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into the -moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running -came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a -light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of -the newcomers carried a lantern. - -“My dear,” said my mother suddenly, “take the money and run on. I am -going to faint.” - -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the -cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty -and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were -just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering -as she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh -and fell on my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to do it -at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but I managed to drag her -down the bank and a little way under the arch. Farther I could not move -her, for the bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. -So there we had to stay--my mother almost entirely exposed and both of -us within earshot of the inn. - - - - -V -The Last of the Blind Man - - -My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not -remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering -my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our -door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven -or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along -the road and the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran -together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the -middle man of this trio was the blind beggar. The next moment his voice -showed me that I was right. - -“Down with the door!” he cried. - -“Aye, aye, sir!” answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the -Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see -them pause, and hear speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were -surprised to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the blind -man again issued his commands. His voice sounded louder and higher, as -if he were afire with eagerness and rage. - -“In, in, in!” he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the -formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a -voice shouting from the house, “Bill’s dead.” - -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - -“Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and -get the chest,” he cried. - -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the -house must have shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of -astonishment arose; the window of the captain’s room was thrown open -with a slam and a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out into the -moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed the blind beggar on the -road below him. - -“Pew,” he cried, “they’ve been before us. Someone’s turned the chest out -alow and aloft.” - -“Is it there?” roared Pew. - -“The money’s there.” - -The blind man cursed the money. - -“Flint’s fist, I mean,” he cried. - -“We don’t see it here nohow,” returned the man. - -“Here, you below there, is it on Bill?” cried the blind man again. - -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search -the captain’s body, came to the door of the inn. “Bill’s been overhauled -a’ready,” said he; “nothin’ left.” - -“It’s these people of the inn--it’s that boy. I wish I had put his eyes -out!” cried the blind man, Pew. “There were no time ago--they had the -door bolted when I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find ’em.” - -“Sure enough, they left their glim here,” said the fellow from the -window. - -“Scatter and find ’em! Rout the house out!” reiterated Pew, striking -with his stick upon the road. - -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet -pounding to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the -very rocks re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on -the road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just -the same whistle that had alarmed my mother and myself over the dead -captain’s money was once more clearly audible through the night, -but this time twice repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man’s -trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault, but I now found -that it was a signal from the hillside towards the hamlet, and from its -effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of approaching danger. - -“There’s Dirk again,” said one. “Twice! We’ll have to budge, mates.” - -“Budge, you skulk!” cried Pew. “Dirk was a fool and a coward from the -first--you wouldn’t mind him. They must be close by; they can’t be far; -you have your hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver -my soul,” he cried, “if I had eyes!” - -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began -to look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, -and with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest -stood irresolute on the road. - -“You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You’d -be as rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it’s here, and -you stand there skulking. There wasn’t one of you dared face Bill, and -I did it--a blind man! And I’m to lose my chance for you! I’m to be a -poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a -coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit you would catch -them still.” - -“Hang it, Pew, we’ve got the doubloons!” grumbled one. - -“They might have hid the blessed thing,” said another. “Take the -Georges, Pew, and don’t stand here squalling.” - -Squalling was the word for it; Pew’s anger rose so high at these -objections till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, -he struck at them right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded -heavily on more than one. - -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him -in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from -his grasp. - -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, -another sound came from the top of the hill on the side of the -hamlet--the tramp of horses galloping. Almost at the same time a -pistol-shot, flash and report, came from the hedge side. And that was -plainly the last signal of danger, for the buccaneers turned at once -and ran, separating in every direction, one seaward along the cove, one -slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a sign of -them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer panic -or out of revenge for his ill words and blows I know not; but there he -remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping -and calling for his comrades. Finally he took a wrong turn and ran a few -steps past me, towards the hamlet, crying, “Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk,” - and other names, “you won’t leave old Pew, mates--not old Pew!” - -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders -came in sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. - -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for -the ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a -second and made another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the -nearest of the coming horses. - -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that -rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him -and passed by. He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face -and moved no more. - -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any -rate, horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, -tailing out behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to -Dr. Livesey’s; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the -way, and with whom he had had the intelligence to return at once. Some -news of the lugger in Kitt’s Hole had found its way to Supervisor Dance -and set him forth that night in our direction, and to that circumstance -my mother and I owed our preservation from death. - -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up -to the hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her -back again, and she was none the worse for her terror, though she still -continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the meantime the -supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt’s Hole; but his men -had to dismount and grope down the dingle, leading, and sometimes -supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it was -no great matter for surprise that when they got down to the Hole the -lugger was already under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A -voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get -some lead in him, and at the same time a bullet whistled close by his -arm. Soon after, the lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance -stood there, as he said, “like a fish out of water,” and all he could do -was to dispatch a man to B---- to warn the cutter. “And that,” said he, -“is just about as good as nothing. They’ve got off clean, and there’s -an end. Only,” he added, “I’m glad I trod on Master Pew’s corns,” for by -this time he had heard my story. - -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a -house in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down -by these fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; -and though nothing had actually been taken away except the captain’s -money-bag and a little silver from the till, I could see at once that we -were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of the scene. - -“They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were -they after? More money, I suppose?” - -“No, sir; not money, I think,” replied I. “In fact, sir, I believe I -have the thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should -like to get it put in safety.” - -“To be sure, boy; quite right,” said he. “I’ll take it, if you like.” - -“I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey--” I began. - -“Perfectly right,” he interrupted very cheerily, “perfectly right--a -gentleman and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as -well ride round there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew’s -dead, when all’s done; not that I regret it, but he’s dead, you see, and -people will make it out against an officer of his Majesty’s revenue, -if make it out they can. Now, I’ll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I’ll -take you along.” - -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet -where the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they -were all in the saddle. - -“Dogger,” said Mr. Dance, “you have a good horse; take up this lad -behind you.” - -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger’s belt, the supervisor -gave the word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road -to Dr. Livesey’s house. - - - - -VI -The Captain’s Papers - - -We rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey’s door. The -house was all dark to the front. - -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup -to descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. - -“Is Dr. Livesey in?” I asked. - -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the -hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - -“So there we go, boys,” said Mr. Dance. - -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with -Dogger’s stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, -moonlit avenue to where the white line of the hall buildings looked on -either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking -me along with him, was admitted at a word into the house. - -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a -great library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, -where the squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a -bright fire. - -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six -feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready -face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His -eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of -some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high. - -“Come in, Mr. Dance,” says he, very stately and condescending. - -“Good evening, Dance,” says the doctor with a nod. “And good evening to -you, friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?” - -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a -lesson; and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward -and looked at each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and -interest. When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. -Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried “Bravo!” and -broke his long pipe against the grate. Long before it was done, Mr. -Trelawney (that, you will remember, was the squire’s name) had got up -from his seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, as if to -hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig and sat there looking -very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll. - -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - -“Mr. Dance,” said the squire, “you are a very noble fellow. And as for -riding down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of -virtue, sir, like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, -I perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some -ale.” - -“And so, Jim,” said the doctor, “you have the thing that they were -after, have you?” - -“Here it is, sir,” said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open -it; but instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his -coat. - -“Squire,” said he, “when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be -off on his Majesty’s service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to -sleep at my house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up -the cold pie and let him sup.” - -“As you will, Livesey,” said the squire; “Hawkins has earned better than -cold pie.” - -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made -a hearty supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was -further complimented and at last dismissed. - -“And now, squire,” said the doctor. - -“And now, Livesey,” said the squire in the same breath. - -“One at a time, one at a time,” laughed Dr. Livesey. “You have heard of -this Flint, I suppose?” - -“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the -bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. -The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, -I was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I’ve seen his top-sails with -these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I -sailed with put back--put back, sir, into Port of Spain.” - -“Well, I’ve heard of him myself, in England,” said the doctor. “But the -point is, had he money?” - -“Money!” cried the squire. “Have you heard the story? What were these -villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what -would they risk their rascal carcasses but money?” - -“That we shall soon know,” replied the doctor. “But you are so -confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. -What I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket -some clue to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount -to much?” - -“Amount, sir!” cried the squire. “It will amount to this: If we have the -clue you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and -Hawkins here along, and I’ll have that treasure if I search a year.” - -“Very well,” said the doctor. “Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we’ll -open the packet”; and he laid it before him on the table. - -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his -instrument case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It -contained two things--a book and a sealed paper. - -“First of all we’ll try the book,” observed the doctor. - -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened -it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the -side-table, where I had been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. -On the first page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a man -with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or practice. One was the -same as the tattoo mark, “Billy Bones his fancy”; then there was “Mr. W. -Bones, mate,” “No more rum,” “Off Palm Key he got itt,” and some other -snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. I could not help -wondering who it was that had “got itt,” and what “itt” was that he got. -A knife in his back as like as not. - -“Not much instruction there,” said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. - -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of -entries. There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a -sum of money, as in common account-books, but instead of explanatory -writing, only a varying number of crosses between the two. On the 12th -of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy pounds had plainly become -due to someone, and there was nothing but six crosses to explain the -cause. In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, -as “Offe Caraccas,” or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, as “62o -17′ 20″, 19o 2′ 40″.” - -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate -entries growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total -had been made out after five or six wrong additions, and these words -appended, “Bones, his pile.” - -“I can’t make head or tail of this,” said Dr. Livesey. - -“The thing is as clear as noonday,” cried the squire. “This is the -black-hearted hound’s account-book. These crosses stand for the names of -ships or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel’s -share, and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something -clearer. ‘Offe Caraccas,’ now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel -boarded off that coast. God help the poor souls that manned her--coral -long ago.” - -“Right!” said the doctor. “See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And -the amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank.” - -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted -in the blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, -English, and Spanish moneys to a common value. - -“Thrifty man!” cried the doctor. “He wasn’t the one to be cheated.” - -“And now,” said the squire, “for the other.” - -The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of -seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain’s -pocket. The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out -the map of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of -hills and bays and inlets, and every particular that would be needed -to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine -miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon -standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the -centre part marked “The Spy-glass.” There were several additions of a -later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on the north -part of the island, one in the southwest--and beside this last, in -the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the -captain’s tottery characters, these words: “Bulk of treasure here.” - -Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - - Ten feet. - - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - J.F. - -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled -the squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. - -“Livesey,” said the squire, “you will give up this wretched practice -at once. Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks’ time--three -weeks!--two weeks--ten days--we’ll have the best ship, sir, and the -choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make -a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are ship’s doctor; I am -admiral. We’ll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We’ll have favourable -winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding the -spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever -after.” - -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “I’ll go with you; and I’ll go bail for -it, so will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There’s only one -man I’m afraid of.” - -“And who’s that?” cried the squire. “Name the dog, sir!” - -“You,” replied the doctor; “for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not -the only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the -inn tonight--bold, desperate blades, for sure--and the rest who stayed -aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and all, -through thick and thin, bound that they’ll get that money. We must none -of us go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the -meanwhile; you’ll take Joyce and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and -from first to last, not one of us must breathe a word of what we’ve -found.” - -“Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll -be as silent as the grave.” - - - - -PART TWO--The Sea-cook - - - - -VII -I Go to Bristol - - -It was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, -and none of our first plans--not even Dr. Livesey’s, of keeping me -beside him--could be carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go -to London for a physician to take charge of his practice; the squire was -hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on at the hall under the charge of -old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams -and the most charming anticipations of strange islands and adventures. -I brooded by the hour together over the map, all the details of which -I well remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper’s room, I -approached that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I -explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that -tall hill they call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most -wonderful and changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with -savages, with whom we fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that -hunted us, but in all my fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and -tragic as our actual adventures. - -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed -to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, “To be opened, in the case of his -absence, by Tom Redruth or young Hawkins.” Obeying this order, we -found, or rather I found--for the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading -anything but print--the following important news: - - _Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17--._ - - Dear Livesey--As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two - hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. - - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for--treasure, I mean. - -“Redruth,” said I, interrupting the letter, “Dr. Livesey will not like -that. The squire has been talking, after all.” - -“Well, who’s a better right?” growled the gamekeeper. “A pretty rum go -if squire ain’t to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.” - -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: - - Blandly himself found the HISPANIOLA, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the HISPANIOLA - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high--the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - - So far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure--riggers and what not--were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - - I wished a round score of men--in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French--and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - - I was monstrously touched--so would you have - been--and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship’s cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country’s service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable--not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - John Trelawney - - _Postscript._--I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don’t turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master--a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o’-war fashion on board the good ship - HISPANIOLA. - - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker’s account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - J. T. - - P.P.S.--Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - J. T. - -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half -beside myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old -Tom Redruth, who could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the -under-gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; but such -was not the squire’s pleasure, and the squire’s pleasure was like law -among them all. Nobody but old Redruth would have dared so much as even -to grumble. - -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and -there I found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had -so long been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked -cease from troubling. The squire had had everything repaired, and the -public rooms and the sign repainted, and had added some furniture--above -all a beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found her a boy -as an apprentice also so that she should not want help while I was gone. - -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my -situation. I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, -not at all of the home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this -clumsy stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my mother, I -had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I led that boy a dog’s life, -for as he was new to the work, I had a hundred opportunities of setting -him right and putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were -afoot again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the -cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral -Benbow--since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last -thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode along the beach -with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope. -Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out of sight. - -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was -wedged in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the -swift motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from -the very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down dale through -stage after stage, for when I was awakened at last it was by a punch -in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to find that we were standing still -before a large building in a city street and that the day had already -broken a long time. - -“Where are we?” I asked. - -“Bristol,” said Tom. “Get down.” - -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to -superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and -our way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great -multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors -were singing at their work, in another there were men aloft, high over -my head, hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a spider’s. -Though I had lived by the shore all my life, I seemed never to have been -near the sea till then. The smell of tar and salt was something new. -I saw the most wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over the -ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, and -whiskers curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, -clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could -not have been more delighted. - -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping -boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown -island, and to seek for buried treasure! - -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front -of a large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a -sea-officer, in stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on -his face and a capital imitation of a sailor’s walk. - -“Here you are,” he cried, “and the doctor came last night from London. -Bravo! The ship’s company complete!” - -“Oh, sir,” cried I, “when do we sail?” - -“Sail!” says he. “We sail tomorrow!” - - - - -VIII -At the Sign of the Spy-glass - - -When I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John -Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily -find the place by following the line of the docks and keeping a bright -lookout for a little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I -set off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the ships and -seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of people and carts and -bales, for the dock was now at its busiest, until I found the tavern in -question. - -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was -newly painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly -sanded. There was a street on each side and an open door on both, which -made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of -tobacco smoke. - -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that -I hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was -sure he must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, -and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with -wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall -and strong, with a face as big as a ham--plain and pale, but intelligent -and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling -as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the -shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. - -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in -Squire Trelawney’s letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might -prove to be the very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at -the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen -the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew -what a buccaneer was like--a very different creature, according to me, -from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up -to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. - -“Mr. Silver, sir?” I asked, holding out the note. - -“Yes, my lad,” said he; “such is my name, to be sure. And who may you -be?” And then as he saw the squire’s letter, he seemed to me to give -something almost like a start. - -“Oh!” said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. “I see. You are our -new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you.” - -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made -for the door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a -moment. But his hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at -glance. It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come -first to the Admiral Benbow. - -“Oh,” I cried, “stop him! It’s Black Dog!” - -“I don’t care two coppers who he is,” cried Silver. “But he hasn’t paid -his score. Harry, run and catch him.” - -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in -pursuit. - -“If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score,” cried Silver; and -then, relinquishing my hand, “Who did you say he was?” he asked. “Black -what?” - -“Dog, sir,” said I. “Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? -He was one of them.” - -“So?” cried Silver. “In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those -swabs, was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here.” - -The man whom he called Morgan--an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced -sailor--came forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. - -“Now, Morgan,” said Long John very sternly, “you never clapped your eyes -on that Black--Black Dog before, did you, now?” - -“Not I, sir,” said Morgan with a salute. - -“You didn’t know his name, did you?” - -“No, sir.” - -“By the powers, Tom Morgan, it’s as good for you!” exclaimed the -landlord. “If you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would -never have put another foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what -was he saying to you?” - -“I don’t rightly know, sir,” answered Morgan. - -“Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?” - cried Long John. “Don’t rightly know, don’t you! Perhaps you don’t -happen to rightly know who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what -was he jawing--v’yages, cap’ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?” - -“We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,” answered Morgan. - -“Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may -lay to that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom.” - -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a -confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, “He’s -quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on’y stupid. And now,” he ran on again, -aloud, “let’s see--Black Dog? No, I don’t know the name, not I. Yet I -kind of think I’ve--yes, I’ve seen the swab. He used to come here with a -blind beggar, he used.” - -“That he did, you may be sure,” said I. “I knew that blind man too. His -name was Pew.” - -“It was!” cried Silver, now quite excited. “Pew! That were his name for -certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, -now, there’ll be news for Cap’n Trelawney! Ben’s a good runner; few -seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by -the powers! He talked o’ keel-hauling, did he? I’LL keel-haul him!” - -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and -down the tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving -such a show of excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge -or a Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on -finding Black Dog at the Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But -he was too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the time -the two men had come back out of breath and confessed that they had lost -the track in a crowd, and been scolded like thieves, I would have gone -bail for the innocence of Long John Silver. - -“See here, now, Hawkins,” said he, “here’s a blessed hard thing on a -man like me, now, ain’t it? There’s Cap’n Trelawney--what’s he to think? -Here I have this confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house -drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and -here I let him give us all the slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, -Hawkins, you do me justice with the cap’n. You’re a lad, you are, but -you’re as smart as paint. I see that when you first come in. Now, here -it is: What could I do, with this old timber I hobble on? When I was an -A B master mariner I’d have come up alongside of him, hand over hand, -and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now--” - -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he -had remembered something. - -“The score!” he burst out. “Three goes o’ rum! Why, shiver my timbers, -if I hadn’t forgotten my score!” - -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. -I could not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, -until the tavern rang again. - -“Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!” he said at last, wiping his -cheeks. “You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I’ll take my davy -I should be rated ship’s boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This -won’t do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I’ll put on my old cockerel hat, -and step along of you to Cap’n Trelawney, and report this here affair. -For mind you, it’s serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me’s come -out of it with what I should make so bold as to call credit. Nor you -neither, says you; not smart--none of the pair of us smart. But dash my -buttons! That was a good un about my score.” - -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not -see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. - -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting -companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, -their rig, tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going -forward--how one was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third -making ready for sea--and every now and then telling me some little -anecdote of ships or seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had -learned it perfectly. I began to see that here was one of the best of -possible shipmates. - -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, -finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go -aboard the schooner on a visit of inspection. - -Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit -and the most perfect truth. “That was how it were, now, weren’t it, -Hawkins?” he would say, now and again, and I could always bear him -entirely out. - -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all -agreed there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, -Long John took up his crutch and departed. - -“All hands aboard by four this afternoon,” shouted the squire after him. - -“Aye, aye, sir,” cried the cook, in the passage. - -“Well, squire,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t put much faith in your -discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits -me.” - -“The man’s a perfect trump,” declared the squire. - -“And now,” added the doctor, “Jim may come on board with us, may he -not?” - -“To be sure he may,” says squire. “Take your hat, Hawkins, and we’ll see -the ship.” - - - - -IX -Powder and Arms - - -The Hispaniola lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and -round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated -underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, -we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the -mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a -squint. He and the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon -observed that things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and the -captain. - -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on -board and was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the -cabin when a sailor followed us. - -“Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you,” said he. - -“I am always at the captain’s orders. Show him in,” said the squire. - -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and -shut the door behind him. - -“Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all -shipshape and seaworthy?” - -“Well, sir,” said the captain, “better speak plain, I believe, even at -the risk of offence. I don’t like this cruise; I don’t like the men; and -I don’t like my officer. That’s short and sweet.” - -“Perhaps, sir, you don’t like the ship?” inquired the squire, very -angry, as I could see. - -“I can’t speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried,” said the -captain. “She seems a clever craft; more I can’t say.” - -“Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?” says the -squire. - -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - -“Stay a bit,” said he, “stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but -to produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too -little, and I’m bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. -You don’t, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?” - -“I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship -for that gentleman where he should bid me,” said the captain. “So far -so good. But now I find that every man before the mast knows more than I -do. I don’t call that fair, now, do you?” - -“No,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t.” - -“Next,” said the captain, “I learn we are going after treasure--hear -it from my own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don’t -like treasure voyages on any account, and I don’t like them, above all, -when they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the -secret has been told to the parrot.” - -“Silver’s parrot?” asked the squire. - -“It’s a way of speaking,” said the captain. “Blabbed, I mean. It’s my -belief neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I’ll tell -you my way of it--life or death, and a close run.” - -“That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough,” replied Dr. Livesey. -“We take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, -you say you don’t like the crew. Are they not good seamen?” - -“I don’t like them, sir,” returned Captain Smollett. “And I think I -should have had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that.” - -“Perhaps you should,” replied the doctor. “My friend should, perhaps, -have taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was -unintentional. And you don’t like Mr. Arrow?” - -“I don’t, sir. I believe he’s a good seaman, but he’s too free with -the crew to be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to -himself--shouldn’t drink with the men before the mast!” - -“Do you mean he drinks?” cried the squire. - -“No, sir,” replied the captain, “only that he’s too familiar.” - -“Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?” asked the doctor. -“Tell us what you want.” - -“Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?” - -“Like iron,” answered the squire. - -“Very good,” said the captain. “Then, as you’ve heard me very patiently, -saying things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are -putting the powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good -place under the cabin; why not put them there?--first point. Then, you -are bringing four of your own people with you, and they tell me some of -them are to be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here beside -the cabin?--second point.” - -“Any more?” asked Mr. Trelawney. - -“One more,” said the captain. “There’s been too much blabbing already.” - -“Far too much,” agreed the doctor. - -“I’ll tell you what I’ve heard myself,” continued Captain Smollett: -“that you have a map of an island, that there’s crosses on the map to -show where treasure is, and that the island lies--” And then he named -the latitude and longitude exactly. - -“I never told that,” cried the squire, “to a soul!” - -“The hands know it, sir,” returned the captain. - -“Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins,” cried the squire. - -“It doesn’t much matter who it was,” replied the doctor. And I could -see that neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney’s -protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet -in this case I believe he was really right and that nobody had told the -situation of the island. - -“Well, gentlemen,” continued the captain, “I don’t know who has this -map; but I make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. -Arrow. Otherwise I would ask you to let me resign.” - -“I see,” said the doctor. “You wish us to keep this matter dark and to -make a garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend’s -own people, and provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other -words, you fear a mutiny.” - -“Sir,” said Captain Smollett, “with no intention to take offence, I -deny your right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be -justified in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As -for Mr. Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the -same; all may be for what I know. But I am responsible for the ship’s -safety and the life of every man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, -as I think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain precautions -or let me resign my berth. And that’s all.” - -“Captain Smollett,” began the doctor with a smile, “did ever you hear -the fable of the mountain and the mouse? You’ll excuse me, I dare say, -but you remind me of that fable. When you came in here, I’ll stake my -wig, you meant more than this.” - -“Doctor,” said the captain, “you are smart. When I came in here I meant -to get discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a -word.” - -“No more I would,” cried the squire. “Had Livesey not been here I should -have seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you -desire, but I think the worse of you.” - -“That’s as you please, sir,” said the captain. “You’ll find I do my -duty.” - -And with that he took his leave. - -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “contrary to all my notions, I believed -you have managed to get two honest men on board with you--that man and -John Silver.” - -“Silver, if you like,” cried the squire; “but as for that intolerable -humbug, I declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright -un-English.” - -“Well,” says the doctor, “we shall see.” - -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and -powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood -by superintending. - -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been -overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the -after-part of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to -the galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had -been originally meant that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the -doctor, and the squire were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and -I were to get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain were to sleep -on deck in the companion, which had been enlarged on each side till you -might almost have called it a round-house. Very low it was still, of -course; but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even the mate -seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been doubtful -as to the crew, but that is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had -not long the benefit of his opinion. - -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when -the last man or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a -shore-boat. - -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as -he saw what was doing, “So ho, mates!” says he. “What’s this?” - -“We’re a-changing of the powder, Jack,” answers one. - -“Why, by the powers,” cried Long John, “if we do, we’ll miss the morning -tide!” - -“My orders!” said the captain shortly. “You may go below, my man. Hands -will want supper.” - -“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he -disappeared at once in the direction of his galley. - -“That’s a good man, captain,” said the doctor. - -“Very likely, sir,” replied Captain Smollett. “Easy with that, -men--easy,” he ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and -then suddenly observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, -a long brass nine, “Here you, ship’s boy,” he cried, “out o’ that! Off -with you to the cook and get some work.” - -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the -doctor, “I’ll have no favourites on my ship.” - -I assure you I was quite of the squire’s way of thinking, and hated the -captain deeply. - - - - -X -The Voyage - - -All that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their -place, and boatfuls of the squire’s friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, -coming off to wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had -a night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; and I was -dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe -and the crew began to man the capstan-bars. I might have been twice -as weary, yet I would not have left the deck, all was so new and -interesting to me--the brief commands, the shrill note of the whistle, -the men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship’s lanterns. - -“Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave,” cried one voice. - -“The old one,” cried another. - -“Aye, aye, mates,” said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch -under his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so -well: - -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest--” - -And then the whole crew bore chorus:-- - -“Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -And at the third “Ho!” drove the bars before them with a will. - -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral -Benbow in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping -in the chorus. But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging -dripping at the bows; soon the sails began to draw, and the land and -shipping to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to -snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her voyage to the -Isle of Treasure. - -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly -prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable -seamen, and the captain thoroughly understood his business. But before -we came the length of Treasure Island, two or three things had happened -which require to be known. - -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had -feared. He had no command among the men, and people did what they -pleased with him. But that was by no means the worst of it, for after a -day or two at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, -stuttering tongue, and other marks of drunkenness. Time after time -he was ordered below in disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; -sometimes he lay all day long in his little bunk at one side of the -companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober and -attend to his work at least passably. - -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That -was the ship’s mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to -solve it; and when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if -he were drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted -anything but water. - -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst -the men, but it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself -outright, so nobody was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark -night, with a head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - -“Overboard!” said the captain. “Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble -of putting him in irons.” - -But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to -advance one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest -man aboard, and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as -mate. Mr. Trelawney had followed the sea, and his knowledge made him -very useful, for he often took a watch himself in easy weather. And the -coxswain, Israel Hands, was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who -could be trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of -his name leads me on to speak of our ship’s cook, Barbecue, as the men -called him. - -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have -both hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the -foot of the crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding -to every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe -ashore. Still more strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather -cross the deck. He had a line or two rigged up to help him across the -widest spaces--Long John’s earrings, they were called; and he would hand -himself from one place to another, now using the crutch, now trailing it -alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet some -of the men who had sailed with him before expressed their pity to see -him so reduced. - -“He’s no common man, Barbecue,” said the coxswain to me. “He had good -schooling in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; -and brave--a lion’s nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple -four and knock their heads together--him unarmed.” - -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking -to each and doing everybody some particular service. To me he was -unweariedly kind, and always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept -as clean as a new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in -a cage in one corner. - -“Come away, Hawkins,” he would say; “come and have a yarn with John. -Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the -news. Here’s Cap’n Flint--I calls my parrot Cap’n Flint, after the -famous buccaneer--here’s Cap’n Flint predicting success to our v’yage. -Wasn’t you, Cap’n?” - -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, “Pieces of eight! Pieces -of eight! Pieces of eight!” till you wondered that it was not out of -breath, or till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. - -“Now, that bird,” he would say, “is, maybe, two hundred years -old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if anybody’s seen more -wickedness, it must be the devil himself. She’s sailed with England, -the great Cap’n England, the pirate. She’s been at Madagascar, and at -Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. She was at the -fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It’s there she learned ‘Pieces -of eight,’ and little wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of ’em, -Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the _Viceroy of the Indies_ out of -Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a babby. But -you smelt powder--didn’t you, Cap’n?” - -“Stand by to go about,” the parrot would scream. - -“Ah, she’s a handsome craft, she is,” the cook would say, and give her -sugar from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and -swear straight on, passing belief for wickedness. “There,” John would -add, “you can’t touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here’s this poor old -innocent bird o’ mine swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may -lay to that. She would swear the same, in a manner of speaking, before -chaplain.” And John would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had -that made me think he was the best of men. - -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty -distant terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the -matter; he despised the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke -but when he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a -word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, that he seemed to have -been wrong about the crew, that some of them were as brisk as he wanted -to see and all had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken a -downright fancy to her. “She’ll lie a point nearer the wind than a man -has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But,” he would add, -“all I say is, we’re not home again, and I don’t like the cruise.” - -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, -chin in air. - -“A trifle more of that man,” he would say, “and I shall explode.” - -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the -HISPANIOLA. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have -been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief -there was never a ship’s company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. -Double grog was going on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, -as, for instance, if the squire heard it was any man’s birthday, and -always a barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for anyone to -help himself that had a fancy. - -“Never knew good come of it yet,” the captain said to Dr. Livesey. -“Spoil forecastle hands, make devils. That’s my belief.” - -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had -not been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all -have perished by the hand of treachery. - -This was how it came about. - -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after--I -am not allowed to be more plain--and now we were running down for it -with a bright lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our -outward voyage by the largest computation; some time that night, or at -latest before noon of the morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. -We were heading S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. -The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with -a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the -bravest spirits because we were now so near an end of the first part of -our adventure. - -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way -to my berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on -deck. The watch was all forward looking out for the island. The man at -the helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently -to himself, and that was the only sound excepting the swish of the sea -against the bows and around the sides of the ship. - -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an -apple left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of -the waters and the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen -asleep or was on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with -rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders -against it, and I was just about to jump up when the man began to speak. -It was Silver’s voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would -not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and -listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen -words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended -upon me alone. - - - - -XI -What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel - - -“No, not I,” said Silver. “Flint was cap’n; I was quartermaster, along -of my timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his -deadlights. It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of -college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but he was hanged -like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was -Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their -ships--ROYAL FORTUNE and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, so let -her stay, I says. So it was with the CASSANDRA, as brought us all safe -home from Malabar, after England took the _Viceroy of the Indies;_ so -it was with the old WALRUS, Flint’s old ship, as I’ve seen amuck with -the red blood and fit to sink with gold.” - -“Ah!” cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and -evidently full of admiration. “He was the flower of the flock, was -Flint!” - -“Davis was a man too, by all accounts,” said Silver. “I never sailed -along of him; first with England, then with Flint, that’s my story; -and now here on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine -hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain’t bad -for a man before the mast--all safe in bank. ’Tain’t earning now, it’s -saving does it, you may lay to that. Where’s all England’s men now? I -dunno. Where’s Flint’s? Why, most on ’em aboard here, and glad to get -the duff--been begging before that, some on ’em. Old Pew, as had lost -his sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve hundred pound in -a year, like a lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he’s dead now -and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, -the man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and -starved at that, by the powers!” - -“Well, it ain’t much use, after all,” said the young seaman. - -“’Tain’t much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, nor nothing,” - cried Silver. “But now, you look here: you’re young, you are, but you’re -as smart as paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I’ll talk -to you like a man.” - -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue -addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used -to myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed -him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was -overheard. - -“Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk -swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise -is done, why, it’s hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings -in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to -sea again in their shirts. But that’s not the course I lay. I puts it -all away, some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by reason -of suspicion. I’m fifty, mark you; once back from this cruise, I set up -gentleman in earnest. Time enough too, says you. Ah, but I’ve lived easy -in the meantime, never denied myself o’ nothing heart desires, and slep’ -soft and ate dainty all my days but when at sea. And how did I begin? -Before the mast, like you!” - -“Well,” said the other, “but all the other money’s gone now, ain’t it? -You daren’t show face in Bristol after this.” - -“Why, where might you suppose it was?” asked Silver derisively. - -“At Bristol, in banks and places,” answered his companion. - -“It were,” said the cook; “it were when we weighed anchor. But my old -missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill -and rigging; and the old girl’s off to meet me. I would tell you where, -for I trust you, but it’d make jealousy among the mates.” - -“And can you trust your missis?” asked the other. - -“Gentlemen of fortune,” returned the cook, “usually trusts little among -themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with -me, I have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable--one as knows me, I -mean--it won’t be in the same world with old John. There was some that -was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own -self was feared of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest -crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil himself would have been feared to go -to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, I’m not a boasting man, and you -seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, -LAMBS wasn’t the word for Flint’s old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of -yourself in old John’s ship.” - -“Well, I tell you now,” replied the lad, “I didn’t half a quarter like -the job till I had this talk with you, John; but there’s my hand on it -now.” - -“And a brave lad you were, and smart too,” answered Silver, shaking -hands so heartily that all the barrel shook, “and a finer figurehead for -a gentleman of fortune I never clapped my eyes on.” - -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a -“gentleman of fortune” they plainly meant neither more nor less than a -common pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last -act in the corruption of one of the honest hands--perhaps of the last -one left aboard. But on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver -giving a little whistle, a third man strolled up and sat down by the -party. - -“Dick’s square,” said Silver. - -“Oh, I know’d Dick was square,” returned the voice of the coxswain, -Israel Hands. “He’s no fool, is Dick.” And he turned his quid and spat. -“But look here,” he went on, “here’s what I want to know, Barbecue: how -long are we a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I’ve had -a’most enough o’ Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by thunder! -I want to go into that cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and -that.” - -“Israel,” said Silver, “your head ain’t much account, nor ever was. But -you’re able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. -Now, here’s what I say: you’ll berth forward, and you’ll live hard, and -you’ll speak soft, and you’ll keep sober till I give the word; and you -may lay to that, my son.” - -“Well, I don’t say no, do I?” growled the coxswain. “What I say is, -when? That’s what I say.” - -“When! By the powers!” cried Silver. “Well now, if you want to know, -I’ll tell you when. The last moment I can manage, and that’s when. -Here’s a first-rate seaman, Cap’n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for -us. Here’s this squire and doctor with a map and such--I don’t know -where it is, do I? No more do you, says you. Well then, I mean this -squire and doctor shall find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, -by the powers. Then we’ll see. If I was sure of you all, sons of double -Dutchmen, I’d have Cap’n Smollett navigate us half-way back again before -I struck.” - -“Why, we’re all seamen aboard here, I should think,” said the lad Dick. - -“We’re all forecastle hands, you mean,” snapped Silver. “We can steer -a course, but who’s to set one? That’s what all you gentlemen split on, -first and last. If I had my way, I’d have Cap’n Smollett work us back -into the trades at least; then we’d have no blessed miscalculations and -a spoonful of water a day. But I know the sort you are. I’ll finish with -’em at the island, as soon’s the blunt’s on board, and a pity it is. But -you’re never happy till you’re drunk. Split my sides, I’ve a sick heart -to sail with the likes of you!” - -“Easy all, Long John,” cried Israel. “Who’s a-crossin’ of you?” - -“Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And -how many brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?” cried Silver. -“And all for this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen -a thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on’y lay your course, and a -p’int to windward, you would ride in carriages, you would. But not you! -I know you. You’ll have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang.” - -“Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there’s others -as could hand and steer as well as you,” said Israel. “They liked a bit -o’ fun, they did. They wasn’t so high and dry, nohow, but took their -fling, like jolly companions every one.” - -“So?” says Silver. “Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, -and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, -they was a sweet crew, they was! On’y, where are they?” - -“But,” asked Dick, “when we do lay ’em athwart, what are we to do with -’em, anyhow?” - -“There’s the man for me!” cried the cook admiringly. “That’s what I call -business. Well, what would you think? Put ’em ashore like maroons? That -would have been England’s way. Or cut ’em down like that much pork? That -would have been Flint’s, or Billy Bones’s.” - -“Billy was the man for that,” said Israel. “‘Dead men don’t bite,’ says -he. Well, he’s dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; -and if ever a rough hand come to port, it was Billy.” - -“Right you are,” said Silver; “rough and ready. But mark you here, -I’m an easy man--I’m quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it’s -serious. Dooty is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I’m in -Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don’t want none of these sea-lawyers -in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. -Wait is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let her rip!” - -“John,” cries the coxswain, “you’re a man!” - -“You’ll say so, Israel when you see,” said Silver. “Only one thing I -claim--I claim Trelawney. I’ll wring his calf’s head off his body with -these hands, Dick!” he added, breaking off. “You just jump up, like a -sweet lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like.” - -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for -it if I had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. -I heard Dick begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and -the voice of Hands exclaimed, “Oh, stow that! Don’t you get sucking of -that bilge, John. Let’s have a go of the rum.” - -“Dick,” said Silver, “I trust you. I’ve a gauge on the keg, mind. -There’s the key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up.” - -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must -have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. - -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke -straight on in the cook’s ear. It was but a word or two that I could -catch, and yet I gathered some important news, for besides other scraps -that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: “Not -another man of them’ll jine.” Hence there were still faithful men on -board. - -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and -drank--one “To luck,” another with a “Here’s to old Flint,” and Silver -himself saying, in a kind of song, “Here’s to ourselves, and hold your -luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff.” - -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking -up, I found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and -shining white on the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time -the voice of the lookout shouted, “Land ho!” - - - - -XII -Council of War - - -There was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people -tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an -instant outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double -towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join -Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the weather bow. - -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted -almost simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the -south-west of us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, -and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was -still buried in the fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure. - -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my -horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of -Captain Smollett issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple of -points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the -island on the east. - -“And now, men,” said the captain, when all was sheeted home, “has any -one of you ever seen that land ahead?” - -“I have, sir,” said Silver. “I’ve watered there with a trader I was cook -in.” - -“The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?” asked the -captain. - -“Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for -pirates once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. -That hill to the nor’ard they calls the Foremast Hill; there are three -hills in a row running south’ard--fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the -main--that’s the big un, with the cloud on it--they usually calls -the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the -anchorage cleaning, for it’s there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking -your pardon.” - -“I have a chart here,” says Captain Smollett. “See if that’s the place.” - -Long John’s eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the -fresh look of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This -was not the map we found in Billy Bones’s chest, but an accurate copy, -complete in all things--names and heights and soundings--with the single -exception of the red crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have -been his annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - -“Yes, sir,” said he, “this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily -drawed out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too -ignorant, I reckon. Aye, here it is: ‘Capt. Kidd’s Anchorage’--just -the name my shipmate called it. There’s a strong current runs along the -south, and then away nor’ard up the west coast. Right you was, sir,” - says he, “to haul your wind and keep the weather of the island. -Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter and careen, and there -ain’t no better place for that in these waters.” - -“Thank you, my man,” says Captain Smollett. “I’ll ask you later on to -give us a help. You may go.” - -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge -of the island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing -nearer to myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his -council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a -horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal -a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm. - -“Ah,” says he, “this here is a sweet spot, this island--a sweet spot for -a lad to get ashore on. You’ll bathe, and you’ll climb trees, and you’ll -hunt goats, you will; and you’ll get aloft on them hills like a goat -yourself. Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber -leg, I was. It’s a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you -may lay to that. When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask -old John, and he’ll put up a snack for you to take along.” - -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off -forward and went below. - -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on -the quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst -not interrupt them openly. While I was still casting about in my -thoughts to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his -side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave to tobacco, had -meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as I was near enough to speak -and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, “Doctor, let me speak. Get -the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence to -send for me. I have terrible news.” - -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master -of himself. - -“Thank you, Jim,” said he quite loudly, “that was all I wanted to know,” - as if he had asked me a question. - -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They -spoke together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised -his voice, or so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey -had communicated my request, for the next thing that I heard was the -captain giving an order to Job Anderson, and all hands were piped on -deck. - -“My lads,” said Captain Smollett, “I’ve a word to say to you. This -land that we have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. -Trelawney, being a very open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just -asked me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that every man on -board had done his duty, alow and aloft, as I never ask to see it done -better, why, he and I and the doctor are going below to the cabin to -drink YOUR health and luck, and you’ll have grog served out for you to -drink OUR health and luck. I’ll tell you what I think of this: I think -it handsome. And if you think as I do, you’ll give a good sea-cheer for -the gentleman that does it.” - -The cheer followed--that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full -and hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were -plotting for our blood. - -“One more cheer for Cap’n Smollett,” cried Long John when the first had -subsided. - -And this also was given with a will. - -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, -word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. - -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine -and some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig -on his lap, and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern -window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon -shining behind on the ship’s wake. - -“Now, Hawkins,” said the squire, “you have something to say. Speak up.” - -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole -details of Silver’s conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, -nor did any one of the three of them make so much as a movement, but -they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - -“Jim,” said Dr. Livesey, “take a seat.” - -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of -wine, filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, -and each with a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for -my luck and courage. - -“Now, captain,” said the squire, “you were right, and I was wrong. I own -myself an ass, and I await your orders.” - -“No more an ass than I, sir,” returned the captain. “I never heard of a -crew that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that -had an eye in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But -this crew,” he added, “beats me.” - -“Captain,” said the doctor, “with your permission, that’s Silver. A very -remarkable man.” - -“He’d look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir,” returned the captain. -“But this is talk; this don’t lead to anything. I see three or four -points, and with Mr. Trelawney’s permission, I’ll name them.” - -“You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak,” says Mr. Trelawney -grandly. - -“First point,” began Mr. Smollett. “We must go on, because we can’t turn -back. If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second -point, we have time before us--at least until this treasure’s found. -Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it’s got to come -to blows sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the -forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they -least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home servants, Mr. -Trelawney?” - -“As upon myself,” declared the squire. - -“Three,” reckoned the captain; “ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins -here. Now, about the honest hands?” - -“Most likely Trelawney’s own men,” said the doctor; “those he had picked -up for himself before he lit on Silver.” - -“Nay,” replied the squire. “Hands was one of mine.” - -“I did think I could have trusted Hands,” added the captain. - -“And to think that they’re all Englishmen!” broke out the squire. “Sir, -I could find it in my heart to blow the ship up.” - -“Well, gentlemen,” said the captain, “the best that I can say is not -much. We must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It’s -trying on a man, I know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But -there’s no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a -wind, that’s my view.” - -“Jim here,” said the doctor, “can help us more than anyone. The men are -not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad.” - -“Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you,” added the squire. - -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether -helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed -through me that safety came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there -were only seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and -out of these seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on our side were -six to their nineteen. - - - - -PART THREE--My Shore Adventure - - - - -XIII -How I Began My Shore Adventure - - -The appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was -altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had -made a great deal of way during the night and were now lying becalmed -about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. -Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface. This even tint -was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, -and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others--some -singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring was uniform and sad. -The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. -All were strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or four -hundred feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in -configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly -cut off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - -The HISPANIOLA was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms -were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the -whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had -to cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my -eyes, for though I was a good enough sailor when there was way on, this -standing still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never -learned to stand without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an -empty stomach. - -Perhaps it was this--perhaps it was the look of the island, with its -grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we -could both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach--at -least, although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were -fishing and crying all around us, and you would have thought anyone -would have been glad to get to land after being so long at sea, my heart -sank, as the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look onward, I -hated the very thought of Treasure Island. - -We had a dreary morning’s work before us, for there was no sign of any -wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped -three or four miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow -passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of -the boats, where I had, of course, no business. The heat was sweltering, -and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command -of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order, he grumbled as -loud as the worst. - -“Well,” he said with an oath, “it’s not forever.” - -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone -briskly and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the -island had relaxed the cords of discipline. - -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. -He knew the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the -chains got everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never -hesitated once. - -“There’s a strong scour with the ebb,” he said, “and this here passage -has been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade.” - -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of -a mile from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on -the other. The bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up -clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a -minute they were down again and all was once more silent. - -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming -right down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops -standing round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one -there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this -pond, as you might call it; and the foliage round that part of the shore -had a kind of poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see nothing -of the house or stockade, for they were quite buried among trees; and if -it had not been for the chart on the companion, we might have been the -first that had ever anchored there since the island arose out of the -seas. - -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the -surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks -outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage--a smell of -sodden leaves and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing -and sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg. - -“I don’t know about treasure,” he said, “but I’ll stake my wig there’s -fever here.” - -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly -threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling -together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and -grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught -the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, -it was plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long -John was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in -good advice, and as for example no man could have shown a better. He -fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility; he was all -smiles to everyone. If an order were given, John would be on his crutch -in an instant, with the cheeriest “Aye, aye, sir!” in the world; and -when there was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after another, as -if to conceal the discontent of the rest. - -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious -anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - -We held a council in the cabin. - -“Sir,” said the captain, “if I risk another order, the whole ship’ll -come about our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough -answer, do I not? Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two -shakes; if I don’t, Silver will see there’s something under that, and -the game’s up. Now, we’ve only one man to rely on.” - -“And who is that?” asked the squire. - -“Silver, sir,” returned the captain; “he’s as anxious as you and I to -smother things up. This is a tiff; he’d soon talk ’em out of it if he -had the chance, and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. -Let’s allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we’ll fight -the ship. If they none of them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God -defend the right. If some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver’ll bring -’em aboard again as mild as lambs.” - -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; -Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received -the news with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, -and then the captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - -“My lads,” said he, “we’ve had a hot day and are all tired and out of -sorts. A turn ashore’ll hurt nobody--the boats are still in the water; -you can take the gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the -afternoon. I’ll fire a gun half an hour before sundown.” - -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their -shins over treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out -of their sulks in a moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a -faraway hill and sent the birds once more flying and squalling round the -anchorage. - -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight -in a moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as -well he did so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as -have pretended not to understand the situation. It was as plain as day. -Silver was the captain, and a mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The -honest hands--and I was soon to see it proved that there were such on -board--must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, I suppose the -truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the example of the -ringleaders--only some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in -the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one thing -to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a -number of innocent men. - -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on -board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. - -Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions -that contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by -Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and -since only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party -had no present need of my assistance. It occurred to me at once to go -ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and curled up in the -fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost at the same moment she -shoved off. - -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you, Jim? -Keep your head down.” But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply -over and called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I -began to regret what I had done. - -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start -and being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of -her consort, and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I -had caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into the nearest -thicket while Silver and the rest were still a hundred yards behind. - -“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting. - -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking -through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. - - - - -XIV -The First Blow - - -I was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to -enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land -that I was in. - -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, -outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an -open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with -a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak -in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the far side of -the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining -vividly in the sun. - -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was -uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front -of me but dumb brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the -trees. Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and -there I saw snakes, and one raised his head from a ledge of rock and -hissed at me with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did -I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that the noise was the famous -rattle. - -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees--live, or -evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should be called--which grew -low along the sand like brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the -foliage compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of -one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it went, until -it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest -of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh was -steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled -through the haze. - -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; -a wild duck flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the -whole surface of the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and -circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be -drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon -I heard the very distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I -continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest -live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. - -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized -to be Silver’s, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while -in a stream, only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound -they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no -distinct word came to my hearing. - -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, -for not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves -began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the -swamp. - -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since -I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the -least I could do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my -plain and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage, under the -favourable ambush of the crouching trees. - -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by -the sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that -still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders. - -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at -last, raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear -down into a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about -with trees, where Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to -face in conversation. - -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the -ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was -lifted to the other man’s in a kind of appeal. - -“Mate,” he was saying, “it’s because I thinks gold dust of you--gold -dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn’t took to you like pitch, do -you think I’d have been here a-warning of you? All’s up--you can’t make -nor mend; it’s to save your neck that I’m a-speaking, and if one of the -wild uns knew it, where’d I be, Tom--now, tell me, where’d I be?” - -“Silver,” said the other man--and I observed he was not only red in the -face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a -taut rope--“Silver,” says he, “you’re old, and you’re honest, or has the -name for it; and you’ve money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn’t; -and you’re brave, or I’m mistook. And will you tell me you’ll let -yourself be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure -as God sees me, I’d sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty--” - -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found -one of the honest hands--well, here, at that same moment, came news of -another. Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound -like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and then one -horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a -score of times; the whole troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening -heaven, with a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell was -still ringing in my brain, silence had re-established its empire, and -only the rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the distant -surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had -not winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, -watching his companion like a snake about to spring. - -“John!” said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - -“Hands off!” cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with -the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - -“Hands off, if you like, John Silver,” said the other. “It’s a black -conscience that can make you feared of me. But in heaven’s name, tell -me, what was that?” - -“That?” returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye -a mere pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. -“That? Oh, I reckon that’ll be Alan.” - -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - -“Alan!” he cried. “Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, -John Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine, but you’re mate of mine -no more. If I die like a dog, I’ll die in my dooty. You’ve killed Alan, -have you? Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you.” - -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook -and set off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. -With a cry John seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of -his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. -It struck poor Tom, point foremost, and with stunning violence, right -between the shoulders in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he -gave a sort of gasp, and fell. - -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like -enough, to judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he -had no time given him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without -leg or crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had twice buried -his knife up to the hilt in that defenceless body. From my place of -ambush, I could hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the -next little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling -mist; Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going -round and round and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells -ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear. - -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, -his crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom -lay motionless upon the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, -cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass. -Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining mercilessly on the -steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce -persuade myself that murder had been actually done and a human life -cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and -blew upon it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated -air. I could not tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but -it instantly awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be -discovered. They had already slain two of the honest people; after Tom -and Alan, might not I come next? - -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what -speed and silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the -wood. As I did so, I could hear hails coming and going between the old -buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings. As -soon as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran before, scarce -minding the direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the -murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me until it turned into -a kind of frenzy. - -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, -how should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still -smoking from their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring -my neck like a snipe’s? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to -them of my alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, -I thought. Good-bye to the HISPANIOLA; good-bye to the squire, the -doctor, and the captain! There was nothing left for me but death by -starvation or death by the hands of the mutineers. - -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any -notice, I had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two -peaks and had got into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew -more widely apart and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and -dimensions. Mingled with these were a few scattered pines, some fifty, -some nearer seventy, feet high. The air too smelt more freshly than down -beside the marsh. - -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. - - - - -XV -The Man of the Island - - -From the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of -gravel was dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. -My eyes turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap -with great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether -bear or man or monkey, I could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and -shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition brought -me to a stand. - -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, -before me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer -the dangers that I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared -less terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, and I turned -on my heel, and looking sharply behind me over my shoulder, began to -retrace my steps in the direction of the boats. - -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to -head me off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I -rose, I could see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an -adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running -manlike on two legs, but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping -almost double as it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt -about that. - -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of -calling for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, -had somewhat reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in -proportion. I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method of -escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed -into my mind. As soon as I remembered I was not defenceless, courage -glowed again in my heart and I set my face resolutely for this man of -the island and walked briskly towards him. - -He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must -have been watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his -direction he reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, -drew back, came forward again, and at last, to my wonder and -confusion, threw himself on his knees and held out his clasped hands in -supplication. - -At that I once more stopped. - -“Who are you?” I asked. - -“Ben Gunn,” he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, -like a rusty lock. “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a -Christian these three years.” - -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his -features were even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was -burnt by the sun; even his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked -quite startling in so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen -or fancied, he was the chief for raggedness. He was clothed with tatters -of old ship’s canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary patchwork -was all held together by a system of the most various and incongruous -fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. -About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which was the -one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. - -“Three years!” I cried. “Were you shipwrecked?” - -“Nay, mate,” said he; “marooned.” - -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of -punishment common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender -is put ashore with a little powder and shot and left behind on some -desolate and distant island. - -“Marooned three years agone,” he continued, “and lived on goats since -then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can -do for himself. But, mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You -mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, -many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of cheese--toasted, mostly--and woke -up again, and here I were.” - -“If ever I can get aboard again,” said I, “you shall have cheese by the -stone.” - -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing -my hands, looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of -his speech, showing a childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow -creature. But at my last words he perked up into a kind of startled -slyness. - -“If ever you can get aboard again, says you?” he repeated. “Why, now, -who’s to hinder you?” - -“Not you, I know,” was my reply. - -“And right you was,” he cried. “Now you--what do you call yourself, -mate?” - -“Jim,” I told him. - -“Jim, Jim,” says he, quite pleased apparently. “Well, now, Jim, I’ve -lived that rough as you’d be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you -wouldn’t think I had had a pious mother--to look at me?” he asked. - -“Why, no, not in particular,” I answered. - -“Ah, well,” said he, “but I had--_re_markable pious. And I was a civil, -pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn’t -tell one word from another. And here’s what it come to, Jim, and it -begun with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That’s what it -begun with, but it went further’n that; and so my mother told me, and -predicked the whole, she did, the pious woman! But it were Providence -that put me here. I’ve thought it all out in this here lonely island, -and I’m back on piety. You don’t catch me tasting rum so much, but just -a thimbleful for luck, of course, the first chance I have. I’m bound -I’ll be good, and I see the way to. And, Jim”--looking all round him and -lowering his voice to a whisper--“I’m rich.” - -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and -I suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the -statement hotly: “Rich! Rich! I says. And I’ll tell you what: I’ll make -a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you’ll bless your stars, you will, you was -the first that found me!” - -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he -tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly -before my eyes. - -“Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain’t Flint’s ship?” he asked. - -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found -an ally, and I answered him at once. - -“It’s not Flint’s ship, and Flint is dead; but I’ll tell you true, as -you ask me--there are some of Flint’s hands aboard; worse luck for the -rest of us.” - -“Not a man--with one--leg?” he gasped. - -“Silver?” I asked. - -“Ah, Silver!” says he. “That were his name.” - -“He’s the cook, and the ringleader too.” - -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a -wring. - -“If you was sent by Long John,” he said, “I’m as good as pork, and I -know it. But where was you, do you suppose?” - -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him -the whole story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found -ourselves. He heard me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he -patted me on the head. - -“You’re a good lad, Jim,” he said; “and you’re all in a clove hitch, -ain’t you? Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn--Ben Gunn’s the man -to do it. Would you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove -a liberal-minded one in case of help--him being in a clove hitch, as you -remark?” - -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - -“Aye, but you see,” returned Ben Gunn, “I didn’t mean giving me a gate -to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that’s not my mark, -Jim. What I mean is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say -one thousand pounds out of money that’s as good as a man’s own already?” - -“I am sure he would,” said I. “As it was, all hands were to share.” - -“AND a passage home?” he added with a look of great shrewdness. - -“Why,” I cried, “the squire’s a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of -the others, we should want you to help work the vessel home.” - -“Ah,” said he, “so you would.” And he seemed very much relieved. - -“Now, I’ll tell you what,” he went on. “So much I’ll tell you, and no -more. I were in Flint’s ship when he buried the treasure; he and -six along--six strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us -standing off and on in the old WALRUS. One fine day up went the signal, -and here come Flint by himself in a little boat, and his head done up in -a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked about -the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and the six all dead--dead -and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was -battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways--him against six. Billy -Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him -where the treasure was. ‘Ah,’ says he, ‘you can go ashore, if you like, -and stay,’ he says; ‘but as for the ship, she’ll beat up for more, by -thunder!’ That’s what he said. - -“Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this -island. ‘Boys,’ said I, ‘here’s Flint’s treasure; let’s land and find -it.’ The cap’n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a -mind and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had -the worse word for me, until one fine morning all hands went aboard. ‘As -for you, Benjamin Gunn,’ says they, ‘here’s a musket,’ they says, ‘and -a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flint’s money for -yourself,’ they says. - -“Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian -diet from that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I -look like a man before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren’t, neither, I -says.” - -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - -“Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim,” he went on. “Nor he -weren’t, neither--that’s the words. Three years he were the man of this -island, light and dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe -think upon a prayer (says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of -his old mother, so be as she’s alive (you’ll say); but the most part -of Gunn’s time (this is what you’ll say)--the most part of his time was -took up with another matter. And then you’ll give him a nip, like I do.” - -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - -“Then,” he continued, “then you’ll up, and you’ll say this: Gunn is a -good man (you’ll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence--a -precious sight, mind that--in a gen’leman born than in these gen’leman -of fortune, having been one hisself.” - -“Well,” I said, “I don’t understand one word that you’ve been saying. -But that’s neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?” - -“Ah,” said he, “that’s the hitch, for sure. Well, there’s my boat, that -I made with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst -come to the worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!” he broke out. -“What’s that?” - -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the -echoes of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - -“They have begun to fight!” I cried. “Follow me.” - -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, -while close at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily -and lightly. - -“Left, left,” says he; “keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the -trees with you! Theer’s where I killed my first goat. They don’t come -down here now; they’re all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear -of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And there’s the cetemery”--cemetery, he must have -meant. “You see the mounds? I come here and prayed, nows and thens, when -I thought maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren’t quite a chapel, -but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you, Ben Gunn was -short-handed--no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, you says.” - -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. - -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley -of small arms. - -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I -beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. - - - - -PART FOUR--The Stockade - - - - -XVI -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned - - -It was about half past one--three bells in the sea phrase--that the two -boats went ashore from the HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I -were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, -we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with -us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and -to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that Jim -Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest. - -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for -his safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even -chance if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was -bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; -if ever a man smelt fever and dysentery, it was in that abominable -anchorage. The six scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in the -forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made fast and a man sitting -in each, hard by where the river runs in. One of them was whistling -“Lillibullero.” - -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go -ashore with the jolly-boat in quest of information. - -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, -in the direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were -left guarding their boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; -“Lillibullero” stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what -they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all might have turned -out differently; but they had their orders, I suppose, and decided to -sit quietly where they were and hark back again to “Lillibullero.” - -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it -between us; even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. -I jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk -handkerchief under my hat for coolness’ sake and a brace of pistols -ready primed for safety. - -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a -knoll. Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a -stout loghouse fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed -for musketry on either side. All round this they had cleared a wide -space, and then the thing was completed by a paling six feet high, -without door or opening, too strong to pull down without time and labour -and too open to shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house had -them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like -partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; for, short of a -complete surprise, they might have held the place against a regiment. - -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good -enough place of it in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms -and ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been -one thing overlooked--we had no water. I was thinking this over when -there came ringing over the island the cry of a man at the point of -death. I was not new to violent death--I have served his Royal Highness -the Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy--but I know -my pulse went dot and carry one. “Jim Hawkins is gone,” was my first -thought. - -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been -a doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made -up my mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and -jumped on board the jolly-boat. - -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the -boat was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. - -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as -white as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! -And one of the six forecastle hands was little better. - -“There’s a man,” says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, “new to -this work. He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. -Another touch of the rudder and that man would join us.” - -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details -of its accomplishment. - -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, -with three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter -brought the boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work -loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a -cask of cognac, and my invaluable medicine chest. - -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the -latter hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. - -“Mr. Hands,” he said, “here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. -If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man’s -dead.” - -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one -and all tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us -on the rear. But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred -galley, they went about ship at once, and a head popped out again on -deck. - -“Down, dog!” cries the captain. - -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of -these six very faint-hearted seamen. - -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat -loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, -and we made for shore again as fast as oars could take us. - -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. “Lillibullero” - was dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the -little point, one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a -mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver -and the others might be close at hand, and all might very well be lost -by trying for too much. - -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to -provision the block house. All three made the first journey, heavily -laden, and tossed our stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to -guard them--one man, to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets--Hunter -and I returned to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. So -we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the whole cargo was -bestowed, when the two servants took up their position in the block -house, and I, with all my power, sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. - -That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it -really was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the -advantage of arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before -they could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves -we should be able to give a good account of a half-dozen at least. - -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness -gone from him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to -loading the boat for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the -cargo, with only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me -and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the arms and powder we dropped -overboard in two fathoms and a half of water, so that we could see -the bright steel shining far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy -bottom. - -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging -round to her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the -direction of the two gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and -Hunter, who were well to the eastward, it warned our party to be off. - -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the -boat, which we then brought round to the ship’s counter, to be handier -for Captain Smollett. - -“Now, men,” said he, “do you hear me?” - -There was no answer from the forecastle. - -“It’s to you, Abraham Gray--it’s to you I am speaking.” - -Still no reply. - -“Gray,” resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, “I am leaving this ship, -and I order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at -bottom, and I dare say not one of the lot of you’s as bad as he makes -out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join -me in.” - -There was a pause. - -“Come, my fine fellow,” continued the captain; “don’t hang so long in -stays. I’m risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every -second.” - -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham -Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the -captain like a dog to the whistle. - -“I’m with you, sir,” said he. - -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we -had shoved off and given way. - -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. - - - - -XXVII -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip - - -This fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the -first place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely -overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and -the captain--over six feet high, was already more than she was meant -to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was -lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches -and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a -hundred yards. - -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more -evenly. All the same, we were afraid to breathe. - -In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong rippling current -running westward through the basin, and then south’ard and seaward down -the straits by which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples -were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we -were swept out of our true course and away from our proper landing-place -behind the point. If we let the current have its way we should come -ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any moment. - -“I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,” said I to the captain. -I was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. -“The tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?” - -“Not without swamping the boat,” said he. “You must bear up, sir, if you -please--bear up until you see you’re gaining.” - -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward -until I had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the -way we ought to go. - -“We’ll never get ashore at this rate,” said I. - -“If it’s the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it,” - returned the captain. “We must keep upstream. You see, sir,” he went on, -“if once we dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it’s hard to say -where we should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the -gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, and then we can -dodge back along the shore.” - -“The current’s less a’ready, sir,” said the man Gray, who was sitting in -the fore-sheets; “you can ease her off a bit.” - -“Thank you, my man,” said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we -had all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. - -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a -little changed. - -“The gun!” said he. - -“I have thought of that,” said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a -bombardment of the fort. “They could never get the gun ashore, and if -they did, they could never haul it through the woods.” - -“Look astern, doctor,” replied the captain. - -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were -the five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called -the stout tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but -it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the -powder for the gun had been left behind, and a stroke with an axe would -put it all into the possession of the evil ones abroad. - -“Israel was Flint’s gunner,” said Gray hoarsely. - -At any risk, we put the boat’s head direct for the landing-place. By -this time we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept -steerage way even at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could -keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was that with the -course I now held we turned our broadside instead of our stern to the -HISPANIOLA and offered a target like a barn door. - -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands -plumping down a round-shot on the deck. - -“Who’s the best shot?” asked the captain. - -“Mr. Trelawney, out and away,” said I. - -“Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? -Hands, if possible,” said the captain. - -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. - -“Now,” cried the captain, “easy with that gun, sir, or you’ll swamp the -boat. All hands stand by to trim her when he aims.” - -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the -other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we -did not ship a drop. - -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, -who was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most -exposed. However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he -stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of the other four -who fell. - -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a -great number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction -I saw the other pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling -into their places in the boats. - -“Here come the gigs, sir,” said I. - -“Give way, then,” cried the captain. “We mustn’t mind if we swamp her -now. If we can’t get ashore, all’s up.” - -“Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir,” I added; “the crew of the -other most likely going round by shore to cut us off.” - -“They’ll have a hot run, sir,” returned the captain. “Jack ashore, you -know. It’s not them I mind; it’s the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady’s -maid couldn’t miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we’ll -hold water.” - -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so -overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were -now close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the -ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering -trees. The gig was no longer to be feared; the little point had already -concealed it from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed -us, was now making reparation and delaying our assailants. The one -source of danger was the gun. - -“If I durst,” said the captain, “I’d stop and pick off another man.” - -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They -had never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not -dead, and I could see him trying to crawl away. - -“Ready!” cried the squire. - -“Hold!” cried the captain, quick as an echo. - -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily -under water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was -the first that Jim heard, the sound of the squire’s shot not having -reached him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I -fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind of it may have -contributed to our disaster. - -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of -water, leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. -The other three took complete headers, and came up again drenched and -bubbling. - -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade -ashore in safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to -make things worse, only two guns out of five remained in a state for -service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my head, by -a sort of instinct. As for the captain, he had carried his over his -shoulder by a bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The other -three had gone down with the boat. - -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the -woods along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from -the stockade in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, -if Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the -sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce -was a doubtful case--a pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush -one’s clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving -behind us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and -provisions. - - - - -XVIII -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting - - -We made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from -the stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers -rang nearer. Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the -cracking of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my -priming. - -“Captain,” said I, “Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his -own is useless.” - -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since -the beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all -was fit for service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I -handed him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his -hand, knit his brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was -plain from every line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade -in front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south -side, and almost at the same time, seven mutineers--Job Anderson, the -boatswain, at their head--appeared in full cry at the southwestern -corner. - -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the -squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to -fire. The four shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did -the business: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without -hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to -the fallen enemy. He was stone dead--shot through the heart. - -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a -pistol cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor -Tom Redruth stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire -and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable -we only wasted powder. Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor -Tom. - -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an -eye that all was over. - -I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers -once more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the -poor old gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and -bleeding, into the log-house. - -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, -fear, or even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till -now, when we had laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like -a Trojan behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order -silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of our party by a score -of years; and now, sullen, old, serviceable servant, it was he that was -to die. - -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, -crying like a child. - -“Be I going, doctor?” he asked. - -“Tom, my man,” said I, “you’re going home.” - -“I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first,” he replied. - -“Tom,” said the squire, “say you forgive me, won’t you?” - -“Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?” was the answer. -“Howsoever, so be it, amen!” - -After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read -a prayer. “It’s the custom, sir,” he added apologetically. And not long -after, without another word, he passed away. - -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully -swollen about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various -stores--the British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, -the log-book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree -lying felled and trimmed in the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter -he had set it up at the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed -and made an angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had with his own hand -bent and run up the colours. - -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set -about counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an -eye on Tom’s passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came -forward with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - -“Don’t you take on, sir,” he said, shaking the squire’s hand. “All’s -well with him; no fear for a hand that’s been shot down in his duty to -captain and owner. It mayn’t be good divinity, but it’s a fact.” - -Then he pulled me aside. - -“Dr. Livesey,” he said, “in how many weeks do you and squire expect the -consort?” - -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we -were not back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but -neither sooner nor later. “You can calculate for yourself,” I said. - -“Why, yes,” returned the captain, scratching his head; “and making a -large allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we -were pretty close hauled.” - -“How do you mean?” I asked. - -“It’s a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That’s what I mean,” - replied the captain. “As for powder and shot, we’ll do. But the rations -are short, very short--so short, Dr. Livesey, that we’re perhaps as well -without that extra mouth.” - -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the -roof of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. - -“Oho!” said the captain. “Blaze away! You’ve little enough powder -already, my lads.” - -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside -the stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. - -“Captain,” said the squire, “the house is quite invisible from the ship. -It must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it -in?” - -“Strike my colours!” cried the captain. “No, sir, not I”; and as soon -as he had said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was -not only a piece of stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy -besides and showed our enemies that we despised their cannonade. - -All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew -over or fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had -to fire so high that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft -sand. We had no ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the -roof of the log-house and out again through the floor, we soon got used -to that sort of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - -“There is one good thing about all this,” observed the captain; “the -wood in front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our -stores should be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork.” - -Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole -out of the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were -bolder than we fancied or they put more trust in Israel’s gunnery. For -four or five of them were busy carrying off our stores and wading out -with them to one of the gigs that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to -hold her steady against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in -command; and every man of them was now provided with a musket from some -secret magazine of their own. - -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: - - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship’s - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter’s mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner’s servants, landsmen--being all that is left - faithful of the ship’s company--with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner’s servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy-- - -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins’ fate. - -A hail on the land side. - -“Somebody hailing us,” said Hunter, who was on guard. - -“Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?” came the cries. - -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come -climbing over the stockade. - - - - -XIX -Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade - - -As soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the -arm, and sat down. - -“Now,” said he, “there’s your friends, sure enough.” - -“Far more likely it’s the mutineers,” I answered. - -“That!” he cried. “Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but -gen’lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don’t make -no doubt of that. No, that’s your friends. There’s been blows too, and I -reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in -the old stockade, as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was -the man to have a headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were -never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on’y Silver--Silver was that -genteel.” - -“Well,” said I, “that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that -I should hurry on and join my friends.” - -“Nay, mate,” returned Ben, “not you. You’re a good boy, or I’m mistook; -but you’re on’y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn’t -bring me there, where you’re going--not rum wouldn’t, till I see your -born gen’leman and gets it on his word of honour. And you won’t forget -my words; ‘A precious sight (that’s what you’ll say), a precious sight -more confidence’--and then nips him.” - -And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. - -“And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just -wheer you found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing -in his hand, and he’s to come alone. Oh! And you’ll say this: ‘Ben -Gunn,’ says you, ‘has reasons of his own.’” - -“Well,” said I, “I believe I understand. You have something to propose, -and you wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you’re to be found -where I found you. Is that all?” - -“And when? says you,” he added. “Why, from about noon observation to -about six bells.” - -“Good,” said I, “and now may I go?” - -“You won’t forget?” he inquired anxiously. “Precious sight, and reasons -of his own, says you. Reasons of his own; that’s the mainstay; as -between man and man. Well, then”--still holding me--“I reckon you can -go, Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn’t go for to sell -Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn’t draw it from you? No, says you. And if -them pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you say but there’d be widders -in the morning?” - -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing -through the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where -we two were talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels -in a different direction. - -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and -balls kept crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to -hiding-place, always pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying -missiles. But towards the end of the bombardment, though still I durst -not venture in the direction of the stockade, where the balls fell -oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and -after a long detour to the east, crept down among the shore-side trees. - -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the -woods and ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was -far out, and great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat -of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - -The HISPANIOLA still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there -was the Jolly Roger--the black flag of piracy--flying from her peak. -Even as I looked, there came another red flash and another report that -sent the echoes clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through the -air. It was the last of the cannonade. - -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men -were demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade--the -poor jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the -river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point -and the ship one of the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I -had seen so gloomy, shouting at the oars like children. But there was a -sound in their voices which suggested rum. - -At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty -far down on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, -and is joined at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my -feet, I saw, some distance further down the spit and rising from among -low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in -colour. It occurred to me that this might be the white rock of which Ben -Gunn had spoken and that some day or other a boat might be wanted and I -should know where to look for one. - -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or -shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the -faithful party. - -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was -made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter -stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the -surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, and under this porch -the little spring welled up into an artificial basin of a rather odd -kind--no other than a great ship’s kettle of iron, with the bottom -knocked out, and sunk “to her bearings,” as the captain said, among the -sand. - -Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one -corner there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old -rusty iron basket to contain the fire. - -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been -cleared of timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps -what a fine and lofty grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had -been washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the trees; only -where the streamlet ran down from the kettle a thick bed of moss and -some ferns and little creeping bushes were still green among the sand. -Very close around the stockade--too close for defence, they said--the -wood still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the land side, but -towards the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. - -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every -chink of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain -of fine sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our -suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all -the world like porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole -in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way -out, and the rest eddied about the house and kept us coughing and piping -the eye. - -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage -for a cut he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor -old Tom Redruth, still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, -under the Union Jack. - -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the -blues, but Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were -called up before him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and -Gray and I for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired -though we all were, two were sent out for firewood; two more were set to -dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at -the door; and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping up -our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to -rest his eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he -did so, he had a word for me. - -“That man Smollett,” he said once, “is a better man than I am. And when -I say that it means a deal, Jim.” - -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on -one side, and looked at me. - -“Is this Ben Gunn a man?” he asked. - -“I do not know, sir,” said I. “I am not very sure whether he’s sane.” - -“If there’s any doubt about the matter, he is,” returned the doctor. “A -man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, -can’t expect to appear as sane as you or me. It doesn’t lie in human -nature. Was it cheese you said he had a fancy for?” - -“Yes, sir, cheese,” I answered. - -“Well, Jim,” says he, “just see the good that comes of being dainty in -your food. You’ve seen my snuff-box, haven’t you? And you never saw me -take snuff, the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of -Parmesan cheese--a cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, that’s -for Ben Gunn!” - -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round -him for a while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had -been got in, but not enough for the captain’s fancy, and he shook his -head over it and told us we “must get back to this tomorrow rather -livelier.” Then, when we had eaten our pork and each had a good stiff -glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got together in a corner to -discuss our prospects. - -It appears they were at their wits’ end what to do, the stores being so -low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. -But our best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until -they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the HISPANIOLA. From -nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, -and one at least--the man shot beside the gun--severely wounded, if he -were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we were to take it, -saving our own lives, with the extremest care. And besides that, we had -two able allies--rum and the climate. - -As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear -them roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, -the doctor staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh -and unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on their backs -before a week. - -“So,” he added, “if we are not all shot down first they’ll be glad to -be packing in the schooner. It’s always a ship, and they can get to -buccaneering again, I suppose.” - -“First ship that ever I lost,” said Captain Smollett. - -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was -not till after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the -pile of firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a -bustle and the sound of voices. - -“Flag of truce!” I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with -a cry of surprise, “Silver himself!” - -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the -wall. - - - - -XX -Silver’s Embassy - - -Sure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them -waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, -standing placidly by. - -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever -was abroad in--a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright -and cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in -the sun. But where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in -shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled -during the night out of the morass. The chill and the vapour taken -together told a poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, -feverish, unhealthy spot. - -“Keep indoors, men,” said the captain. “Ten to one this is a trick.” - -Then he hailed the buccaneer. - -“Who goes? Stand, or we fire.” - -“Flag of truce,” cried Silver. - -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way -of a treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to -us, “Doctor’s watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, -if you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to -load muskets. Lively, men, and careful.” - -And then he turned again to the mutineers. - -“And what do you want with your flag of truce?” he cried. - -This time it was the other man who replied. - -“Cap’n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms,” he shouted. - -“Cap’n Silver! Don’t know him. Who’s he?” cried the captain. And we -could hear him adding to himself, “Cap’n, is it? My heart, and here’s -promotion!” - -Long John answered for himself. “Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me -cap’n, after your desertion, sir”--laying a particular emphasis upon the -word “desertion.” “We’re willing to submit, if we can come to terms, -and no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap’n Smollett, to let me -safe and sound out of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o’ -shot before a gun is fired.” - -“My man,” said Captain Smollett, “I have not the slightest desire to -talk to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that’s all. If -there’s any treachery, it’ll be on your side, and the Lord help you.” - -“That’s enough, Cap’n,” shouted Long John cheerily. “A word from you’s -enough. I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that.” - -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold -Silver back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the -captain’s answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the -back as if the idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the -stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour -and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the -other side. - -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on -to be of the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted -my eastern loophole and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated -himself on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his head in his -hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as it bubbled out of the old iron -kettle in the sand. He was whistling “Come, Lasses and Lads.” - -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the -steepness of the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he -and his crutch were as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it -like a man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, whom -he saluted in the handsomest style. He was tricked out in his best; -an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, hung as low as to his -knees, and a fine laced hat was set on the back of his head. - -“Here you are, my man,” said the captain, raising his head. “You had -better sit down.” - -“You ain’t a-going to let me inside, Cap’n?” complained Long John. “It’s -a main cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand.” - -“Why, Silver,” said the captain, “if you had pleased to be an honest -man, you might have been sitting in your galley. It’s your own doing. -You’re either my ship’s cook--and then you were treated handsome--or -Cap’n Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!” - -“Well, well, Cap’n,” returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was -bidden on the sand, “you’ll have to give me a hand up again, that’s all. -A sweet pretty place you have of it here. Ah, there’s Jim! The top of -the morning to you, Jim. Doctor, here’s my service. Why, there you all -are together like a happy family, in a manner of speaking.” - -“If you have anything to say, my man, better say it,” said the captain. - -“Right you were, Cap’n Smollett,” replied Silver. “Dooty is dooty, to be -sure. Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last -night. I don’t deny it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a -handspike-end. And I’ll not deny neither but what some of my people was -shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I was shook myself; maybe that’s -why I’m here for terms. But you mark me, Cap’n, it won’t do twice, by -thunder! We’ll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so on the -rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind’s eye. But I’ll -tell you I was sober; I was on’y dog tired; and if I’d awoke a second -sooner, I’d ’a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn’t dead when I got -round to him, not he.” - -“Well?” says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have -guessed it from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben -Gunn’s last words came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had -paid the buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk together round -their fire, and I reckoned up with glee that we had only fourteen -enemies to deal with. - -“Well, here it is,” said Silver. “We want that treasure, and we’ll have -it--that’s our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; -and that’s yours. You have a chart, haven’t you?” - -“That’s as may be,” replied the captain. - -“Oh, well, you have, I know that,” returned Long John. “You needn’t be -so husky with a man; there ain’t a particle of service in that, and you -may lay to it. What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant -you no harm, myself.” - -“That won’t do with me, my man,” interrupted the captain. “We know -exactly what you meant to do, and we don’t care, for now, you see, you -can’t do it.” - -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. - -“If Abe Gray--” Silver broke out. - -“Avast there!” cried Mr. Smollett. “Gray told me nothing, and I asked -him nothing; and what’s more, I would see you and him and this whole -island blown clean out of the water into blazes first. So there’s my -mind for you, my man, on that.” - -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been -growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. - -“Like enough,” said he. “I would set no limits to what gentlemen might -consider shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein’ as how -you are about to take a pipe, Cap’n, I’ll make so free as do likewise.” - -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently -smoking for quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now -stopping their tobacco, now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as -the play to see them. - -“Now,” resumed Silver, “here it is. You give us the chart to get the -treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in -while asleep. You do that, and we’ll offer you a choice. Either you come -aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I’ll give you my -affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or -if that ain’t to your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having -old scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, you can. We’ll -divide stores with you, man for man; and I’ll give my affy-davy, as -before to speak the first ship I sight, and send ’em here to pick you -up. Now, you’ll own that’s talking. Handsomer you couldn’t look to get, -now you. And I hope”--raising his voice--“that all hands in this here -block house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to -all.” - -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his -pipe in the palm of his left hand. - -“Is that all?” he asked. - -“Every last word, by thunder!” answered John. “Refuse that, and you’ve -seen the last of me but musket-balls.” - -“Very good,” said the captain. “Now you’ll hear me. If you’ll come up -one by one, unarmed, I’ll engage to clap you all in irons and take you -home to a fair trial in England. If you won’t, my name is Alexander -Smollett, I’ve flown my sovereign’s colours, and I’ll see you all -to Davy Jones. You can’t find the treasure. You can’t sail the -ship--there’s not a man among you fit to sail the ship. You can’t fight -us--Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship’s in irons, Master -Silver; you’re on a lee shore, and so you’ll find. I stand here and tell -you so; and they’re the last good words you’ll get from me, for in the -name of heaven, I’ll put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. -Tramp, my lad. Bundle out of this, please, hand over hand, and double -quick.” - -Silver’s face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He -shook the fire out of his pipe. - -“Give me a hand up!” he cried. - -“Not I,” returned the captain. - -“Who’ll give me a hand up?” he roared. - -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled -along the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself -again upon his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - -“There!” he cried. “That’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, -I’ll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by -thunder, laugh! Before an hour’s out, ye’ll laugh upon the other side. -Them that die’ll be the lucky ones.” - -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was -helped across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with -the flag of truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the -trees. - - - - -XXI -The Attack - - -As soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely -watching him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a -man of us at his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen -him angry. - -“Quarters!” he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, -“Gray,” he said, “I’ll put your name in the log; you’ve stood by your -duty like a seaman. Mr. Trelawney, I’m surprised at you, sir. Doctor, -I thought you had worn the king’s coat! If that was how you served at -Fontenoy, sir, you’d have been better in your berth.” - -The doctor’s watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy -loading the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be -certain, and a flea in his ear, as the saying is. - -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. - -“My lads,” said he, “I’ve given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in -red-hot on purpose; and before the hour’s out, as he said, we shall be -boarded. We’re outnumbered, I needn’t tell you that, but we fight in -shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought with discipline. -I’ve no manner of doubt that we can drub them, if you choose.” - -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. - -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two -loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the -north side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven -of us; the firewood had been built into four piles--tables, you might -say--one about the middle of each side, and on each of these tables some -ammunition and four loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the -defenders. In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - -“Toss out the fire,” said the captain; “the chill is past, and we -mustn’t have smoke in our eyes.” - -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the -embers smothered among sand. - -“Hawkins hasn’t had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to -your post to eat it,” continued Captain Smollett. “Lively, now, my lad; -you’ll want it before you’ve done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy -to all hands.” - -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the -plan of the defence. - -“Doctor, you will take the door,” he resumed. “See, and don’t expose -yourself; keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east -side, there. Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you -are the best shot--you and Gray will take this long north side, with the -five loopholes; it’s there the danger is. If they can get up to it and -fire in upon us through our own ports, things would begin to look dirty. -Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at the shooting; we’ll stand -by to load and bear a hand.” - -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had -climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the -clearing and drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking -and the resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats -were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the -shoulders; and we stood there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and -anxiety. - -An hour passed away. - -“Hang them!” said the captain. “This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, -whistle for a wind.” - -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - -“If you please, sir,” said Joyce, “if I see anyone, am I to fire?” - -“I told you so!” cried the captain. - -“Thank you, sir,” returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, -straining ears and eyes--the musketeers with their pieces balanced in -their hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his -mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket -and fired. The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and -repeated from without in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like -a string of geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several bullets -struck the log-house, but not one entered; and as the smoke cleared away -and vanished, the stockade and the woods around it looked as quiet and -empty as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket-barrel -betrayed the presence of our foes. - -“Did you hit your man?” asked the captain. - -“No, sir,” replied Joyce. “I believe not, sir.” - -“Next best thing to tell the truth,” muttered Captain Smollett. “Load -his gun, Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?” - -“I know precisely,” said Dr. Livesey. “Three shots were fired on this -side. I saw the three flashes--two close together--one farther to the -west.” - -“Three!” repeated the captain. “And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?” - -But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the -north--seven by the squire’s computation, eight or nine according to -Gray. From the east and west only a single shot had been fired. It was -plain, therefore, that the attack would be developed from the north and -that on the other three sides we were only to be annoyed by a show of -hostilities. But Captain Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If -the mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, they would -take possession of any unprotected loophole and shoot us down like rats -in our own stronghold. - -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud -huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side -and ran straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once -more opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway -and knocked the doctor’s musket into bits. - -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired -again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, -two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened -than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly -disappeared among the trees. - -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing -inside our defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight -men, each evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though -useless fire on the log-house. - -The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, -shouting as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to -encourage them. Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the -marksmen that not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the -four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle -loophole. - -“At ’em, all hands--all hands!” he roared in a voice of thunder. - -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter’s musket by the -muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, -and with one stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. -Meanwhile a third, running unharmed all around the house, appeared -suddenly in the doorway and fell with his cutlass on the doctor. - -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under -cover, at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could -not return a blow. - -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative -safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, -and one loud groan rang in my ears. - -“Out, lads, out, and fight ’em in the open! Cutlasses!” cried the -captain. - -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time -snatching another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly -felt. I dashed out of the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was -close behind, I knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing -his assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell upon him, beat -down his guard and sent him sprawling on his back with a great slash -across the face. - -“Round the house, lads! Round the house!” cried the captain; and even in -the hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. - -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, -ran round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face -with Anderson. He roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, -flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow -still hung impending, leaped in a trice upon one side, and missing my -foot in the soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. - -When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been -already swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red -night-cap, with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and -thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I -found my feet again all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red -night-cap still half-way over, another still just showing his head above -the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath of time, the fight was -over and the victory was ours. - -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere -he had time to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a -loophole in the very act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, -the pistol still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor -had disposed of at a blow. Of the four who had scaled the palisade, one -only remained unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the -field, was now clambering out again with the fear of death upon him. - -“Fire--fire from the house!” cried the doctor. “And you, lads, back into -cover.” - -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder -made good his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In -three seconds nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who -had fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. - -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors -would soon be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment -the fire might recommence. - -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at -a glance the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his -loophole, stunned; Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move -again; while right in the centre, the squire was supporting the captain, -one as pale as the other. - -“The captain’s wounded,” said Mr. Trelawney. - -“Have they run?” asked Mr. Smollett. - -“All that could, you may be bound,” returned the doctor; “but there’s -five of them will never run again.” - -“Five!” cried the captain. “Come, that’s better. Five against three -leaves us four to nine. That’s better odds than we had at starting. We -were seven to nineteen then, or thought we were, and that’s as bad to -bear.” * - -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. -Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But -this was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. - - - - -PART FIVE--My Sea Adventure - - - - -XXII -How I Began My Sea Adventure - - -There was no return of the mutineers--not so much as another shot out of -the woods. They had “got their rations for that day,” as the captain put -it, and we had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the -wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the -danger, and even outside we could hardly tell what we were at, for -horror of the loud groans that reached us from the doctor’s patients. - -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still -breathed--that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, -Hunter, and Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good -as dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor’s knife, and Hunter, -do what we could, never recovered consciousness in this world. He -lingered all day, breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his -apoplectic fit, but the bones of his chest had been crushed by the -blow and his skull fractured in falling, and some time in the following -night, without sign or sound, he went to his Maker. - -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. -No organ was fatally injured. Anderson’s ball--for it was Job that -shot him first--had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not -badly; the second had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. -He was sure to recover, the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for -weeks to come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as speak -when he could help it. - -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor -Livesey patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the -bargain. - -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain’s side awhile -in consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts’ content, it -being then a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, -girt on a cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over -his shoulder crossed the palisade on the north side and set off briskly -through the trees. - -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to -be out of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out -of his mouth and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck -he was at this occurrence. - -“Why, in the name of Davy Jones,” said he, “is Dr. Livesey mad?” - -“Why no,” says I. “He’s about the last of this crew for that, I take -it.” - -“Well, shipmate,” said Gray, “mad he may not be; but if HE’S not, you -mark my words, I am.” - -“I take it,” replied I, “the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, -he’s going now to see Ben Gunn.” - -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being -stifling hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze -with midday sun, I began to get another thought into my head, which was -not by any means so right. What I began to do was to envy the doctor -walking in the cool shadow of the woods with the birds about him and the -pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes -stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many poor -dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the place that was -almost as strong as fear. - -All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up -the things from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger -and stronger, till at last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then -observing me, I took the first step towards my escapade and filled both -pockets of my coat with biscuit. - -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, -over-bold act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in -my power. These biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at -least, from starving till far on in the next day. - -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already -had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. - -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I -was to go down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east -from the open sea, find the white rock I had observed last evening, and -ascertain whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, -a thing quite worth doing, as I still believe. But as I was certain I -should not be allowed to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take -French leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that was so bad -a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong. But I was only a boy, -and I had made my mind up. - -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The -squire and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the -coast was clear, I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the -thickest of the trees, and before my absence was observed I was out of -cry of my companions. - -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two -sound men to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards -saving all of us. - -I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was -determined to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of -observation from the anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, -although still warm and sunny. As I continued to thread the tall woods, -I could hear from far before me not only the continuous thunder of the -surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which -showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. Soon cool -draughts of air began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came forth -into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny -to the horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the -beach. - -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might -blaze overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and -blue, but still these great rollers would be running along all the -external coast, thundering and thundering by day and night; and I scarce -believe there is one spot in the island where a man would be out of -earshot of their noise. - -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking -I was now got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick -bushes and crept warily up to the ridge of the spit. - -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though -it had the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already -at an end; it had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south -and south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under -lee of Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when first we entered -it. The HISPANIOLA, in that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from -the truck to the waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets--him I could -always recognize--while a couple of men were leaning over the stern -bulwarks, one of them with a red cap--the very rogue that I had seen -some hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were -talking and laughing, though at that distance--upwards of a mile--I -could, of course, hear no word of what was said. All at once there began -the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, -though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought -I could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon -her master’s wrist. - -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man -with the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. - -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, -and as the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. -I saw I must lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. - -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of -a mile further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up -with it, crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost -come when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was -an exceedingly small hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick -underwood about knee-deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the -centre of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat-skins, like what -the gipsies carry about with them in England. - -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was -Ben Gunn’s boat--home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, -lop-sided framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of -goat-skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even -for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a -full-sized man. There was one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of -stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but -I have seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn’s -boat than by saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever -made by man. But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly -possessed, for it was exceedingly light and portable. - -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had -enough of truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another -notion and become so obstinately fond of it that I would have carried -it out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was -to slip out under cover of the night, cut the HISPANIOLA adrift, and let -her go ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the -mutineers, after their repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer their -hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; this, I thought, it would be -a fine thing to prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their -watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be done with little -risk. - -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It -was a night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried -all heaven. As the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, -absolute blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, -I shouldered the coracle and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow -where I had supped, there were but two points visible on the whole -anchorage. - -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay -carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the -darkness, indicated the position of the anchored ship. She had swung -round to the ebb--her bow was now towards me--the only lights on board -were in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a reflection on the fog of -the strong rays that flowed from the stern window. - -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt -of swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I -came to the edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, -with some strength and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the -surface. - - - - -XXIII -The Ebb-tide Runs - - -The coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was done with -her--was a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both -buoyant and clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, -lop-sided craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made more -leeway than anything else, and turning round and round was the manoeuvre -she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was “queer -to handle till you knew her way.” - -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the -one I was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, -and I am very sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the -tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping -me down; and there lay the HISPANIOLA right in the fairway, hardly to be -missed. - -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than -darkness, then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next -moment, as it seemed (for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the -current of the ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she -pulled upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the -rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. -One cut with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go humming down the -tide. - -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut -hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to -one, if I were so foolhardy as to cut the HISPANIOLA from her anchor, I -and the coracle would be knocked clean out of the water. - -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again -particularly favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But -the light airs which had begun blowing from the south-east and south -had hauled round after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was -meditating, a puff came, caught the HISPANIOLA, and forced her up into -the current; and to my great joy, I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, -and the hand by which I held it dip for a second under water. - -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, -and cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. -Then I lay quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be -once more lightened by a breath of wind. - -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but -to say truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts -that I had scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to -do, I began to pay more heed. - -One I recognized for the coxswain’s, Israel Hands, that had been Flint’s -gunner in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red -night-cap. Both men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still -drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken -cry, opened the stern window and threw out something, which I divined to -be an empty bottle. But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they -were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and every now and -then there came forth such an explosion as I thought was sure to end -in blows. But each time the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled -lower for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn passed -away without result. - -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly -through the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning -sailor’s song, with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, -and seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the singer. I had -heard it on the voyage more than once and remembered these words: - - “But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five.” - -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a -company that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from -what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed -on. - -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the -dark; I felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough -effort, cut the last fibres through. - -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost -instantly swept against the bows of the HISPANIOLA. At the same time, -the schooner began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, -across the current. - -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and -since I found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved -straight astern. At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and -just as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light cord -that was trailing overboard across the stern bulwarks. Instantly I -grasped it. - -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere -instinct, but once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity -began to get the upper hand, and I determined I should have one look -through the cabin window. - -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near -enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded -the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin. - -By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty -swiftly through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with -the camp-fire. The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading -the innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I -got my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen -had taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; and it was -only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me -Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a -hand upon the other’s throat. - -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near -overboard. I could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, -encrimsoned faces swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my -eyes to let them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished -company about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so -often: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very -moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, when I was surprised by a sudden -lurch of the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed -to change her course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. - -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing -over with a sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The -HISPANIOLA herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled -along, seemed to stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a -little against the blackness of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I -made sure she also was wheeling to the southward. - -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, -right behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned -at right angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and -the little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever -muttering louder, it went spinning through the narrows for the open sea. - -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, -perhaps, through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one -shout followed another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on -the companion ladder and I knew that the two drunkards had at last been -interrupted in their quarrel and awakened to a sense of their disaster. - -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly -recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I -made sure we must fall into some bar of raging breakers, where all my -troubles would be ended speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to -die, I could not bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the -billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to -expect death at the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a -numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of -my terrors, until sleep at last supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle -I lay and dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - - - - -XXIV -The Cruise of the Coracle - - -It was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west -end of Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind -the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to -the sea in formidable cliffs. - -Haulbowline Head and Mizzenmast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare -and dark, the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and -fringed with great masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a -mile to seaward, and it was my first thought to paddle in and land. - -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers -spouted and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and -falling, succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw myself, -if I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending -my strength in vain to scale the beetling crags. - -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or -letting themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge -slimy monsters--soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness--two -or three score of them together, making the rocks to echo with their -barkings. - -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. -But the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the -high running of the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that -landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to confront -such perils. - -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North -of Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide -a long stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes -another cape--Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart--buried -in tall green pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. - -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward -along the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my -position that I was already under its influence, I preferred to leave -Haulbowline Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to -land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady -and gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the -current, and the billows rose and fell unbroken. - -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, -it is surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could -ride. Often, as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye -above the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; -yet the coracle would but bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and -subside on the other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at -paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will -produce violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly -moved before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, -ran straight down a slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and -struck her nose, with a spout of spray, deep into the side of the next -wave. - -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old -position, whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led -me as softly as before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be -interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no way influence her -course, what hope had I left of reaching land? - -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. -First, moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my -sea-cap; then, getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself -to study how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks -from shore or from a vessel’s deck, was for all the world like any range -of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The -coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to -speak, her way through these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes -and higher, toppling summits of the wave. - -“Well, now,” thought I to myself, “it is plain I must lie where I am and -not disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle -over the side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove -or two towards land.” No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on -my elbows in the most trying attitude, and every now and again gave a -weak stroke or two to turn her head to shore. - -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as -we drew near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly -miss that point, I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, -indeed, close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops swaying together -in the breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without -fail. - -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow -of the sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the -sea-water that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, -combined to make my throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the -trees so near at hand had almost made me sick with longing, but the -current had soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach of sea -opened out, I beheld a sight that changed the nature of my thoughts. - -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the HISPANIOLA -under sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was -so distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad -or sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, -surprise had taken entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing -but stare and wonder. - -The HISPANIOLA was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful -white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first -sighted her, all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about -north-west, and I presumed the men on board were going round the island -on their way back to the anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more -and more to the westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and were -going about in chase. At last, however, she fell right into the wind’s -eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there awhile helpless, with her -sails shivering. - -“Clumsy fellows,” said I; “they must still be drunk as owls.” And I -thought how Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. - -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another -tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead -in the wind’s eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and -down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA sailed by swoops -and dashes, and at each repetition ended as she had begun, with idly -flapping canvas. It became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if -so, where were the men? Either they were dead drunk or had deserted her, -I thought, and perhaps if I could get on board I might return the vessel -to her captain. - -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. -As for the latter’s sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she -hung each time so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if -she did not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made -sure that I could overhaul her. The scheme had an air of adventure -that inspired me, and the thought of the water breaker beside the fore -companion doubled my growing courage. - -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but -this time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and -caution, to paddle after the unsteered HISPANIOLA. Once I shipped a sea -so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like -a bird, but gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my -coracle among the waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and -a dash of foam in my face. - -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten -on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her -decks. I could not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men -were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do -what I chose with the ship. - -For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for -me--standing still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all -the time. Each time she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these -brought her in a moment right to the wind again. I have said this was -the worst thing possible for me, for helpless as she looked in this -situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon and the blocks trundling -and banging on the deck, she still continued to run away from me, not -only with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount of her -leeway, which was naturally great. - -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, -very low, and the current gradually turning her, the HISPANIOLA revolved -slowly round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the -cabin window still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning -on into the day. The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was -stock-still but for the current. - -For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my -efforts, I began once more to overhaul the chase. - -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; -she filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming -like a swallow. - -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. -Round she came, till she was broadside on to me--round still till she -had covered a half and then two thirds and then three quarters of the -distance that separated us. I could see the waves boiling white under -her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me from my low station in the -coracle. - -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to -think--scarce time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one -swell when the schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was -over my head. I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping the coracle under -water. With one hand I caught the jib-boom, while my foot was lodged -between the stay and the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a -dull blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon and struck the -coracle and that I was left without retreat on the HISPANIOLA. - - - - -XXV -I Strike the Jolly Roger - - -I had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib -flapped and filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The -schooner trembled to her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the -other sails still drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, -crawled back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. - -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was -still drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. -Not a soul was to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since -the mutiny, bore the print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by -the neck, tumbled to and fro like a live thing in the scuppers. - -Suddenly the HISPANIOLA came right into the wind. The jibs behind me -cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening -heave and shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, -the sheet groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff -as a handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and -his teeth showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against -the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on -the deck, his face as white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. - -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the -sails filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to -and fro till the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too -there would come a cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy -blow of the ship’s bows against the swell; so much heavier weather was -made of it by this great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided -coracle, now gone to the bottom of the sea. - -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but--what was -ghastly to behold--neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing -grin was anyway disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, Hands -appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down upon the -deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body canting -towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid -from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed -ringlet of one whisker. - -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark -blood upon the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each -other in their drunken wrath. - -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship -was still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed -himself back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, -which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw -hung open went right to my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had -overheard from the apple barrel, all pity left me. - -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - -“Come aboard, Mr. Hands,” I said ironically. - -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express -surprise. All he could do was to utter one word, “Brandy.” - -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it -once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion -stairs into the cabin. - -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the -lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor -was thick with mud where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after -wading in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in -clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. -Dozens of empty bottles clinked together in corners to the rolling of -the ship. One of the doctor’s medical books lay open on the table, half -of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for pipelights. In the midst of all -this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles -a most surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, -since the mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and -for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch -of raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down -my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain’s -reach, went forward to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of -water, and then, and not till then, gave Hands the brandy. - -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. - -“Aye,” said he, “by thunder, but I wanted some o’ that!” - -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - -“Much hurt?” I asked him. - -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - -“If that doctor was aboard,” he said, “I’d be right enough in a couple -of turns, but I don’t have no manner of luck, you see, and that’s what’s -the matter with me. As for that swab, he’s good and dead, he is,” he -added, indicating the man with the red cap. “He warn’t no seaman anyhow. -And where mought you have come from?” - -“Well,” said I, “I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, -Mr. Hands; and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further -notice.” - -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had -come back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still -continued to slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. - -“By the by,” I continued, “I can’t have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by -your leave, I’ll strike ’em. Better none than these.” - -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their -cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - -“God save the king!” said I, waving my cap. “And there’s an end to -Captain Silver!” - -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. - -“I reckon,” he said at last, “I reckon, Cap’n Hawkins, you’ll kind of -want to get ashore now. S’pose we talks.” - -“Why, yes,” says I, “with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on.” And I went -back to my meal with a good appetite. - -“This man,” he began, nodding feebly at the corpse “--O’Brien were his -name, a rank Irelander--this man and me got the canvas on her, meaning -for to sail her back. Well, HE’S dead now, he is--as dead as bilge; and -who’s to sail this ship, I don’t see. Without I gives you a hint, you -ain’t that man, as far’s I can tell. Now, look here, you gives me food -and drink and a old scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and -I’ll tell you how to sail her, and that’s about square all round, I take -it.” - -“I’ll tell you one thing,” says I: “I’m not going back to Captain Kidd’s -anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there.” - -“To be sure you did,” he cried. “Why, I ain’t sich an infernal lubber -after all. I can see, can’t I? I’ve tried my fling, I have, and I’ve -lost, and it’s you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven’t no -ch’ice, not I! I’d help you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! -So I would.” - -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our -bargain on the spot. In three minutes I had the HISPANIOLA sailing -easily before the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good -hopes of turning the northern point ere noon and beating down again as -far as North Inlet before high water, when we might beach her safely and -wait till the subsiding tide permitted us to land. - -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a -soft silk handkerchief of my mother’s. With this, and with my aid, Hands -bound up the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after -he had eaten a little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he -began to pick up visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, -and looked in every way another man. - -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the -coast of the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. -Soon we were past the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, -sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again -and had turned the corner of the rocky hill that ends the island on the -north. - -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, -sunshiny weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now -plenty of water and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had -smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I -had made. I should, I think, have had nothing left me to desire but for -the eyes of the coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck -and the odd smile that appeared continually on his face. It was a smile -that had in it something both of pain and weakness--a haggard old man’s -smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of -treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and watched, and -watched me at my work. - - - - -XXVI -Israel Hands - - -The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run -so much the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth -of the North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not -beach her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our -hands. The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good many -trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another meal. - -“Cap’n,” said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, “here’s -my old shipmate, O’Brien; s’pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain’t -partic’lar as a rule, and I don’t take no blame for settling his hash, -but I don’t reckon him ornamental now, do you?” - -“I’m not strong enough, and I don’t like the job; and there he lies, for -me,” said I. - -“This here’s an unlucky ship, this HISPANIOLA, Jim,” he went on, -blinking. “There’s a power of men been killed in this HISPANIOLA--a -sight o’ poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to -Bristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here -O’Brien now--he’s dead, ain’t he? Well now, I’m no scholar, and you’re a -lad as can read and figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a -dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?” - -“You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know -that already,” I replied. “O’Brien there is in another world, and may be -watching us.” - -“Ah!” says he. “Well, that’s unfort’nate--appears as if killing parties -was a waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don’t reckon for much, by what -I’ve seen. I’ll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you’ve spoke -up free, and I’ll take it kind if you’d step down into that there cabin -and get me a--well, a--shiver my timbers! I can’t hit the name on ’t; -well, you get me a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy’s too strong -for my head.” - -Now, the coxswain’s hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the -notion of his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The -whole story was a pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much was -plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never -met mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a look -to the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O’Brien. All the -time he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most guilty, -embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he was bent on -some deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw where -my advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily -conceal my suspicions to the end. - -“Some wine?” I said. “Far better. Will you have white or red?” - -“Well, I reckon it’s about the blessed same to me, shipmate,” he -replied; “so it’s strong, and plenty of it, what’s the odds?” - -“All right,” I answered. “I’ll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I’ll have -to dig for it.” - -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, -slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the -forecastle ladder, and popped my head out of the fore companion. I -knew he would not expect to see me there, yet I took every precaution -possible, and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved too true. - -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his -leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved--for I could hear -him stifle a groan--yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed -himself across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the port -scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a -short dirk, discoloured to the hilt with blood. He looked upon it for -a moment, thrusting forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, -and then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled -back again into his old place against the bulwark. - -This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was -now armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, -it was plain that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do -afterwards--whether he would try to crawl right across the island from -North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or whether he would fire Long -Tom, trusting that his own comrades might come first to help him--was, -of course, more than I could say. - -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that -our interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of -the schooner. We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a -sheltered place, and so that, when the time came, she could be got off -again with as little labour and danger as might be; and until that was -done I considered that my life would certainly be spared. - -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been -idle with my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more -into my shoes, and laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, -with this for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with -his eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He -looked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like -a man who had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his -favourite toast of “Here’s luck!” Then he lay quiet for a little, and -then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - -“Cut me a junk o’ that,” says he, “for I haven’t no knife and hardly -strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I’ve missed -stays! Cut me a quid, as’ll likely be the last, lad, for I’m for my long -home, and no mistake.” - -“Well,” said I, “I’ll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought -myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man.” - -“Why?” said he. “Now, you tell me why.” - -“Why?” I cried. “You were asking me just now about the dead. You’ve -broken your trust; you’ve lived in sin and lies and blood; there’s a man -you killed lying at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God’s -mercy, Mr. Hands, that’s why.” - -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden -in his pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, -for his part, took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most -unusual solemnity. - -“For thirty years,” he said, “I’ve sailed the seas and seen good and -bad, better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, -knives going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come -o’ goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don’t bite; -them’s my views--amen, so be it. And now, you look here,” he added, -suddenly changing his tone, “we’ve had about enough of this foolery. The -tide’s made good enough by now. You just take my orders, Cap’n Hawkins, -and we’ll sail slap in and be done with it.” - -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was -delicate, the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow -and shoal, but lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicely -handled to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am -very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, for we went about and about -and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a certainty and a neatness that -were a pleasure to behold. - -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The -shores of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern -anchorage, but the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in -truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern -end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It -had been a great vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to -the injuries of the weather that it was hung about with great webs of -dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes had taken root and -now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us -that the anchorage was calm. - -“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship -in. Fine flat sand, never a cat’s paw, trees all around of it, and -flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship.” - -“And once beached,” I inquired, “how shall we get her off again?” - -“Why, so,” he replied: “you take a line ashore there on the other side -at low water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, -take a turn around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high -water, all hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet -as natur’. And now, boy, you stand by. We’re near the bit now, and she’s -too much way on her. Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard -a little--steady--steady!” - -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a -sudden, he cried, “Now, my hearty, luff!” And I put the helm hard up, -and the HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, -wooded shore. - -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the -watch I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then -I was still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I -had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and stood craning over -the starboard bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading wide before -the bows. I might have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a -sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head. Perhaps I -had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye; -perhaps it was an instinct like a cat’s; but, sure enough, when I looked -round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, with the dirk in -his right hand. - -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine -was the shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging -bully’s. At the same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt -sideways towards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which -sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck -Hands across the chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead. - -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me -trapped, with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast -I stopped, drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had -already turned and was once more coming directly after me, and drew the -trigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither flash nor sound; -the priming was useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my neglect. -Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons? Then -I should not have been as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled -hair tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign -with his haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor -indeed much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I -saw plainly: I must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily -hold me boxed into the bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed -me in the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of the -blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this side of eternity. -I placed my palms against the main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, -and waited, every nerve upon the stretch. - -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed -in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such -a game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, -but never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as -now. Still, as I say, it was a boy’s game, and I thought I could hold -my own at it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my -courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few darting -thoughts on what would be the end of the affair, and while I saw -certainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw no hope of any -ultimate escape. - -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA struck, -staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a -blow, canted over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle -of forty-five degrees and about a puncheon of water splashed into the -scupper holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. - -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost -together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still -spread out, tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my -head came against the coxswain’s foot with a crack that made my teeth -rattle. Blow and all, I was the first afoot again, for Hands had got -involved with the dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the -deck no place for running on; I had to find some new way of escape, -and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost touching me. Quick as -thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, -and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot -below me as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands -with his mouth open and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of -surprise and disappointment. - -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the -priming of my pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to -make assurance doubly sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other -and recharge it afresh from the beginning. - -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice -going against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled -himself heavily into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began -slowly and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and groans -to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had quietly finished my -arrangements before he was much more than a third of the way up. Then, -with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him. - -“One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I, “and I’ll blow your brains out! Dead -men don’t bite, you know,” I added with a chuckle. - -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was -trying to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my -new-found security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he -spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. -In order to speak he had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all -else he remained unmoved. - -“Jim,” says he, “I reckon we’re fouled, you and me, and we’ll have to -sign articles. I’d have had you but for that there lurch, but I don’t -have no luck, not I; and I reckon I’ll have to strike, which comes hard, -you see, for a master mariner to a ship’s younker like you, Jim.” - -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock -upon a wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his -shoulder. Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow -and then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the -mast. In the horrid pain and surprise of the moment--I scarce can say -it was by my own volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious -aim--both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They -did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain loosed his grasp -upon the shrouds and plunged head first into the water. - - - - -XXVII -“Pieces of Eight” - - -Owing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, -and from my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the -surface of the bay. Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence -nearer to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to -the surface in a lather of foam and blood and then sank again for good. -As the water settled, I could see him lying huddled together on the -clean, bright sand in the shadow of the vessel’s sides. A fish or two -whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the water, he -appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was dead -enough, for all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish -in the very place where he had designed my slaughter. - -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and -terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, -where it had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot -iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, -for these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the -horror I had upon my mind of falling from the cross-trees into that -still green water, beside the body of the coxswain. - -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to -cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted -down to a more natural time, and I was once more in possession of -myself. - -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too -hard or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly -enough, that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come -the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere -pinch of skin, and this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the -faster, to be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked to the -mast by my coat and shirt. - -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the -deck by the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have -again ventured, shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from -which Israel had so lately fallen. - -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal -and still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it -greatly gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the -ship was now, in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from -its last passenger--the dead man, O’Brien. - -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay -like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how -different from life’s colour or life’s comeliness! In that position -I could easily have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical -adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the dead, I took him -by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran and with one good heave, -tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap -came off and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the splash -subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side, both wavering -with the tremulous movement of the water. O’Brien, though still quite a -young man, was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the -knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and -fro over both. - -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was -within so few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines -upon the western shore began to reach right across the anchorage and -fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and -though it was well warded off by the hill with the two peaks upon the -east, the cordage had begun to sing a little softly to itself and the -idle sails to rattle to and fro. - -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and -brought tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of -course, when the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and -the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought -this made it still more dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I -half feared to meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The -peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon -the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, -that was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the -HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. - -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow--the last rays, -I remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright as -jewels on the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the -tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more -on her beam-ends. - -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and -holding the cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself -drop softly overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was -firm and covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, -leaving the HISPANIOLA on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide -upon the surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly -down and the breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence -empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers -and ready for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing -nearer my fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my -achievements. Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the -recapture of the HISPANIOLA was a clenching answer, and I hoped that -even Captain Smollett would confess I had not lost my time. - -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for -the block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly -of the rivers which drain into Captain Kidd’s anchorage ran from the -two-peaked hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction -that I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood was pretty -open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner -of that hill, and not long after waded to the mid-calf across the -watercourse. - -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; -and I walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk -had come nigh hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the -two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as -I judged, the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring -fire. And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show himself so -careless. For if I could see this radiance, might it not reach the eyes -of Silver himself where he camped upon the shore among the marshes? - -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself -even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the -Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few -and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among -bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer -of moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after -I saw something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and -knew the moon had risen. - -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my -journey, and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near -to the stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before -it, I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a -trifle warily. It would have been a poor end of my adventures to get -shot down by my own party in mistake. - -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here -and there in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and -right in front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among -the trees. It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little -darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - -At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western -end was already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house -itself, still lay in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks -of light. On the other side of the house an immense fire had burned -itself into clear embers and shed a steady, red reverberation, -contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of the moon. There was not -a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror -also. It had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, -by the captain’s orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to -fear that something had gone wrong while I was absent. - -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a -convenient place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. - -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, -without a sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my -heart was suddenly and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in -itself, and I have often complained of it at other times, but just -then it was like music to hear my friends snoring together so loud and -peaceful in their sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful “All’s -well,” never fell more reassuringly on my ear. - -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous -bad watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping -in on them, not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it -was, thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself -sharply for leaving them in that danger with so few to mount guard. - -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, -so that I could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there -was the steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a -flickering or pecking that I could in no way account for. - -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own -place (I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they -found me in the morning. - -My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper’s leg; and he turned -and groaned, but without awaking. - -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the -darkness: - -“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! -Pieces of eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the -clacking of a tiny mill. - -Silver’s green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard -pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any -human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the -parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the -voice of Silver cried, “Who goes?” - -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran -full into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me -tight. - -“Bring a torch, Dick,” said Silver when my capture was thus assured. - -And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a -lighted brand. - - - - -PART SIX--Captain Silver - - - - -XXVIII -In the Enemy’s Camp - - -The red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, -showed me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in -possession of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, -there were the pork and bread, as before, and what tenfold increased -my horror, not a sign of any prisoner. I could only judge that all had -perished, and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there to -perish with them. - -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left -alive. Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly -called out of the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen -upon his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round -his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently -dressed. I remembered the man who had been shot and had run back among -the woods in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John’s shoulder. He -himself, I thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used -to. He still wore the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his -mission, but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and -torn with the sharp briers of the wood. - -“So,” said he, “here’s Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, -eh? Well, come, I take that friendly.” - -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a -pipe. - -“Give me a loan of the link, Dick,” said he; and then, when he had a -good light, “That’ll do, lad,” he added; “stick the glim in the wood -heap; and you, gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn’t stand up -for Mr. Hawkins; HE’LL excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, -Jim”--stopping the tobacco--“here you were, and quite a pleasant -surprise for poor old John. I see you were smart when first I set my -eyes on you, but this here gets away from me clean, it do.” - -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me -with my back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the -face, pluckily enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black -despair in my heart. - -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran -on again. - -“Now, you see, Jim, so be as you ARE here,” says he, “I’ll give you a -piece of my mind. I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, -and the picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always -wanted you to jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my -cock, you’ve got to. Cap’n Smollett’s a fine seaman, as I’ll own up to -any day, but stiff on discipline. ‘Dooty is dooty,’ says he, and right -he is. Just you keep clear of the cap’n. The doctor himself is gone dead -again’ you--‘ungrateful scamp’ was what he said; and the short and the -long of the whole story is about here: you can’t go back to your own -lot, for they won’t have you; and without you start a third ship’s -company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you’ll have to jine with -Cap’n Silver.” - -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly -believed the truth of Silver’s statement, that the cabin party were -incensed at me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by -what I heard. - -“I don’t say nothing as to your being in our hands,” continued Silver, -“though there you are, and you may lay to it. I’m all for argyment; I -never seen good come out o’ threatening. If you like the service, well, -you’ll jine; and if you don’t, Jim, why, you’re free to answer no--free -and welcome, shipmate; and if fairer can be said by mortal seaman, -shiver my sides!” - -“Am I to answer, then?” I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all -this sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung -me, and my cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - -“Lad,” said Silver, “no one’s a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. -None of us won’t hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, -you see.” - -“Well,” says I, growing a bit bolder, “if I’m to choose, I declare I -have a right to know what’s what, and why you’re here, and where my -friends are.” - -“Wot’s wot?” repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. “Ah, he’d -be a lucky one as knowed that!” - -“You’ll perhaps batten down your hatches till you’re spoke to, my -friend,” cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in -his first gracious tones, he replied to me, “Yesterday morning, Mr. -Hawkins,” said he, “in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a -flag of truce. Says he, ‘Cap’n Silver, you’re sold out. Ship’s gone.’ -Well, maybe we’d been taking a glass, and a song to help it round. I -won’t say no. Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, and -by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack o’ fools look -fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the -fishiest. ‘Well,’ says the doctor, ‘let’s bargain.’ We bargained, him -and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you -was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole -blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they’ve tramped; -I don’t know where’s they are.” - -He drew again quietly at his pipe. - -“And lest you should take it into that head of yours,” he went on, “that -you was included in the treaty, here’s the last word that was said: ‘How -many are you,’ says I, ‘to leave?’ ‘Four,’ says he; ‘four, and one of us -wounded. As for that boy, I don’t know where he is, confound him,’ says -he, ‘nor I don’t much care. We’re about sick of him.’ These was his -words.” - -“Is that all?” I asked. - -“Well, it’s all that you’re to hear, my son,” returned Silver. - -“And now I am to choose?” - -“And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that,” said Silver. - -“Well,” said I, “I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have -to look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it’s little I care. I’ve -seen too many die since I fell in with you. But there’s a thing or two -I have to tell you,” I said, and by this time I was quite excited; “and -the first is this: here you are, in a bad way--ship lost, treasure lost, -men lost, your whole business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who -did it--it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we sighted land, -and I heard you, John, and you, Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now at -the bottom of the sea, and told every word you said before the hour was -out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable, and it was I -that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it was I who brought her -where you’ll never see her more, not one of you. The laugh’s on my side; -I’ve had the top of this business from the first; I no more fear you -than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing -I’ll say, and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when -you fellows are in court for piracy, I’ll save you all I can. It is for -you to choose. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and -keep a witness to save you from the gallows.” - -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not -a man of them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And -while they were still staring, I broke out again, “And now, Mr. Silver,” - I said, “I believe you’re the best man here, and if things go to the -worst, I’ll take it kind of you to let the doctor know the way I took -it.” - -“I’ll bear it in mind,” said Silver with an accent so curious that I -could not, for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my -request or had been favourably affected by my courage. - -“I’ll put one to that,” cried the old mahogany-faced seaman--Morgan -by name--whom I had seen in Long John’s public-house upon the quays of -Bristol. “It was him that knowed Black Dog.” - -“Well, and see here,” added the sea-cook. “I’ll put another again to -that, by thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from -Billy Bones. First and last, we’ve split upon Jim Hawkins!” - -“Then here goes!” said Morgan with an oath. - -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. - -“Avast, there!” cried Silver. “Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you -thought you was cap’n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I’ll teach you -better! Cross me, and you’ll go where many a good man’s gone before you, -first and last, these thirty year back--some to the yard-arm, shiver -my timbers, and some by the board, and all to feed the fishes. There’s -never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a’terwards, -Tom Morgan, you may lay to that.” - -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - -“Tom’s right,” said one. - -“I stood hazing long enough from one,” added another. “I’ll be hanged if -I’ll be hazed by you, John Silver.” - -“Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with ME?” roared Silver, -bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still -glowing in his right hand. “Put a name on what you’re at; you ain’t -dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many -years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the -latter end of it? You know the way; you’re all gentlemen o’ fortune, by -your account. Well, I’m ready. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I’ll -see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe’s empty.” - -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - -“That’s your sort, is it?” he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. -“Well, you’re a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you -ain’t. P’r’aps you can understand King George’s English. I’m cap’n here -by ’lection. I’m cap’n here because I’m the best man by a long sea-mile. -You won’t fight, as gentlemen o’ fortune should; then, by thunder, -you’ll obey, and you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen -a better boy than that. He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in -this here house, and what I say is this: let me see him that’ll lay a -hand on him--that’s what I say, and you may lay to it.” - -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, -my heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope -now shining in my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms -crossed, his pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had -been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and he kept the -tail of it on his unruly followers. They, on their part, drew gradually -together towards the far end of the block house, and the low hiss of -their whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a stream. One -after another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch would -fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it -was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. - -“You seem to have a lot to say,” remarked Silver, spitting far into the -air. “Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to.” - -“Ax your pardon, sir,” returned one of the men; “you’re pretty free with -some of the rules; maybe you’ll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This -crew’s dissatisfied; this crew don’t vally bullying a marlin-spike; this -crew has its rights like other crews, I’ll make so free as that; and by -your own rules, I take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, -acknowledging you for to be capting at this present; but I claim my -right, and steps outside for a council.” - -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, -yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and -disappeared out of the house. One after another the rest followed his -example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding some apology. -“According to rules,” said one. “Forecastle council,” said Morgan. And -so with one remark or another all marched out and left Silver and me -alone with the torch. - -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - -“Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins,” he said in a steady whisper that was -no more than audible, “you’re within half a plank of death, and what’s -a long sight worse, of torture. They’re going to throw me off. But, you -mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn’t mean to; no, not -till you spoke up. I was about desperate to lose that much blunt, and -be hanged into the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says to -myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins’ll stand by you. You’re -his last card, and by the living thunder, John, he’s yours! Back to -back, says I. You save your witness, and he’ll save your neck!” - -I began dimly to understand. - -“You mean all’s lost?” I asked. - -“Aye, by gum, I do!” he answered. “Ship gone, neck gone--that’s the -size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no -schooner--well, I’m tough, but I gave out. As for that lot and their -council, mark me, they’re outright fools and cowards. I’ll save your -life--if so be as I can--from them. But, see here, Jim--tit for tat--you -save Long John from swinging.” - -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking--he, the -old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - -“What I can do, that I’ll do,” I said. - -“It’s a bargain!” cried Long John. “You speak up plucky, and by thunder, -I’ve a chance!” - -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and -took a fresh light to his pipe. - -“Understand me, Jim,” he said, returning. “I’ve a head on my shoulders, -I have. I’m on squire’s side now. I know you’ve got that ship safe -somewheres. How you done it, I don’t know, but safe it is. I guess Hands -and O’Brien turned soft. I never much believed in neither of THEM. Now -you mark me. I ask no questions, nor I won’t let others. I know when -a game’s up, I do; and I know a lad that’s staunch. Ah, you that’s -young--you and me might have done a power of good together!” - -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - -“Will you taste, messmate?” he asked; and when I had refused: “Well, -I’ll take a dram myself, Jim,” said he. “I need a caulker, for there’s -trouble on hand. And talking o’ trouble, why did that doctor give me the -chart, Jim?” - -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of -further questions. - -“Ah, well, he did, though,” said he. “And there’s something under that, -no doubt--something, surely, under that, Jim--bad or good.” - -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head -like a man who looks forward to the worst. - - - - -XXIX -The Black Spot Again - - -The council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them -re-entered the house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which -had in my eyes an ironical air, begged for a moment’s loan of the torch. -Silver briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, leaving us -together in the dark. - -“There’s a breeze coming, Jim,” said Silver, who had by this time -adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone. - -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the -great fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and -duskily that I understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About -half-way down the slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; -one held the light, another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw -the blade of an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in -the moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat stooping, as though -watching the manoeuvres of this last. I could just make out that he -had a book as well as a knife in his hand, and was still wondering how -anything so incongruous had come in their possession when the kneeling -figure rose once more to his feet and the whole party began to move -together towards the house. - -“Here they come,” said I; and I returned to my former position, for it -seemed beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. - -“Well, let ’em come, lad--let ’em come,” said Silver cheerily. “I’ve -still a shot in my locker.” - -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just -inside, pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances -it would have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set -down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him. - -“Step up, lad,” cried Silver. “I won’t eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I -know the rules, I do; I won’t hurt a depytation.” - -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having -passed something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly -back again to his companions. - -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - -“The black spot! I thought so,” he observed. “Where might you have got -the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain’t lucky! You’ve gone and -cut this out of a Bible. What fool’s cut a Bible?” - -“Ah, there!” said Morgan. “There! Wot did I say? No good’ll come o’ -that, I said.” - -“Well, you’ve about fixed it now, among you,” continued Silver. “You’ll -all swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?” - -“It was Dick,” said one. - -“Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers,” said Silver. “He’s seen -his slice of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that.” - -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - -“Belay that talk, John Silver,” he said. “This crew has tipped you the -black spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as -in dooty bound, and see what’s wrote there. Then you can talk.” - -“Thanky, George,” replied the sea-cook. “You always was brisk for -business, and has the rules by heart, George, as I’m pleased to see. -Well, what is it, anyway? Ah! ‘Deposed’--that’s it, is it? Very pretty -wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o’ write, George? Why, -you was gettin’ quite a leadin’ man in this here crew. You’ll be cap’n -next, I shouldn’t wonder. Just oblige me with that torch again, will -you? This pipe don’t draw.” - -“Come, now,” said George, “you don’t fool this crew no more. You’re a -funny man, by your account; but you’re over now, and you’ll maybe step -down off that barrel and help vote.” - -“I thought you said you knowed the rules,” returned Silver -contemptuously. “Leastways, if you don’t, I do; and I wait here--and I’m -still your cap’n, mind--till you outs with your grievances and I reply; -in the meantime, your black spot ain’t worth a biscuit. After that, -we’ll see.” - -“Oh,” replied George, “you don’t be under no kind of apprehension; WE’RE -all square, we are. First, you’ve made a hash of this cruise--you’ll be -a bold man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o’ this here -trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it’s pretty plain -they wanted it. Third, you wouldn’t let us go at them upon the march. -Oh, we see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, that’s -what’s wrong with you. And then, fourth, there’s this here boy.” - -“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly. - -“Enough, too,” retorted George. “We’ll all swing and sun-dry for your -bungling.” - -“Well now, look here, I’ll answer these four p’ints; one after another -I’ll answer ’em. I made a hash o’ this cruise, did I? Well now, you all -know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we’d -’a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as ever was, every man of us -alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold -of her, by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the -lawful cap’n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed and began -this dance? Ah, it’s a fine dance--I’m with you there--and looks mighty -like a hornpipe in a rope’s end at Execution Dock by London town, it -does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and you, George -Merry! And you’re the last above board of that same meddling crew; -and you have the Davy Jones’s insolence to up and stand for cap’n over -me--you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the -stiffest yarn to nothing.” - -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late -comrades that these words had not been said in vain. - -“That’s for number one,” cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his -brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. -“Why, I give you my word, I’m sick to speak to you. You’ve neither sense -nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you -come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o’ fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade.” - -“Go on, John,” said Morgan. “Speak up to the others.” - -“Ah, the others!” returned John. “They’re a nice lot, ain’t they? You -say this cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad -it’s bungled, you would see! We’re that near the gibbet that my neck’s -stiff with thinking on it. You’ve seen ’em, maybe, hanged in chains, -birds about ’em, seamen p’inting ’em out as they go down with the tide. -‘Who’s that?’ says one. ‘That! Why, that’s John Silver. I knowed him -well,’ says another. And you can hear the chains a-jangle as you go -about and reach for the other buoy. Now, that’s about where we are, -every mother’s son of us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and -other ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about number four, -and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, isn’t he a hostage? Are we a-going -to waste a hostage? No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I -shouldn’t wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, -well, there’s a deal to say to number three. Maybe you don’t count it -nothing to have a real college doctor to see you every day--you, John, -with your head broke--or you, George Merry, that had the ague shakes -upon you not six hours agone, and has your eyes the colour of lemon peel -to this same moment on the clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn’t know -there was a consort coming either? But there is, and not so long till -then; and we’ll see who’ll be glad to have a hostage when it comes to -that. And as for number two, and why I made a bargain--well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it--on your knees you came, you was -that downhearted--and you’d have starved too if I hadn’t--but that’s a -trifle! You look there--that’s why!” - -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly -recognized--none other than the chart on yellow paper, with the three -red crosses, that I had found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the -captain’s chest. Why the doctor had given it to him was more than I -could fancy. - -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was -incredible to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats -upon a mouse. It went from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; -and by the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with which they -accompanied their examination, you would have thought, not only they -were fingering the very gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in -safety. - -“Yes,” said one, “that’s Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, -with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever.” - -“Mighty pretty,” said George. “But how are we to get away with it, and -us no ship.” - -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against -the wall: “Now I give you warning, George,” he cried. “One more word -of your sauce, and I’ll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I -know? You had ought to tell me that--you and the rest, that lost me my -schooner, with your interference, burn you! But not you, you can’t; you -hain’t got the invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and -shall, George Merry, you may lay to that.” - -“That’s fair enow,” said the old man Morgan. - -“Fair! I reckon so,” said the sea-cook. “You lost the ship; I found the -treasure. Who’s the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! -Elect whom you please to be your cap’n now; I’m done with it.” - -“Silver!” they cried. “Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap’n!” - -“So that’s the toon, is it?” cried the cook. “George, I reckon you’ll -have to wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I’m not a -revengeful man. But that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this -black spot? ’Tain’t much good now, is it? Dick’s crossed his luck and -spoiled his Bible, and that’s about all.” - -“It’ll do to kiss the book on still, won’t it?” growled Dick, who was -evidently uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. - -“A Bible with a bit cut out!” returned Silver derisively. “Not it. It -don’t bind no more’n a ballad-book.” - -“Don’t it, though?” cried Dick with a sort of joy. “Well, I reckon -that’s worth having too.” - -“Here, Jim--here’s a cur’osity for you,” said Silver, and he tossed me -the paper. - -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, -for it had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of -Revelation--these words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon -my mind: “Without are dogs and murderers.” The printed side had been -blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my -fingers; on the blank side had been written with the same material the -one word “Depposed.” I have that curiosity beside me at this moment, but -not a trace of writing now remains beyond a single scratch, such as a -man might make with his thumb-nail. - -That was the end of the night’s business. Soon after, with a drink all -round, we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver’s vengeance was -to put George Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he -should prove unfaithful. - -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter -enough for thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own -most perilous position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw -Silver now engaged upon--keeping the mutineers together with one hand -and grasping with the other after every means, possible and impossible, -to make his peace and save his miserable life. He himself slept -peacefully and snored aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he -was, to think on the dark perils that environed and the shameful gibbet -that awaited him. - - - - -XXX -On Parole - - -I was wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the -sentinel shake himself together from where he had fallen against the -door-post--by a clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the -wood: - -“Block house, ahoy!” it cried. “Here’s the doctor.” - -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my -gladness was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my -insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought -me--among what companions and surrounded by what dangers--I felt ashamed -to look him in the face. - -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I -ran to a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once -before, up to the mid-leg in creeping vapour. - -“You, doctor! Top o’ the morning to you, sir!” cried Silver, broad awake -and beaming with good nature in a moment. “Bright and early, to be sure; -and it’s the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. -George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship’s -side. All a-doin’ well, your patients was--all well and merry.” - -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his -elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house--quite the old John in -voice, manner, and expression. - -“We’ve quite a surprise for you too, sir,” he continued. “We’ve a little -stranger here--he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit -and taut as a fiddle; slep’ like a supercargo, he did, right alongside -of John--stem to stem we was, all night.” - -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the -cook, and I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, “Not -Jim?” - -“The very same Jim as ever was,” says Silver. - -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some -seconds before he seemed able to move on. - -“Well, well,” he said at last, “duty first and pleasure afterwards, as -you might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of -yours.” - -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim -nod to me proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no -apprehension, though he must have known that his life, among these -treacherous demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his -patients as if he were paying an ordinary professional visit in a quiet -English family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on the men, for they -behaved to him as if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship’s -doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. - -“You’re doing well, my friend,” he said to the fellow with the bandaged -head, “and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head -must be as hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You’re a pretty -colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take -that medicine? Did he take that medicine, men?” - -“Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough,” returned Morgan. - -“Because, you see, since I am mutineers’ doctor, or prison doctor as I -prefer to call it,” says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, “I make -it a point of honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) -and the gallows.” - -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in -silence. - -“Dick don’t feel well, sir,” said one. - -“Don’t he?” replied the doctor. “Well, step up here, Dick, and let me -see your tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man’s tongue -is fit to frighten the French. Another fever.” - -“Ah, there,” said Morgan, “that comed of sp’iling Bibles.” - -“That comes--as you call it--of being arrant asses,” retorted the -doctor, “and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, -and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most -probable--though of course it’s only an opinion--that you’ll all have -the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out of your systems. Camp -in a bog, would you? Silver, I’m surprised at you. You’re less of a fool -than many, take you all round; but you don’t appear to me to have the -rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. - -“Well,” he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken -his prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity -schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates--“well, that’s -done for today. And now I should wish to have a talk with that boy, -please.” - -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some -bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of the doctor’s proposal he -swung round with a deep flush and cried “No!” and swore. - -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - -“Si-lence!” he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. -“Doctor,” he went on in his usual tones, “I was a-thinking of that, -knowing as how you had a fancy for the boy. We’re all humbly grateful -for your kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes the drugs -down like that much grog. And I take it I’ve found a way as’ll suit all. -Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour as a young gentleman--for -a young gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of honour not -to slip your cable?” - -I readily gave the pledge required. - -“Then, doctor,” said Silver, “you just step outside o’ that stockade, -and once you’re there I’ll bring the boy down on the inside, and I -reckon you can yarn through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our -dooties to the squire and Cap’n Smollett.” - -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver’s black looks had -restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver -was roundly accused of playing double--of trying to make a separate -peace for himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and -victims, and, in one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was -doing. It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could not -imagine how he was to turn their anger. But he was twice the man -the rest were, and his last night’s victory had given him a huge -preponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools and dolts -you can imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the doctor, -fluttered the chart in their faces, asked them if they could afford to -break the treaty the very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting. - -“No, by thunder!” he cried. “It’s us must break the treaty when the time -comes; and till then I’ll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots -with brandy.” - -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, -with his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced -by his volubility rather than convinced. - -“Slow, lad, slow,” he said. “They might round upon us in a twinkle of an -eye if we was seen to hurry.” - -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the -doctor awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we -were within easy speaking distance Silver stopped. - -“You’ll make a note of this here also, doctor,” says he, “and the boy’ll -tell you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you -may lay to that. Doctor, when a man’s steering as near the wind as -me--playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like--you -wouldn’t think it too much, mayhap, to give him one good word? You’ll -please bear in mind it’s not my life only now--it’s that boy’s into the -bargain; and you’ll speak me fair, doctor, and give me a bit o’ hope to -go on, for the sake of mercy.” - -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his -friends and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his -voice trembled; never was a soul more dead in earnest. - -“Why, John, you’re not afraid?” asked Dr. Livesey. - -“Doctor, I’m no coward; no, not I--not SO much!” and he snapped his -fingers. “If I was I wouldn’t say it. But I’ll own up fairly, I’ve the -shakes upon me for the gallows. You’re a good man and a true; I never -seen a better man! And you’ll not forget what I done good, not any more -than you’ll forget the bad, I know. And I step aside--see here--and -leave you and Jim alone. And you’ll put that down for me too, for it’s a -long stretch, is that!” - -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and -there sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round -now and again upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me -and the doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and -fro in the sand between the fire--which they were busy rekindling--and -the house, from which they brought forth pork and bread to make the -breakfast. - -“So, Jim,” said the doctor sadly, “here you are. As you have brewed, so -shall you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to -blame you, but this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain -Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and -couldn’t help it, by George, it was downright cowardly!” - -I will own that I here began to weep. “Doctor,” I said, “you might spare -me. I have blamed myself enough; my life’s forfeit anyway, and I should -have been dead by now if Silver hadn’t stood for me; and doctor, -believe this, I can die--and I dare say I deserve it--but what I fear is -torture. If they come to torture me--” - -“Jim,” the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, “Jim, I -can’t have this. Whip over, and we’ll run for it.” - -“Doctor,” said I, “I passed my word.” - -“I know, I know,” he cried. “We can’t help that, Jim, now. I’ll take it -on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, -I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it -like antelopes.” - -“No,” I replied; “you know right well you wouldn’t do the thing -yourself--neither you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver -trusted me; I passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not -let me finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of -where the ship is, for I got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, -and she lies in North Inlet, on the southern beach, and just below high -water. At half tide she must be high and dry.” - -“The ship!” exclaimed the doctor. - -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in -silence. - -“There is a kind of fate in this,” he observed when I had done. “Every -step, it’s you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance -that we are going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my -boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn--the best deed that -ever you did, or will do, though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and -talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!” he -cried. “Silver! I’ll give you a piece of advice,” he continued as -the cook drew near again; “don’t you be in any great hurry after that -treasure.” - -“Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain’t,” said Silver. “I can -only, asking your pardon, save my life and the boy’s by seeking for that -treasure; and you may lay to that.” - -“Well, Silver,” replied the doctor, “if that is so, I’ll go one step -further: look out for squalls when you find it.” - -“Sir,” said Silver, “as between man and man, that’s too much and too -little. What you’re after, why you left the block house, why you given -me that there chart, I don’t know, now, do I? And yet I done your -bidding with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, this here’s -too much. If you won’t tell me what you mean plain out, just say so and -I’ll leave the helm.” - -“No,” said the doctor musingly; “I’ve no right to say more; it’s not my -secret, you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I’d tell it you. But -I’ll go as far with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I’ll have -my wig sorted by the captain or I’m mistaken! And first, I’ll give you a -bit of hope; Silver, if we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I’ll do -my best to save you, short of perjury.” - -Silver’s face was radiant. “You couldn’t say more, I’m sure, sir, not if -you was my mother,” he cried. - -“Well, that’s my first concession,” added the doctor. “My second is a -piece of advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, -halloo. I’m off to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I -speak at random. Good-bye, Jim.” - -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to -Silver, and set off at a brisk pace into the wood. - - - - -XXXI -The Treasure-hunt--Flint’s Pointer - - -“Jim,” said Silver when we were alone, “if I saved your life, you saved -mine; and I’ll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for -it--with the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as -hearing. Jim, that’s one to you. This is the first glint of hope I had -since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, Jim, we’re to go in -for this here treasure-hunting, with sealed orders too, and I don’t like -it; and you and me must stick close, back to back like, and we’ll save -our necks in spite o’ fate and fortune.” - -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and -we were soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried -junk. They had lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so -hot that they could only approach it from the windward, and even there -not without precaution. In the same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, -I suppose, three times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an -empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed and roared -again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life saw men so careless of -the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their way -of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, though they -were bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their -entire unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. - -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not -a word of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, -for I thought he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - -“Aye, mates,” said he, “it’s lucky you have Barbecue to think for you -with this here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have -the ship. Where they have it, I don’t know yet; but once we hit the -treasure, we’ll have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us -that has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand.” - -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he -restored their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired -his own at the same time. - -“As for hostage,” he continued, “that’s his last talk, I guess, with -them he loves so dear. I’ve got my piece o’ news, and thanky to him -for that; but it’s over and done. I’ll take him in a line when we go -treasure-hunting, for we’ll keep him like so much gold, in case of -accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we got the ship and -treasure both and off to sea like jolly companions, why then we’ll talk -Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we’ll give him his share, to be sure, for -all his kindness.” - -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I -was horribly cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove -feasible, Silver, already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt -it. He had still a foot in either camp, and there was no doubt he -would prefer wealth and freedom with the pirates to a bare escape from -hanging, which was the best he had to hope on our side. - -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith -with Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment -that would be when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty -and he and I should have to fight for dear life--he a cripple and I a -boy--against five strong and active seamen! - -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the -behaviour of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, -their inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, -the doctor’s last warning to Silver, “Look out for squalls when you -find it,” and you will readily believe how little taste I found in my -breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors on -the quest for treasure. - -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us--all in soiled -sailor clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns -slung about him--one before and one behind--besides the great cutlass -at his waist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed coat. -To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his -shoulder and gabbling odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a -line about my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook, who -held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hand, now between his -powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a dancing bear. - -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and -shovels--for that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore -from the HISPANIOLA--others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the -midday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I -could see the truth of Silver’s words the night before. Had he not -struck a bargain with the doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the -ship, must have been driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds -of their hunting. Water would have been little to their taste; a sailor -is not usually a good shot; and besides all that, when they were so -short of eatables, it was not likely they would be very flush of powder. - -Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellow with the broken -head, who should certainly have kept in shadow--and straggled, one after -another, to the beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore -trace of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, and -both in their muddy and unbailed condition. Both were to be carried -along with us for the sake of safety; and so, with our numbers divided -between them, we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross -was, of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note -on the back, as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the -reader may remember, thus: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - Ten feet. - -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the -anchorage was bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, -adjoining on the north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass -and rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy eminence -called the Mizzenmast Hill. The top of the plateau was dotted thickly -with pine-trees of varying height. Every here and there, one of a -different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, -and which of these was the particular “tall tree” of Captain Flint could -only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. - -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had -picked a favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone -shrugging his shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. - -We pulled easily, by Silver’s directions, not to weary the hands -prematurely, and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of -the second river--that which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. -Thence, bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope towards the -plateau. - -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation -greatly delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began -to steepen and become stony under foot, and the wood to change its -character and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a most -pleasant portion of the island that we were now approaching. A -heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs had almost taken the place -of grass. Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with -the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the first mingled -their spice with the aroma of the others. The air, besides, was fresh -and stirring, and this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. - -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to -and fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and -I followed--I tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among -the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, -or he must have missed his footing and fallen backward down the hill. - -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the -brow of the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry -aloud, as if in terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others -began to run in his direction. - -“He can’t ’a found the treasure,” said old Morgan, hurrying past us from -the right, “for that’s clean a-top.” - -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something -very different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green -creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human -skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a -chill struck for a moment to every heart. - -“He was a seaman,” said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had -gone up close and was examining the rags of clothing. “Leastways, this -is good sea-cloth.” - -“Aye, aye,” said Silver; “like enough; you wouldn’t look to find a -bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? -’Tain’t in natur’.” - -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body -was in a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of -the birds that had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had -gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly straight--his -feet pointing in one direction, his hands, raised above his head like a -diver’s, pointing directly in the opposite. - -“I’ve taken a notion into my old numbskull,” observed Silver. “Here’s -the compass; there’s the tip-top p’int o’ Skeleton Island, stickin’ -out like a tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them -bones.” - -It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, -and the compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. - -“I thought so,” cried the cook; “this here is a p’inter. Right up there -is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! -If it don’t make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of HIS -jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed ’em, -every man; and this one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver -my timbers! They’re long bones, and the hair’s been yellow. Aye, that -would be Allardyce. You mind Allardyce, Tom Morgan?” - -“Aye, aye,” returned Morgan; “I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and -took my knife ashore with him.” - -“Speaking of knives,” said another, “why don’t we find his’n lying -round? Flint warn’t the man to pick a seaman’s pocket; and the birds, I -guess, would leave it be.” - -“By the powers, and that’s true!” cried Silver. - -“There ain’t a thing left here,” said Merry, still feeling round among -the bones; “not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don’t look nat’ral to -me.” - -“No, by gum, it don’t,” agreed Silver; “not nat’ral, nor not nice, says -you. Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot -spot for you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what -they are now.” - -“I saw him dead with these here deadlights,” said Morgan. “Billy took me -in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes.” - -“Dead--aye, sure enough he’s dead and gone below,” said the fellow with -the bandage; “but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint’s. Dear -heart, but he died bad, did Flint!” - -“Aye, that he did,” observed another; “now he raged, and now he hollered -for the rum, and now he sang. ‘Fifteen Men’ were his only song, mates; -and I tell you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was -main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as -clear as clear--and the death-haul on the man already.” - -“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t -walk, that I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to -that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.” - -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring -daylight, the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the -wood, but kept side by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of -the dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - - - - -XXXII -The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees - - -Partly from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver -and the sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained -the brow of the ascent. - -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which -we had paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, -over the tree-tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; -behind, we not only looked down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, -but saw--clear across the spit and the eastern lowlands--a great field -of open sea upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spy-glass, here dotted -with single pines, there black with precipices. There was no sound but -that of the distant breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of -countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon the sea; the -very largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. - -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - -“There are three ‘tall trees,’” said he, “about in the right line from -Skeleton Island. ‘Spy-glass shoulder,’ I take it, means that lower p’int -there. It’s child’s play to find the stuff now. I’ve half a mind to dine -first.” - -“I don’t feel sharp,” growled Morgan. “Thinkin’ o’ Flint--I think it -were--as done me.” - -“Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he’s dead,” said Silver. - -“He were an ugly devil,” cried a third pirate with a shudder; “that blue -in the face too!” - -“That was how the rum took him,” added Merry. “Blue! Well, I reckon he -was blue. That’s a true word.” - -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of -thought, they had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to -whispering by now, so that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted -the silence of the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees -in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice struck up the well-known -air and words: - - “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” - -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The -colour went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their -feet, some clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - -“It’s Flint, by ----!” cried Merry. - -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began--broken off, you would have -said, in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon -the singer’s mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the -green tree-tops, I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the -effect on my companions was the stranger. - -“Come,” said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; -“this won’t do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can’t -name the voice, but it’s someone skylarking--someone that’s flesh and -blood, and you may lay to that.” - -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his -face along with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this -encouragement and were coming a little to themselves, when the same -voice broke out again--not this time singing, but in a faint distant -hail that echoed yet fainter among the clefts of the Spy-glass. - -“Darby M’Graw,” it wailed--for that is the word that best describes the -sound--“Darby M’Graw! Darby M’Graw!” again and again and again; and then -rising a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: “Fetch aft -the rum, Darby!” - -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from -their heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in -silence, dreadfully, before them. - -“That fixes it!” gasped one. “Let’s go.” - -“They was his last words,” moaned Morgan, “his last words above board.” - -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought -up, had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. - -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, -but he had not yet surrendered. - -“Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby,” he muttered; “not one -but us that’s here.” And then, making a great effort: “Shipmates,” - he cried, “I’m here to get that stuff, and I’ll not be beat by man or -devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I’ll -face him dead. There’s seven hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a -mile from here. When did ever a gentleman o’ fortune show his stern to -that much dollars for a boozy old seaman with a blue mug--and him dead -too?” - -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, -indeed, of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. - -“Belay there, John!” said Merry. “Don’t you cross a sperrit.” - -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away -severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them -close by John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty -well fought his weakness down. - -“Sperrit? Well, maybe,” he said. “But there’s one thing not clear to me. -There was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well -then, what’s he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That -ain’t in natur’, surely?” - -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will -affect the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly -relieved. - -“Well, that’s so,” he said. “You’ve a head upon your shoulders, John, -and no mistake. ’Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I -do believe. And come to think on it, it was like Flint’s voice, I -grant you, but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker -somebody else’s voice now--it was liker--” - -“By the powers, Ben Gunn!” roared Silver. - -“Aye, and so it were,” cried Morgan, springing on his knees. “Ben Gunn -it were!” - -“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here -in the body any more’n Flint.” - -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - -“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds -him.” - -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural -colour had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, -with intervals of listening; and not long after, hearing no further -sound, they shouldered the tools and set forth again, Merry walking -first with Silver’s compass to keep them on the right line with Skeleton -Island. He had said the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with -fearful glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on -his precautions. - -“I told you,” said he--“I told you you had sp’iled your Bible. If it -ain’t no good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for -it? Not that!” and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his -crutch. - -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that -the lad was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock -of his alarm, the fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing -swiftly higher. - -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little -downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The -pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of -nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, -as we did, pretty near north-west across the island, we drew, on the -one hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the -other, looked ever wider over that western bay where I had once tossed -and trembled in the coracle. - -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the -wrong one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet -into the air above a clump of underwood--a giant of a vegetable, with -a red column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a -company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous far to sea both on -the east and west and might have been entered as a sailing mark upon the -chart. - -But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the -knowledge that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere -buried below its spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they -drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in -their heads; their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul -was bound up in that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and -pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. - -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and -quivered; he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and -shiny countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to -him and from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. -Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read -them like print. In the immediate nearness of the gold, all else had -been forgotten: his promise and the doctor’s warning were both things -of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize upon the -treasure, find and board the HISPANIOLA under cover of night, cut -every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at first -intended, laden with crimes and riches. - -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with -the rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it -was then that Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me -his murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought -up the rear, was babbling to himself both prayers and curses as his -fever kept rising. This also added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, -I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted -on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face--he who -died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink--had there, with his -own hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so -peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the -thought I could believe I heard it ringing still. - -We were now at the margin of the thicket. - -“Huzza, mates, all together!” shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into -a run. - -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry -arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch -like one possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead -halt. - -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had -fallen in and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft -of a pick broken in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn -around. On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name -WALRUS--the name of Flint’s ship. - -All was clear to probation. The CACHE had been found and rifled; the -seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! - - - - -XXXIII -The Fall of a Chieftain - - -There never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men -was as though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost -instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a -racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; -and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the -others had had time to realize the disappointment. - -“Jim,” he whispered, “take that, and stand by for trouble.” - -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps -had put the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at -me and nodded, as much as to say, “Here is a narrow corner,” as, indeed, -I thought it was. His looks were not quite friendly, and I was so -revolted at these constant changes that I could not forbear whispering, -“So you’ve changed sides again.” - -There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths -and cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig -with their fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan -found a piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It -was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand among them for a -quarter of a minute. - -“Two guineas!” roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. “That’s your seven -hundred thousand pounds, is it? You’re the man for bargains, ain’t you? -You’re him that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!” - -“Dig away, boys,” said Silver with the coolest insolence; “you’ll find -some pig-nuts and I shouldn’t wonder.” - -“Pig-nuts!” repeated Merry, in a scream. “Mates, do you hear that? I -tell you now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him -and you’ll see it wrote there.” - -“Ah, Merry,” remarked Silver, “standing for cap’n again? You’re a -pushing lad, to be sure.” - -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry’s favour. They began to -scramble out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One -thing I observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the -opposite side from Silver. - -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit -between us, and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. -Silver never moved; he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and -looked as cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - -“Mates,” says he, “there’s two of them alone there; one’s the old -cripple that brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the -other’s that cub that I mean to have the heart of. Now, mates--” - -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a -charge. But just then--crack! crack! crack!--three musket-shots flashed -out of the thicket. Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the -man with the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his length -upon his side, where he lay dead, but still twitching; and the other -three turned and ran for it with all their might. - -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into -the struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the -last agony, “George,” said he, “I reckon I settled you.” - -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with -smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - -“Forward!” cried the doctor. “Double quick, my lads. We must head ’em -off the boats.” - -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to -the chest. - -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man -went through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were -fit to burst, was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the -doctor. As it was, he was already thirty yards behind us and on the -verge of strangling when we reached the brow of the slope. - -“Doctor,” he hailed, “see there! No hurry!” - -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we -could see the three survivors still running in the same direction as -they had started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between -them and the boats; and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, -mopping his face, came slowly up with us. - -“Thank ye kindly, doctor,” says he. “You came in in about the nick, I -guess, for me and Hawkins. And so it’s you, Ben Gunn!” he added. “Well, -you’re a nice one, to be sure.” - -“I’m Ben Gunn, I am,” replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his -embarrassment. “And,” he added, after a long pause, “how do, Mr. Silver? -Pretty well, I thank ye, says you.” - -“Ben, Ben,” murmured Silver, “to think as you’ve done me!” - -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their -flight, by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to -where the boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. -It was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the -half-idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end. - -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the -skeleton--it was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he -had dug it up (it was the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the -excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many weary journeys, from -the foot of the tall pine to a cave he had on the two-pointed hill at -the north-east angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in -safety since two months before the arrival of the HISPANIOLA. - -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the -attack, and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone -to Silver, given him the chart, which was now useless--given him the -stores, for Ben Gunn’s cave was well supplied with goats’ meat salted -by himself--given anything and everything to get a chance of moving in -safety from the stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of -malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - -“As for you, Jim,” he said, “it went against my heart, but I did what I -thought best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not -one of these, whose fault was it?” - -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid -disappointment he had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way -to the cave, and leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray -and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across the island to be -at hand beside the pine. Soon, however, he saw that our party had the -start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in -front to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to him to work upon the -superstitions of his former shipmates, and he was so far successful that -Gray and the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before the -arrival of the treasure-hunters. - -“Ah,” said Silver, “it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. -You would have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a -thought, doctor.” - -“Not a thought,” replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, -demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out -to go round by sea for North Inlet. - -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost -killed already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and -we were soon skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out -of the straits and doubled the south-east corner of the island, round -which, four days ago, we had towed the HISPANIOLA. - -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben -Gunn’s cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the -squire, and we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which -the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should -we meet but the HISPANIOLA, cruising by herself? The last flood had -lifted her, and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as -in the southern anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found -her stranded beyond help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the -wreck of the main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a -fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, -the nearest point for Ben Gunn’s treasure-house; and then Gray, -single-handed, returned with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to -pass the night on guard. - -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the -top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing -of my escapade either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver’s polite -salute he somewhat flushed. - -“John Silver,” he said, “you’re a prodigious villain and imposter--a -monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, -then, I will not. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like -mill-stones.” - -“Thank you kindly, sir,” replied Long John, again saluting. - -“I dare you to thank me!” cried the squire. “It is a gross dereliction -of my duty. Stand back.” - -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with -a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The -floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far -corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps -of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint’s -treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the -lives of seventeen men from the HISPANIOLA. How many it had cost in the -amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, -what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what -shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there -were still three upon that island--Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben -Gunn--who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in -vain to share in the reward. - -“Come in, Jim,” said the captain. “You’re a good boy in your line, Jim, -but I don’t think you and me’ll go to sea again. You’re too much of the -born favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, -man?” - -“Come back to my dooty, sir,” returned Silver. - -“Ah!” said the captain, and that was all he said. - -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and -what a meal it was, with Ben Gunn’s salted goat and some delicacies and -a bottle of old wine from the HISPANIOLA. Never, I am sure, were people -gayer or happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the -firelight, but eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything -was wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter--the same bland, -polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - - - - -XXXIV -And Last - - -The next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this -great mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three -miles by boat to the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small -a number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did -not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was -sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, -besides, they had had more than enough of fighting. - -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and -went with the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure -on the beach. Two of the bars, slung in a rope’s end, made a good load -for a grown man--one that he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, -as I was not much use at carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave -packing the minted money into bread-bags. - -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones’s hoard for the diversity -of coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I -never had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, -Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and -moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the -last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked -like wisps of string or bits of spider’s web, round pieces and square -pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round -your neck--nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, -have found a place in that collection; and for number, I am sure they -were like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping and my -fingers with sorting them out. - -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been -stowed aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and -all this time we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - -At last--I think it was on the third night--the doctor and I were -strolling on the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of -the isle, when, from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us -a noise between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached -our ears, followed by the former silence. - -“Heaven forgive them,” said the doctor; “’tis the mutineers!” - -“All drunk, sir,” struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. - -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of -daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged -and friendly dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore -these slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to -ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, none treated him better than -a dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old -quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to thank him for; -although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason to think even worse of -him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery -upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the doctor -answered him. - -“Drunk or raving,” said he. - -“Right you were, sir,” replied Silver; “and precious little odds which, -to you and me.” - -“I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man,” returned -the doctor with a sneer, “and so my feelings may surprise you, Master -Silver. But if I were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain -one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should leave this camp, -and at whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my -skill.” - -“Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,” quoth Silver. “You -would lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I’m on your side -now, hand and glove; and I shouldn’t wish for to see the party weakened, -let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down -there, they couldn’t keep their word--no, not supposing they wished to; -and what’s more, they couldn’t believe as you could.” - -“No,” said the doctor. “You’re the man to keep your word, we know that.” - -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only -once we heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. -A council was held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the -island--to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong -approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk -of the salt goat, a few medicines, and some other necessaries, tools, -clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and by the particular -desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - -That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the -treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the -goat meat in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we -weighed anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood out -of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain had flown and -fought under at the palisade. - -The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, -as we soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to -lie very near the southern point, and there we saw all three of -them kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in -supplication. It went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them in that -wretched state; but we could not risk another mutiny; and to take them -home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor -hailed them and told them of the stores we had left, and where they were -to find them. But they continued to call us by name and appeal to us, -for God’s sake, to be merciful and not leave them to die in such a -place. - -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly -drawing out of earshot, one of them--I know not which it was--leapt to -his feet with a hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent -a shot whistling over Silver’s head and through the main-sail. - -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked -out they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost -melted out of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end -of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of -Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round of sea. - -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand--only -the captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for -though greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her -head for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the -voyage home without fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds -and a couple of fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful -land-locked gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full -of Negroes and Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and -vegetables and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of so many -good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), the taste of the tropical -fruits, and above all the lights that began to shine in the town made a -most charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island; -and the doctor and the squire, taking me along with them, went ashore -to pass the early part of the night. Here they met the captain of an -English man-of-war, fell in talk with him, went on board his ship, and, -in short, had so agreeable a time that day was breaking when we came -alongside the HISPANIOLA. - -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, -with wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. -The maroon had connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, -and he now assured us he had only done so to preserve our lives, which -would certainly have been forfeit if “that man with the one leg -had stayed aboard.” But this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone -empty-handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and had removed -one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas, -to help him on his further wanderings. - -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a -good cruise home, and the HISPANIOLA reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly -was beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of -those who had sailed returned with her. “Drink and the devil had done -for the rest,” with a vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite -in so bad a case as that other ship they sang about: - - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. - -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or -foolishly, according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired -from the sea. Gray not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit -with the desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is now -mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship, married besides, and the -father of a family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he -spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen days, for -he was back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a lodge to keep, -exactly as he had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a great -favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys, and a -notable singer in church on Sundays and saints’ days. - -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one -leg has at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old -Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. -It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another -world are very small. - -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where -Flint buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and -wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and -the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about -its coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint -still ringing in my ears: “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 *** diff --git a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/120-h.htm b/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/120-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a3c7cdc..0000000 --- a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/120-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10727 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson</title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<style type="text/css"> - -body { margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; - text-align: justify; } - -h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: -normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} - -h1 {font-size: 300%; - margin-top: 0.6em; - margin-bottom: 0.6em; - letter-spacing: 0.12em; - word-spacing: 0.2em; - text-indent: 0em;} -h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} -h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} -h4 {font-size: 120%;} -h5 {font-size: 110%;} - -.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} - -hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -p {text-indent: 1em; - margin-top: 0.25em; - margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - -p.poem {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - font-size: 90%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -p.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } - -p.right {text-align: right; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; } - -div.fig { display:block; - margin:0 auto; - text-align:center; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -p.caption {font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; } - -.figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - -a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:hover {color:red} - -</style> -</head> -<body> -<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 ***</div> - -<h1>TREASURE ISLAND</h1> - -<h2 class="no-break">by Robert Louis Stevenson</h2> - -<h3>Illustrated by Louis Rhead</h3> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0017m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0017m " /><br/> -</div> - -<table summary="" style=""> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"><big><b>TREASURE ISLAND</b></big></a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part01"><big><b>PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap01">I. The Old Sea-dog at the “Admiral Benbow”</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap02">II. Black Dog Appears and Disappears</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap03">III. The Black Spot </a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap04">IV. The Sea-chest</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap05">V. The Last of the Blind Man</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap06">VI. The Captain’s Papers</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part02"><big><b>PART TWO—The Sea-cook</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap07">VII. I Go to Bristol</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap08">VIII. At the Sign of the Spy-glass</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap09">IX. Powder and Arms</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap10">X. The Voyage</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap11">XI. What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap12">XII. Council of War</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part03"><big><b>PART THREE—My Shore Adventure</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap13">XIII. How I Began My Shore Adventure</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap14">XIV. The First Blow</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap15">XV. The Man of the Island</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part04"><big><b>PART FOUR—The Stockade</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap16">XVI. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap17">XVII. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap18">XVIII. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap19">XIX. Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap20">XX. Silver’s Embassy</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap21">XXI. The Attack</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part05"><big><b>PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap22">XXII. How I Began My Sea Adventure</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap23">XXIII. The Ebb-tide Runs</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap24">XXIV. The Cruise of the Coracle</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap25">XXV. I Strike the Jolly Roger</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap26">XXVI. Israel Hands</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap27">XXVII. “Pieces of Eight”</a><br/><br/></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#part06"><big><b>PART SIX—Captain Silver</b></big></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap28">XXVIII. In the Enemy’s Camp</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap29">XXIX. The Black Spot Again</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap30">XXX. On Parole</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap31">XXXI. The Treasure-hunt—Flint’s Pointer</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap32">XXXII. The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap33">XXXIII. The Fall of a Chieftain</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap34">XXXIV. And Last</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0021m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0021m" /><br/> -</div> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0022m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0022m" /><br/> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2>TREASURE ISLAND</h2> - -<p class="letter"> -To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste the -following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for numerous -delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his affectionate -friend, -</p> - -<p class="right"> -the author. -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="poem"> - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER<br/> -<br/> -If sailor tales to sailor tunes,<br/> - Storm and adventure, heat and cold,<br/> -If schooners, islands, and maroons,<br/> - And buccaneers, and buried gold,<br/> -And all the old romance, retold<br/> - Exactly in the ancient way,<br/> -Can please, as me they pleased of old,<br/> - The wiser youngsters of today:<br/> -<br/> -—So be it, and fall on! If not,<br/> - If studious youth no longer crave,<br/> -His ancient appetites forgot,<br/> - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,<br/> -Or Cooper of the wood and wave:<br/> - So be it, also! And may I<br/> -And all my pirates share the grave<br/> - Where these and their creations lie! -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0028m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0028m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0028.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<hr /> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="link2H_4_0002"></a> -TREASURE ISLAND</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part01"></a> -PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap01"></a> -<img src="images/0029m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0029m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">I<br/> -The Old Sea-dog at the “Admiral Benbow”</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9029m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9029m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -quire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me -to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning -to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only -because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of -grace 17—, and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn -and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our -roof. -</p> - -<p> -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, -his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, -nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue -coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut -across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove -and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old -sea-song that he sang so often afterwards: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at -the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a -handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a -glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a -connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs -and up at our signboard. -</p> - -<p> -“This is a handy cove,” says he at length; “and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. -Much company, mate?” -</p> - -<p> -My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then,” said he, “this is the berth for me. Here you, matey,” he cried to -the man who trundled the barrow; “bring up alongside and help up my chest. I’ll -stay here a bit,” he continued. “I’m a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is -what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought -call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you’re at—there”; and he -threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. “You can tell me when -I’ve worked through that,” says he, looking as fierce as a commander. -</p> - -<p> -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none of the -appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like a mate or -skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came with the barrow -told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the Royal George, that -he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well -spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others -for his place of residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest. -</p> - -<p> -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or upon the -cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the parlour -next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would not speak -when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and blow through his nose like a -fog-horn; and we and the people who came about our house soon learned to let -him be. Every day when he came back from his stroll he would ask if any -seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want -of company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we -began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the -Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) -he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was -present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for I was, in -a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day and promised me a -silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I would only keep my -“weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg” and let him know the moment -he appeared. Often enough when the first of the month came round and I applied -to him for my wage, he would only blow through his nose at me and stare me -down, but before the week was out he was sure to think better of it, bring me -my four-penny piece, and repeat his orders to look out for “the seafaring man -with one leg.” -</p> - -<p> -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy -nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and the surf roared -along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand forms, and with -a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg would be cut off at the knee, -now at the hip; now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had never had but -the one leg, and that in the middle of his body. To see him leap and run and -pursue me over hedge and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I -paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these -abominable fancies. -</p> - -<p> -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one leg, I -was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who knew him. -There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water than his head would -carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his wicked, old, wild -sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses round and -force all the trembling company to listen to his stories or bear a chorus to -his singing. Often I have heard the house shaking with “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle -of rum,” all the neighbours joining in for dear life, with the fear of death -upon them, and each singing louder than the other to avoid remark. For in these -fits he was the most overriding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on -the table for silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a -question, or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was -not following his story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had -drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. -</p> - -<p> -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories they -were—about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry -Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own account he -must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men that God ever allowed -upon the sea, and the language in which he told these stories shocked our plain -country people almost as much as the crimes that he described. My father was -always saying the inn would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming there -to be tyrannized over and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I -really believe his presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, -but on looking back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet -country life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a “true sea-dog” and a “real old salt” and such like -names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea. -</p> - -<p> -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week after -week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long -exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to insist on having -more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through his nose so loudly that -you might say he roared, and stared my poor father out of the room. I have seen -him wringing his hands after such a rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the -terror he lived in must have greatly hastened his early and unhappy death. -</p> - -<p> -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his dress -but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having -fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a great -annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his coat, which he patched -himself upstairs in his room, and which, before the end, was nothing but -patches. He never wrote or received a letter, and he never spoke with any but -the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, only when drunk on rum. The -great sea-chest none of us had ever seen open. -</p> - -<p> -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor father was -far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon to -see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and went into the parlour -to smoke a pipe until his horse should come down from the hamlet, for we had no -stabling at the old Benbow. I followed him in, and I remember observing the -contrast the neat, bright doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his -bright, black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, -and above all, with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, -sitting, far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he—the captain, -that is—began to pipe up his eternal song: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!<br/> -Drink and the devil had done for the rest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -At first I had supposed “the dead man’s chest” to be that identical big box of -his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled in my -nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this time we had -all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it was new, that -night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did not produce an -agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite angrily before he went on -with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on a new cure for the rheumatics. In -the meantime, the captain gradually brightened up at his own music, and at last -flapped his hand upon the table before him in a way we all knew to mean -silence. The voices stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey’s; he went on as -before speaking clear and kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every -word or two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, -glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, -“Silence, there, between decks!” -</p> - -<p> -“Were you addressing me, sir?” says the doctor; and when the ruffian had told -him, with another oath, that this was so, “I have only one thing to say to you, -sir,” replies the doctor, “that if you keep on drinking rum, the world will -soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” -</p> - -<p> -The old fellow’s fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened a -sailor’s clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, threatened -to pin the doctor to the wall. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his shoulder -and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the room might hear, -but perfectly calm and steady: “If you do not put that knife this instant in -your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at the next assizes.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0033m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0033m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0033.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon knuckled -under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, sir,” continued the doctor, “since I now know there’s such a fellow -in my district, you may count I’ll have an eye upon you day and night. I’m not -a doctor only; I’m a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint against -you, if it’s only for a piece of incivility like tonight’s, I’ll take effectual -means to have you hunted down and routed out of this. Let that suffice.” -</p> - -<p> -Soon after, Dr. Livesey’s horse came to the door and he rode away, but the -captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap02"></a> -<img src="images/0037m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0037m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">II<br/> -Black Dog Appears and Disappears</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9037m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9037m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the mysterious -events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you will see, of his -affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard frosts and heavy gales; -and it was plain from the first that my poor father was little likely to see -the spring. He sank daily, and my mother and I had all the inn upon our hands, -and were kept busy enough without paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. -</p> - -<p> -It was one January morning, very early—a pinching, frosty morning—the cove all -grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still -low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to seaward. The captain had -risen earlier than usual and set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under -the broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope under his arm, his -hat tilted back upon his head. I remember his breath hanging like smoke in his -wake as he strode off, and the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big -rock was a loud snort of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon -Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the breakfast-table -against the captain’s return when the parlour door opened and a man stepped in -on whom I had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy creature, -wanting two fingers of the left hand, and though he wore a cutlass, he did not -look much like a fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one -leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he -had a smack of the sea about him too. -</p> - -<p> -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but as I -was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table and motioned me -to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Come here, sonny,” says he. “Come nearer here.” -</p> - -<p> -I took a step nearer. -</p> - -<p> -“Is this here table for my mate Bill?” he asked with a kind of leer. -</p> - -<p> -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who stayed -in our house whom we called the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said he, “my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like as not. He -has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, particularly in -drink, has my mate Bill. We’ll put it, for argument like, that your captain has -a cut on one cheek—and we’ll put it, if you like, that that cheek’s the right -one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my mate Bill in this here house?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him he was out walking. -</p> - -<p> -“Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?” -</p> - -<p> -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was likely to -return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, “Ah,” said he, -“this’ll be as good as drink to my mate Bill.” -</p> - -<p> -The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all pleasant, and -I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was mistaken, even -supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I thought; and -besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The stranger kept hanging about -just inside the inn door, peering round the corner like a cat waiting for a -mouse. Once I stepped out myself into the road, but he immediately called me -back, and as I did not obey quick enough for his fancy, a most horrible change -came over his tallowy face, and he ordered me in with an oath that made me -jump. As soon as I was back again he returned to his former manner, half -fawning, half sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and -he had taken quite a fancy to me. “I have a son of my own,” said he, “as like -you as two blocks, and he’s all the pride of my ’art. But the great thing for -boys is discipline, sonny—discipline. Now, if you had sailed along of Bill, you -wouldn’t have stood there to be spoke to twice—not you. That was never Bill’s -way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. And here, sure enough, is my mate -Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, bless his old ’art, to be sure. You and -me’ll just go back into the parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we’ll -give Bill a little surprise—bless his ’art, I say again.” -</p> - -<p> -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me behind -him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I was very -uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my fears to -observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He cleared the hilt -of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; and all the time we were -waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt what we used to call a lump in -the throat. -</p> - -<p> -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without looking to -the right or left, and marched straight across the room to where his breakfast -awaited him. -</p> - -<p> -“Bill,” said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make bold -and big. -</p> - -<p> -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had gone out -of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a man who sees a -ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything can be; and upon my -word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn so old and sick. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely,” said the -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -The captain made a sort of gasp. -</p> - -<p> -“Black Dog!” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“And who else?” returned the other, getting more at his ease. “Black Dog as -ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral Benbow inn. -Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I lost them two -talons,” holding up his mutilated hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, look here,” said the captain; “you’ve run me down; here I am; well, then, -speak up; what is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s you, Bill,” returned Black Dog, “you’re in the right of it, Billy. I’ll -have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I’ve took such a liking to; -and we’ll sit down, if you please, and talk square, like old shipmates.” -</p> - -<p> -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side of the -captain’s breakfast-table—Black Dog next to the door and sitting sideways so as -to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I thought, on his retreat. -</p> - -<p> -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. “None of your keyholes for me, -sonny,” he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. -</p> - -<p> -For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear nothing -but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, and I could -pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, no, no; and an end of it!” he cried once. And again, “If it comes to -swinging, swing all, say I.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> -<a href="images/0041a.jpg"> -<img src="images/0041a.jpg" width="443" height="650" alt="0041a" /></a> -</div> - - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0041m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0041m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0041.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and other -noises—the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel followed, and -then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and -the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and the former streaming -blood from the left shoulder. Just at the door the captain aimed at the -fugitive one last tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to the -chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You -may see the notch on the lower side of the frame to this day. -</p> - -<p> -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black Dog, in -spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and disappeared over -the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for his part, stood staring -at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he passed his hand over his eyes -several times and at last turned back into the house. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” says he, “rum”; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught himself -with one hand against the wall. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you hurt?” cried I. -</p> - -<p> -“Rum,” he repeated. “I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen out, and I -broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still getting in my own -way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld the captain -lying full length upon the floor. At the same instant my mother, alarmed by the -cries and fighting, came running downstairs to help me. Between us we raised -his head. He was breathing very loud and hard, but his eyes were closed and his -face a horrible colour. -</p> - -<p> -“Dear, deary me,” cried my mother, “what a disgrace upon the house! And your -poor father sick!” -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any other -thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with the stranger. I -got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat, but his teeth -were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. It was a happy relief for us -when the door opened and Doctor Livesey came in, on his visit to my father. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, doctor,” we cried, “what shall we do? Where is he wounded?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wounded? A fiddle-stick’s end!” said the doctor. “No more wounded than you or -I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, just you run -upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing about it. For my -part, I must do my best to save this fellow’s trebly worthless life; Jim, you -get me a basin.” -</p> - -<p> -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the captain’s -sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed in several places. -“Here’s luck,” “A fair wind,” and “Billy Bones his fancy,” were very neatly and -clearly executed on the forearm; and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of -a gallows and a man hanging from it—done, as I thought, with great spirit. -</p> - -<p> -“Prophetic,” said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. “And now, -Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we’ll have a look at the colour of -your blood. Jim,” he said, “are you afraid of blood?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then,” said he, “you hold the basin”; and with that he took his lancet -and opened a vein. -</p> - -<p> -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes and looked -mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with an unmistakable frown; -then his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. But suddenly his colour -changed, and he tried to raise himself, crying, “Where’s Black Dog?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is no Black Dog here,” said the doctor, “except what you have on your -own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I -told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged you -headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones—” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s not my name,” he interrupted. -</p> - -<p> -“Much I care,” returned the doctor. “It’s the name of a buccaneer of my -acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I have -to say to you is this; one glass of rum won’t kill you, but if you take one -you’ll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you don’t break off -short, you’ll die—do you understand that?—die, and go to your own place, like -the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. I’ll help you to your bed for -once.” -</p> - -<p> -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him -on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he were almost -fainting. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, mind you,” said the doctor, “I clear my conscience—the name of rum for -you is death.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the arm. -</p> - -<p> -“This is nothing,” he said as soon as he had closed the door. “I have drawn -blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week where he -is—that is the best thing for him and you; but another stroke would settle -him.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap03"></a> -<img src="images/0046m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0046m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">III<br/> -The Black Spot</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9046m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9046m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -bout noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks and -medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little higher, and -he seemed both weak and excited. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he said, “you’re the only one here that’s worth anything, and you know -I’ve been always good to you. Never a month but I’ve given you a silver -fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I’m pretty low, and deserted by -all; and Jim, you’ll bring me one noggin of rum, now, won’t you, matey?” -</p> - -<p> -“The doctor—” I began. -</p> - -<p> -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. “Doctors is -all swabs,” he said; “and that doctor there, why, what do he know about -seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round with -Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the sea with earthquakes—what -to the doctor know of lands like that?—and I lived on rum, I tell you. It’s -been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and if I’m not to have my rum now -I’m a poor old hulk on a lee shore, my blood’ll be on you, Jim, and that doctor -swab”; and he ran on again for a while with curses. “Look, Jim, how my fingers -fidges,” he continued in the pleading tone. “I can’t keep ’em still, not I. I -haven’t had a drop this blessed day. That doctor’s a fool, I tell you. If I -don’t have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some on ’em -already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I -seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that has lived rough, and I’ll -raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll give you -a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, who -was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the -doctor’s words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe. -</p> - -<p> -“I want none of your money,” said I, “but what you owe my father. I’ll get you -one glass, and no more.” -</p> - -<p> -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” said he, “that’s some better, sure enough. And now, matey, did that -doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?” -</p> - -<p> -“A week at least,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Thunder!” he cried. “A week! I can’t do that; they’d have the black spot on me -by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment; -lubbers as couldn’t keep what they got, and want to nail what is another’s. Is -that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? But I’m a saving soul. I never -wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; and I’ll trick ’em again. I’m -not afraid on ’em. I’ll shake out another reef, matey, and daddle ’em again.” -</p> - -<p> -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, holding -to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs -like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were in meaning, -contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in which they were uttered. He -paused when he had got into a sitting position on the edge. -</p> - -<p> -“That doctor’s done me,” he murmured. “My ears is singing. Lay me back.” -</p> - -<p> -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his former -place, where he lay for a while silent. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he said at length, “you saw that seafaring man today?” -</p> - -<p> -“Black Dog?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah! Black Dog,” says he. “<i>He’s</i> a bad ’un; but there’s worse that put -him on. Now, if I can’t get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind -you, it’s my old sea-chest they’re after; you get on a horse—you can, can’t -you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to—well, yes, I will!—to that -eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates and sich—and -he’ll lay ’em aboard at the Admiral Benbow—all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, -all on ’em that’s left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and -I’m the on’y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay -a-dying, like as if I was to now, you see. But you won’t peach unless they get -the black spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man -with one leg, Jim—him above all.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the black spot, captain?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a summons, mate. I’ll tell you if they get that. But you keep your -weather-eye open, Jim, and I’ll share with you equals, upon my honour.” -</p> - -<p> -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I had -given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, “If ever a -seaman wanted drugs, it’s me,” he fell at last into a heavy, swoon-like sleep, -in which I left him. What I should have done had all gone well I do not know. -Probably I should have told the whole story to the doctor, for I was in mortal -fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me. -But as things fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that evening, which -put all other matters on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the -neighbours, the arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be -carried on in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think -of the captain, far less to be afraid of him. -</p> - -<p> -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, though -he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he -helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through his nose, and no -one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral he was as drunk as -ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him singing away -at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, we were all in the fear of death -for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles away and -was never near the house after my father’s death. I have said the captain was -weak, and indeed he seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He -clambered up and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back -again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man on a -steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had -as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and -allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an alarming -way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it bare before him -on the table. But with all that, he minded people less and seemed shut up in -his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme -wonder, he piped up to a different air, a kind of country love-song that he -must have learned in his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. -</p> - -<p> -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three o’clock of a -bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, full -of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing slowly near along -the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick and wore -a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age -or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him -appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking -figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd -sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, “Will any kind friend inform a -poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious -defence of his native country, England—and God bless King George!—where or in -what part of this country he may now be?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“I hear a voice,” said he, “a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my kind -young friend, and lead me in?” -</p> - -<p> -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature gripped it -in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, -but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single action of his arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, boy,” he said, “take me in to the captain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said I, “upon my word I dare not.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” he sneered, “that’s it! Take me in straight or I’ll break your arm.” -</p> - -<p> -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said I, “it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he used to -be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman—” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, now, march,” interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, and -cold, and ugly as that blind man’s. It cowed me more than the pain, and I began -to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and towards the parlour, -where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed with rum. The blind man clung -close to me, holding me in one iron fist and leaning almost more of his weight -on me than I could carry. “Lead me straight up to him, and when I’m in view, -cry out, ‘Here’s a friend for you, Bill.’ If you don’t, I’ll do this,” and with -that he gave me a twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this -and that, I was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my -terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he -had ordered in a trembling voice. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0051m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0051m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0051.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of him and -left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so much of terror as -of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do not believe he had -enough force left in his body. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Bill, sit where you are,” said the beggar. “If I can’t see, I can hear a -finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his -left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right.” -</p> - -<p> -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the hollow -of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain’s, which closed -upon it instantly. -</p> - -<p> -“And now that’s done,” said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly left -hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, skipped out of the -parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood motionless, I could hear his -stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. -</p> - -<p> -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our senses, -but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his wrist, which I was -still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply into the palm. -</p> - -<p> -“Ten o’clock!” he cried. “Six hours. We’ll do them yet,” and he sprang to his -feet. -</p> - -<p> -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying for a -moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole height face -foremost to the floor. -</p> - -<p> -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. The -captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to -understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of late I had begun -to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of -tears. It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was -still fresh in my heart. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap04"></a> -<img src="images/0054m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0054m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">IV<br/> -The Sea-chest</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9054m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9054m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and perhaps -should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult -and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money—if he had any—was certainly due -to us, but it was not likely that our captain’s shipmates, above all the two -specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give -up their booty in payment of the dead man’s debts. The captain’s order to mount -at once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone and -unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for -either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of coals in the -kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms. The -neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what -between the dead body of the captain on the parlour floor and the thought of -that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there -were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. -Something must speedily be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go -forth together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than -done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and -the frosty fog. -</p> - -<p> -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the other -side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite -direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance and whither he -had presumably returned. We were not many minutes on the road, though we -sometimes stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken. But there was no -unusual sound—nothing but the low wash of the ripple and the croaking of the -inmates of the wood. -</p> - -<p> -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall never -forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and windows; but -that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get in that -quarter. For—you would have thought men would have been ashamed of -themselves—no soul would consent to return with us to the Admiral Benbow. The -more we told of our troubles, the more—man, woman, and child—they clung to the -shelter of their houses. The name of Captain Flint, though it was strange to -me, was well enough known to some there and carried a great weight of terror. -Some of the men who had been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral -Benbow remembered, besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and -taking them to be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a -little lugger in what we called Kitt’s Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain’s was enough to frighten them to death. And the short -and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several who were -willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey’s, which lay in another direction, not -one would help us to defend the inn. -</p> - -<p> -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, a -great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother made them a -speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to her fatherless -boy; “If none of the rest of you dare,” she said, “Jim and I dare. Back we will -go, the way we came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. -We’ll have that chest open, if we die for it. And I’ll thank you for that bag, -Mrs. Crossley, to bring back our lawful money in.” -</p> - -<p> -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried out at -our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with us. All they -would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were attacked, and to promise -to have horses ready saddled in case we were pursued on our return, while one -lad was to ride forward to the doctor’s in search of armed assistance. -</p> - -<p> -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon this -dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered redly through -the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, for it was plain, -before we came forth again, that all would be as bright as day, and our -departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. We slipped along the hedges, -noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to increase our terrors, -till, to our relief, the door of the Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. -</p> - -<p> -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the dark, -alone in the house with the dead captain’s body. Then my mother got a candle in -the bar, and holding each other’s hands, we advanced into the parlour. He lay -as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes open and one arm stretched out. -</p> - -<p> -“Draw down the blind, Jim,” whispered my mother; “they might come and watch -outside. And now,” said she when I had done so, “we have to get the key off -<i>that;</i> and who’s to touch it, I should like to know!” and she gave a kind -of sob as she said the words. -</p> - -<p> -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there was a -little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not doubt that this -was the <i>black spot;</i> and taking it up, I found written on the other side, -in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You have till ten tonight.” -</p> - -<p> -“He had till ten, Mother,” said I; and just as I said it, our old clock began -striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news was good, for -it was only six. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Jim,” she said, “that key.” -</p> - -<p> -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, and -some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away at the end, -his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder box were all -that they contained, and I began to despair. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps it’s round his neck,” suggested my mother. -</p> - -<p> -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and there, -sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with his own gully, -we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with hope and hurried upstairs -without delay to the little room where he had slept so long and where his box -had stood since the day of his arrival. -</p> - -<p> -It was like any other seaman’s chest on the outside, the initial “B” burned on -the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat smashed and broken as -by long, rough usage. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me the key,” said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she had -turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. -</p> - -<p> -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing was to be -seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and -folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under that, the miscellany -began—a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very -handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish watch and some other -trinkets of little value and mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses -mounted with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells. I have often -wondered since why he should have carried about these shells with him in his -wandering, guilty, and hunted life. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and the -trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there was an old -boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My mother pulled it -up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last things in the chest, a -bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas bag that gave -forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll show these rogues that I’m an honest woman,” said my mother. “I’ll have -my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley’s bag.” And she began to -count over the amount of the captain’s score from the sailor’s bag into the one -that I was holding. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0059m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0059m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0059.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries and -sizes—doubloons, and louis d’ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know -not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, too, were about -the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother knew how to make her -count. -</p> - -<p> -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her arm, for I -had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my heart into my -mouth—the tap-tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the frozen road. It drew -nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. Then it struck sharp on the -inn door, and then we could hear the handle being turned and the bolt rattling -as the wretched being tried to enter; and then there was a long time of silence -both within and without. At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our -indescribable joy and gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be -heard. -</p> - -<p> -“Mother,” said I, “take the whole and let’s be going,” for I was sure the -bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole hornet’s nest -about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had bolted it, none could tell -who had never met that terrible blind man. -</p> - -<p> -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction more -than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be content with less. It -was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her rights and she would -have them; and she was still arguing with me when a little low whistle sounded -a good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and more than enough, for both -of us. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll take what I have,” she said, jumping to her feet. -</p> - -<p> -“And I’ll take this to square the count,” said I, picking up the oilskin -packet. -</p> - -<p> -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by the empty -chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not -started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly dispersing; already the moon -shone quite clear on the high ground on either side; and it was only in the -exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that a thin veil still hung -unbroken to conceal the first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to -the hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into -the moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running -came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a light -tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers -carried a lantern. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear,” said my mother suddenly, “take the money and run on. I am going to -faint.” -</p> - -<p> -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the -cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and -her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were just at the -little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering as she was, to the -edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on my shoulder. -I do not know how I found the strength to do it at all, and I am afraid it was -roughly done, but I managed to drag her down the bank and a little way under -the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the bridge was too low to let me do -more than crawl below it. So there we had to stay—my mother almost entirely -exposed and both of us within earshot of the inn. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap05"></a> -<img src="images/0062m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0062m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">V<br/> -The Last of the Blind Man</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9062m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9062m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -y curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not remain -where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering my head -behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our door. I was -scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven or eight of them, -running hard, their feet beating out of time along the road and the man with -the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran together, hand in hand; and I -made out, even through the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the blind -beggar. The next moment his voice showed me that I was right. -</p> - -<p> -“Down with the door!” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir!” answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the Admiral -Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see them pause, and hear -speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were surprised to find the door -open. But the pause was brief, for the blind man again issued his commands. His -voice sounded louder and higher, as if he were afire with eagerness and rage. -</p> - -<p> -“In, in, in!” he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. -</p> - -<p> -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the -formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a voice -shouting from the house, “Bill’s dead.” -</p> - -<p> -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. -</p> - -<p> -“Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and get -the chest,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the house must have -shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of astonishment arose; the -window of the captain’s room was thrown open with a slam and a jingle of broken -glass, and a man leaned out into the moonlight, head and shoulders, and -addressed the blind beggar on the road below him. -</p> - -<p> -“Pew,” he cried, “they’ve been before us. Someone’s turned the chest out alow -and aloft.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it there?” roared Pew. -</p> - -<p> -“The money’s there.” -</p> - -<p> -The blind man cursed the money. -</p> - -<p> -“Flint’s fist, I mean,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“We don’t see it here nohow,” returned the man. -</p> - -<p> -“Here, you below there, is it on Bill?” cried the blind man again. -</p> - -<p> -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search the -captain’s body, came to the door of the inn. “Bill’s been overhauled a’ready,” -said he; “nothin’ left.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s these people of the inn—it’s that boy. I wish I had put his eyes out!” -cried the blind man, Pew. “There were no time ago—they had the door bolted when -I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find ’em.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sure enough, they left their glim here,” said the fellow from the window. -</p> - -<p> -“Scatter and find ’em! Rout the house out!” reiterated Pew, striking with his -stick upon the road. -</p> - -<p> -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet pounding -to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the very rocks -re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on the road and -declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just the same whistle that had -alarmed my mother and myself over the dead captain’s money was once more -clearly audible through the night, but this time twice repeated. I had thought -it to be the blind man’s trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the -assault, but I now found that it was a signal from the hillside towards the -hamlet, and from its effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of -approaching danger. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s Dirk again,” said one. “Twice! We’ll have to budge, mates.” -</p> - -<p> -“Budge, you skulk!” cried Pew. “Dirk was a fool and a coward from the first—you -wouldn’t mind him. They must be close by; they can’t be far; you have your -hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver my soul,” he cried, -“if I had eyes!” -</p> - -<p> -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began to look -here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half -an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest stood irresolute on the -road. -</p> - -<p> -“You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You’d be as -rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it’s here, and you stand there -skulking. There wasn’t one of you dared face Bill, and I did it—a blind man! -And I’m to lose my chance for you! I’m to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging -for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil -in a biscuit you would catch them still.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hang it, Pew, we’ve got the doubloons!” grumbled one. -</p> - -<p> -“They might have hid the blessed thing,” said another. “Take the Georges, Pew, -and don’t stand here squalling.” -</p> - -<p> -Squalling was the word for it; Pew’s anger rose so high at these objections -till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, he struck at them -right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded heavily on more than one. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0065m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0065m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0065.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him in -horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from his grasp. -</p> - -<p> -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, another sound -came from the top of the hill on the side of the hamlet—the tramp of horses -galloping. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, flash and report, came from -the hedge side. And that was plainly the last signal of danger, for the -buccaneers turned at once and ran, separating in every direction, one seaward -along the cove, one slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute -not a sign of them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer -panic or out of revenge for his ill words and blows I know not; but there he -remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping and -calling for his comrades. Finally he took a wrong turn and ran a few steps past -me, towards the hamlet, crying, “Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk,” and other names, -“you won’t leave old Pew, mates—not old Pew!” -</p> - -<p> -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders came in -sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. -</p> - -<p> -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for the -ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a second and made -another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest of the coming -horses. -</p> - -<p> -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that rang -high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by. -He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face and moved no more. -</p> - -<p> -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any rate, -horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, tailing out -behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to Dr. Livesey’s; the -rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the way, and with whom he had -had the intelligence to return at once. Some news of the lugger in Kitt’s Hole -had found its way to Supervisor Dance and set him forth that night in our -direction, and to that circumstance my mother and I owed our preservation from -death. -</p> - -<p> -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up to the -hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her back again, and -she was none the worse for her terror, though she still continued to deplore -the balance of the money. In the meantime the supervisor rode on, as fast as he -could, to Kitt’s Hole; but his men had to dismount and grope down the dingle, -leading, and sometimes supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of -ambushes; so it was no great matter for surprise that when they got down to the -Hole the lugger was already under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A -voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get some -lead in him, and at the same time a bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon -after, the lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance stood there, as -he said, “like a fish out of water,” and all he could do was to dispatch a man -to B—— to warn the cutter. “And that,” said he, “is just about as good as -nothing. They’ve got off clean, and there’s an end. Only,” he added, “I’m glad -I trod on Master Pew’s corns,” for by this time he had heard my story. -</p> - -<p> -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a house in -such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down by these fellows in -their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and though nothing had actually -been taken away except the captain’s money-bag and a little silver from the -till, I could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of -the scene. -</p> - -<p> -“They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were they -after? More money, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir; not money, I think,” replied I. “In fact, sir, I believe I have the -thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should like to get it -put in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure, boy; quite right,” said he. “I’ll take it, if you like.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey—” I began. -</p> - -<p> -“Perfectly right,” he interrupted very cheerily, “perfectly right—a gentleman -and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as well ride round -there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew’s dead, when all’s done; -not that I regret it, but he’s dead, you see, and people will make it out -against an officer of his Majesty’s revenue, if make it out they can. Now, I’ll -tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I’ll take you along.” -</p> - -<p> -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet where -the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they were all in -the saddle. -</p> - -<p> -“Dogger,” said Mr. Dance, “you have a good horse; take up this lad behind you.” -</p> - -<p> -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger’s belt, the supervisor gave the -word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. Livesey’s -house. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap06"></a> -<img src="images/0070m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0070m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VI<br/> -The Captain’s Papers</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9070m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9070m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -e rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey’s door. The house -was all dark to the front. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup to -descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. -</p> - -<p> -“Is Dr. Livesey in?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the hall to -dine and pass the evening with the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“So there we go, boys,” said Mr. Dance. -</p> - -<p> -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with Dogger’s -stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, moonlit avenue to -where the white line of the hall buildings looked on either hand on great old -gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking me along with him, was admitted -at a word into the house. -</p> - -<p> -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a great -library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, where the -squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a bright fire. -</p> - -<p> -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six feet -high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all -roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His eyebrows were very -black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you -would say, but quick and high. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in, Mr. Dance,” says he, very stately and condescending. -</p> - -<p> -“Good evening, Dance,” says the doctor with a nod. “And good evening to you, -friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?” -</p> - -<p> -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a lesson; -and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward and looked at -each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. When they heard -how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and -the squire cried “Bravo!” and broke his long pipe against the grate. Long -before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will remember, was the squire’s -name) had got up from his seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, -as if to hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig and sat there looking -very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll. -</p> - -<p> -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Dance,” said the squire, “you are a very noble fellow. And as for riding -down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, -like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, I perceive. Hawkins, -will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some ale.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so, Jim,” said the doctor, “you have the thing that they were after, have -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Here it is, sir,” said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open it; but -instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his coat. -</p> - -<p> -“Squire,” said he, “when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be off on -his Majesty’s service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at my -house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up the cold pie and -let him sup.” -</p> - -<p> -“As you will, Livesey,” said the squire; “Hawkins has earned better than cold -pie.” -</p> - -<p> -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made a hearty -supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further complimented -and at last dismissed. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, squire,” said the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, Livesey,” said the squire in the same breath. -</p> - -<p> -“One at a time, one at a time,” laughed Dr. Livesey. “You have heard of this -Flint, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the -bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The -Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was -sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I’ve seen his top-sails with these eyes, -off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put -back—put back, sir, into Port of Spain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I’ve heard of him myself, in England,” said the doctor. “But the point -is, had he money?” -</p> - -<p> -“Money!” cried the squire. “Have you heard the story? What were these villains -after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk -their rascal carcasses but money?” -</p> - -<p> -“That we shall soon know,” replied the doctor. “But you are so confoundedly -hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is -this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to where Flint buried -his treasure, will that treasure amount to much?” -</p> - -<p> -“Amount, sir!” cried the squire. “It will amount to this: If we have the clue -you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and Hawkins here -along, and I’ll have that treasure if I search a year.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well,” said the doctor. “Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we’ll open the -packet”; and he laid it before him on the table. -</p> - -<p> -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his instrument case -and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It contained two things—a book -and a sealed paper. -</p> - -<p> -“First of all we’ll try the book,” observed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened it, for Dr. -Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the side-table, where I had -been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first page there were -only some scraps of writing, such as a man with a pen in his hand might make -for idleness or practice. One was the same as the tattoo mark, “Billy Bones his -fancy”; then there was “Mr. W. Bones, mate,” “No more rum,” “Off Palm Key he -got itt,” and some other snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. I -could not help wondering who it was that had “got itt,” and what “itt” was that -he got. A knife in his back as like as not. -</p> - -<p> -“Not much instruction there,” said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. -</p> - -<p> -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of entries. -There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a sum of money, as in -common account-books, but instead of explanatory writing, only a varying number -of crosses between the two. On the 12th of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of -seventy pounds had plainly become due to someone, and there was nothing but six -crosses to explain the cause. In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place -would be added, as “Offe Caraccas,” or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, -as “62° 17′ 20″, 19° 2′ 40″.” -</p> - -<p> -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate entries -growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total had been made out -after five or six wrong additions, and these words appended, “Bones, his pile.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t make head or tail of this,” said Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -“The thing is as clear as noonday,” cried the squire. “This is the -black-hearted hound’s account-book. These crosses stand for the names of ships -or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel’s share, and -where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something clearer. ‘Offe -Caraccas,’ now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel boarded off that coast. -God help the poor souls that manned her—coral long ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right!” said the doctor. “See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And the -amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank.” -</p> - -<p> -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted in the -blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, English, and -Spanish moneys to a common value. -</p> - -<p> -“Thrifty man!” cried the doctor. “He wasn’t the one to be cheated.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now,” said the squire, “for the other.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0075m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0075m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0075.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of seal; the -very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain’s pocket. The doctor -opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an island, with -latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills and bays and inlets, and -every particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon -its shores. It was about nine miles long and five across, shaped, you might -say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and -a hill in the centre part marked “The Spy-glass.” There were several additions -of a later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink—two on the north part -of the island, one in the southwest—and beside this last, in the same red ink, -and in a small, neat hand, very different from the captain’s tottery -characters, these words: “Bulk of treasure here.” -</p> - -<p> -Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. -</p> - -<p> -Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -Ten feet. -</p> - -<p> -The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find it by the trend of the east -hummock, ten fathoms south of the black crag with the face on it. -</p> - -<p> -The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. point of north inlet cape, -bearing E. and a quarter N. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J.F. -</p> - -<p> -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled the -squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey,” said the squire, “you will give up this wretched practice at once. -Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks’ time—three weeks!—two weeks—ten -days—we’ll have the best ship, sir, and the choicest crew in England. Hawkins -shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, -are ship’s doctor; I am admiral. We’ll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We’ll -have favourable winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding -the spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever -after.” -</p> - -<p> -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “I’ll go with you; and I’ll go bail for it, so -will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There’s only one man I’m afraid -of.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who’s that?” cried the squire. “Name the dog, sir!” -</p> - -<p> -“You,” replied the doctor; “for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not the -only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the inn -tonight—bold, desperate blades, for sure—and the rest who stayed aboard that -lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and all, through thick and -thin, bound that they’ll get that money. We must none of us go alone till we -get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the meanwhile; you’ll take Joyce -and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and from first to last, not one of us must -breathe a word of what we’ve found.” -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll be as -silent as the grave.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0081m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0081m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0081.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part02"></a> -PART TWO—The Sea-cook</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap07"></a> -<img src="images/0083m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0083m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VII<br/> -I Go to Bristol</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9083m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9083m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, and none -of our first plans—not even Dr. Livesey’s, of keeping me beside him—could be -carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to London for a physician to -take charge of his practice; the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I -lived on at the hall under the charge of old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a -prisoner, but full of sea-dreams and the most charming anticipations of strange -islands and adventures. I brooded by the hour together over the map, all the -details of which I well remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper’s -room, I approached that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I -explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that tall -hill they call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most wonderful and -changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with savages, with whom we -fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that hunted us, but in all my -fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and tragic as our actual adventures. -</p> - -<p> -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed to Dr. -Livesey, with this addition, “To be opened, in the case of his absence, by Tom -Redruth or young Hawkins.” Obeying this order, we found, or rather I found—for -the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading anything but print—the following -important news: -</p> - -<p class="right"> -<i>Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17—.</i> -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Dear Livesey—As I do not know whether you are at the hall or still in London, I -send this in double to both places. -</p> - -<p> -The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at anchor, ready for sea. You never -imagined a sweeter schooner—a child might sail her—two hundred tons; name, -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who has proved himself throughout the -most surprising trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in my interest, -and so, I may say, did everyone in Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the -port we sailed for—treasure, I mean. -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“Redruth,” said I, interrupting the letter, “Dr. Livesey will not like that. -The squire has been talking, after all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, who’s a better right?” growled the gamekeeper. “A pretty rum go if -squire ain’t to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.” -</p> - -<p> -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Blandly himself found the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and by the most admirable -management got her for the merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol -monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go the length of declaring that -this honest creature would do anything for money, that the <i>Hispaniola</i> -belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly high—the most transparent -calumnies. None of them dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. -</p> - -<p> -So far there was not a hitch. The workpeople, to be sure—riggers and what -not—were most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was the crew that -troubled me. -</p> - -<p> -I wished a round score of men—in case of natives, buccaneers, or the odious -French—and I had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much as half a dozen, -till the most remarkable stroke of fortune brought me the very man that I -required. -</p> - -<p> -I was standing on the dock, when, by the merest accident, I fell in talk with -him. I found he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew all the seafaring -men in Bristol, had lost his health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to -get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that morning, he said, to get a -smell of the salt. -</p> - -<p> -I was monstrously touched—so would you have been—and, out of pure pity, I -engaged him on the spot to be ship’s cook. Long John Silver, he is called, and -has lost a leg; but that I regarded as a recommendation, since he lost it in -his country’s service, under the immortal Hawke. He has no pension, Livesey. -Imagine the abominable age we live in! -</p> - -<p> -Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, but it was a crew I had -discovered. Between Silver and myself we got together in a few days a company -of the toughest old salts imaginable—not pretty to look at, but fellows, by -their faces, of the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could fight a -frigate. -</p> - -<p> -Long John even got rid of two out of the six or seven I had already engaged. -He showed me in a moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water swabs we -had to fear in an adventure of importance. -</p> - -<p> -I am in the most magnificent health and spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping -like a tree, yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old tarpaulins -tramping round the capstan. Seaward, ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory -of the sea that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come post; do not lose an -hour, if you respect me. -</p> - -<p> -Let young Hawkins go at once to see his mother, with Redruth for a guard; and -then both come full speed to Bristol. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -John Trelawney -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -<i>Postscript.</i>—I did not tell you that Blandly, who, by the way, is to -send a consort after us if we don’t turn up by the end of August, had found an -admirable fellow for sailing master—a stiff man, which I regret, but in all -other respects a treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very competent man for -a mate, a man named Arrow. I have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things -shall go man-o’-war fashion on board the good ship <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of substance; I know of my own -knowledge that he has a banker’s account, which has never been overdrawn. He -leaves his wife to manage the inn; and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of -old bachelors like you and I may be excused for guessing that it is the wife, -quite as much as the health, that sends him back to roving. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J. T. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -P.P.S.—Hawkins may stay one night with his mother. -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -J. T. -</p> - -<p> -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half beside -myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old Tom Redruth, who -could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the under-gamekeepers would -gladly have changed places with him; but such was not the squire’s pleasure, -and the squire’s pleasure was like law among them all. Nobody but old Redruth -would have dared so much as even to grumble. -</p> - -<p> -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and there I -found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had so long been a -cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked cease from troubling. -The squire had had everything repaired, and the public rooms and the sign -repainted, and had added some furniture—above all a beautiful armchair for -mother in the bar. He had found her a boy as an apprentice also so that she -should not want help while I was gone. -</p> - -<p> -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my situation. -I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, not at all of the -home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this clumsy stranger, who was to -stay here in my place beside my mother, I had my first attack of tears. I am -afraid I led that boy a dog’s life, for as he was new to the work, I had a -hundred opportunities of setting him right and putting him down, and I was not -slow to profit by them. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0087m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0087m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0087.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were afoot -again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had lived -since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow—since he was repainted, no -longer quite so dear. One of my last thoughts was of the captain, who had so -often strode along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his -old brass telescope. Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out -of sight. -</p> - -<p> -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was wedged -in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the swift motion -and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from the very first, and -then slept like a log up hill and down dale through stage after stage, for when -I was awakened at last it was by a punch in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to -find that we were standing still before a large building in a city street and -that the day had already broken a long time. -</p> - -<p> -“Where are we?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Bristol,” said Tom. “Get down.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to -superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and our -way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great multitude of -ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors were singing at their -work, in another there were men aloft, high over my head, hanging to threads -that seemed no thicker than a spider’s. Though I had lived by the shore all my -life, I seemed never to have been near the sea till then. The smell of tar and -salt was something new. I saw the most wonderful figureheads, that had all been -far over the ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, -and whiskers curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, -clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could not -have been more delighted. -</p> - -<p> -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping boatswain -and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek -for buried treasure! -</p> - -<p> -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front of a -large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in -stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his face and a capital -imitation of a sailor’s walk. -</p> - -<p> -“Here you are,” he cried, “and the doctor came last night from London. Bravo! -The ship’s company complete!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, sir,” cried I, “when do we sail?” -</p> - -<p> -“Sail!” says he. “We sail tomorrow!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap08"></a> -<img src="images/0090m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0090m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">VIII<br/> -At the Sign of the Spy-glass</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9090m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9090m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -hen I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John Silver, -at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily find the place by -following the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for a little -tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set off, overjoyed at this -opportunity to see some more of the ships and seamen, and picked my way among a -great crowd of people and carts and bales, for the dock was now at its busiest, -until I found the tavern in question. -</p> - -<p> -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was newly -painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. There -was a street on each side and an open door on both, which made the large, low -room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of tobacco smoke. -</p> - -<p> -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that I hung -at the door, almost afraid to enter. -</p> - -<p> -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was sure he -must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the -left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, -hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as -big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in -the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a -merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. -</p> - -<p> -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in Squire -Trelawney’s letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might prove to be the -very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old Benbow. But -one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen the captain, and Black -Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was like—a -very different creature, according to me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered -landlord. -</p> - -<p> -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up to the -man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Silver, sir?” I asked, holding out the note. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, my lad,” said he; “such is my name, to be sure. And who may you be?” And -then as he saw the squire’s letter, he seemed to me to give something almost -like a start. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. “I see. You are our new -cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you.” -</p> - -<p> -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. -</p> - -<p> -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made for the -door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a moment. But his -hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at glance. It was the -tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come first to the Admiral -Benbow. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0093m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0093m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0093.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“Oh,” I cried, “stop him! It’s Black Dog!” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care two coppers who he is,” cried Silver. “But he hasn’t paid his -score. Harry, run and catch him.” -</p> - -<p> -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in pursuit. -</p> - -<p> -“If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score,” cried Silver; and then, -relinquishing my hand, “Who did you say he was?” he asked. “Black what?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dog, sir,” said I. “Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? He was -one of them.” -</p> - -<p> -“So?” cried Silver. “In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those swabs, -was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here.” -</p> - -<p> -The man whom he called Morgan—an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced sailor—came -forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Morgan,” said Long John very sternly, “you never clapped your eyes on -that Black—Black Dog before, did you, now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not I, sir,” said Morgan with a salute. -</p> - -<p> -“You didn’t know his name, did you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, Tom Morgan, it’s as good for you!” exclaimed the landlord. “If -you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would never have put another -foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what was he saying to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t rightly know, sir,” answered Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?” cried Long -John. “Don’t rightly know, don’t you! Perhaps you don’t happen to rightly know -who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what was he jawing—v’yages, -cap’ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,” answered Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may lay to -that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom.” -</p> - -<p> -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a -confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, “He’s quite an -honest man, Tom Morgan, on’y stupid. And now,” he ran on again, aloud, “let’s -see—Black Dog? No, I don’t know the name, not I. Yet I kind of think I’ve—yes, -I’ve seen the swab. He used to come here with a blind beggar, he used.” -</p> - -<p> -“That he did, you may be sure,” said I. “I knew that blind man too. His name -was Pew.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was!” cried Silver, now quite excited. “Pew! That were his name for -certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, now, -there’ll be news for Cap’n Trelawney! Ben’s a good runner; few seamen run -better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by the powers! He -talked o’ keel-hauling, did he? <i>I’ll</i> keel-haul him!” -</p> - -<p> -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and down the -tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving such a show of -excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge or a Bow Street runner. -My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on finding Black Dog at the -Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was too deep, and too ready, -and too clever for me, and by the time the two men had come back out of breath -and confessed that they had lost the track in a crowd, and been scolded like -thieves, I would have gone bail for the innocence of Long John Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“See here, now, Hawkins,” said he, “here’s a blessed hard thing on a man like -me, now, ain’t it? There’s Cap’n Trelawney—what’s he to think? Here I have this -confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house drinking of my own rum! -Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and here I let him give us all the -slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, Hawkins, you do me justice with the -cap’n. You’re a lad, you are, but you’re as smart as paint. I see that when you -first come in. Now, here it is: What could I do, with this old timber I hobble -on? When I was an A B master mariner I’d have come up alongside of him, hand -over hand, and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now—” -</p> - -<p> -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he had -remembered something. -</p> - -<p> -“The score!” he burst out. “Three goes o’ rum! Why, shiver my timbers, if I -hadn’t forgotten my score!” -</p> - -<p> -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. I could -not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, until the tavern -rang again. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!” he said at last, wiping his cheeks. -“You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I’ll take my davy I should be -rated ship’s boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This won’t do. Dooty is -dooty, messmates. I’ll put on my old cockerel hat, and step along of you to -Cap’n Trelawney, and report this here affair. For mind you, it’s serious, young -Hawkins; and neither you nor me’s come out of it with what I should make so -bold as to call credit. Nor you neither, says you; not smart—none of the pair -of us smart. But dash my buttons! That was a good un about my score.” -</p> - -<p> -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not see -the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. -</p> - -<p> -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting -companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, their rig, -tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going forward—how one -was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third making ready for sea—and -every now and then telling me some little anecdote of ships or seamen or -repeating a nautical phrase till I had learned it perfectly. I began to see -that here was one of the best of possible shipmates. -</p> - -<p> -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, -finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go aboard the -schooner on a visit of inspection. -</p> - -<p> -Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit and -the most perfect truth. “That was how it were, now, weren’t it, Hawkins?” he -would say, now and again, and I could always bear him entirely out. -</p> - -<p> -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all agreed -there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, Long John -took up his crutch and departed. -</p> - -<p> -“All hands aboard by four this afternoon,” shouted the squire after him. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir,” cried the cook, in the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, squire,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t put much faith in your discoveries, -as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits me.” -</p> - -<p> -“The man’s a perfect trump,” declared the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“And now,” added the doctor, “Jim may come on board with us, may he not?” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure he may,” says squire. “Take your hat, Hawkins, and we’ll see the -ship.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap09"></a> -<img src="images/0098m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0098m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">IX<br/> -Powder and Arms</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9098m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9098m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he <i>Hispaniola</i> lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and -round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated -underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, we got -alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. -Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He and the -squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon observed that things were not -the same between Mr. Trelawney and the captain. -</p> - -<p> -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on board and -was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the cabin when a -sailor followed us. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“I am always at the captain’s orders. Show him in,” said the squire. -</p> - -<p> -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and shut the -door behind him. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all shipshape -and seaworthy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir,” said the captain, “better speak plain, I believe, even at the risk -of offence. I don’t like this cruise; I don’t like the men; and I don’t like my -officer. That’s short and sweet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps, sir, you don’t like the ship?” inquired the squire, very angry, as I -could see. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried,” said the captain. -“She seems a clever craft; more I can’t say.” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?” says the squire. -</p> - -<p> -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. -</p> - -<p> -“Stay a bit,” said he, “stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but to -produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too little, -and I’m bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. You don’t, you -say, like this cruise. Now, why?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship for that -gentleman where he should bid me,” said the captain. “So far so good. But now I -find that every man before the mast knows more than I do. I don’t call that -fair, now, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Dr. Livesey, “I don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Next,” said the captain, “I learn we are going after treasure—hear it from my -own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don’t like treasure -voyages on any account, and I don’t like them, above all, when they are secret -and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the secret has been told to the -parrot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver’s parrot?” asked the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a way of speaking,” said the captain. “Blabbed, I mean. It’s my belief -neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I’ll tell you my way of -it—life or death, and a close run.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough,” replied Dr. Livesey. “We -take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you say you -don’t like the crew. Are they not good seamen?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like them, sir,” returned Captain Smollett. “And I think I should have -had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you should,” replied the doctor. “My friend should, perhaps, have -taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was unintentional. -And you don’t like Mr. Arrow?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t, sir. I believe he’s a good seaman, but he’s too free with the crew to -be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to himself—shouldn’t drink with -the men before the mast!” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean he drinks?” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” replied the captain, “only that he’s too familiar.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?” asked the doctor. “Tell us -what you want.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?” -</p> - -<p> -“Like iron,” answered the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Very good,” said the captain. “Then, as you’ve heard me very patiently, saying -things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are putting the -powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good place under the -cabin; why not put them there?—first point. Then, you are bringing four of your -own people with you, and they tell me some of them are to be berthed forward. -Why not give them the berths here beside the cabin?—second point.” -</p> - -<p> -“Any more?” asked Mr. Trelawney. -</p> - -<p> -“One more,” said the captain. “There’s been too much blabbing already.” -</p> - -<p> -“Far too much,” agreed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll tell you what I’ve heard myself,” continued Captain Smollett: “that you -have a map of an island, that there’s crosses on the map to show where treasure -is, and that the island lies—” And then he named the latitude and longitude -exactly. -</p> - -<p> -“I never told that,” cried the squire, “to a soul!” -</p> - -<p> -“The hands know it, sir,” returned the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins,” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“It doesn’t much matter who it was,” replied the doctor. And I could see that -neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney’s protestations. -Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet in this case I believe -he was really right and that nobody had told the situation of the island. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen,” continued the captain, “I don’t know who has this map; but I -make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise -I would ask you to let me resign.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said the doctor. “You wish us to keep this matter dark and to make a -garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend’s own people, and -provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other words, you fear a -mutiny.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Captain Smollett, “with no intention to take offence, I deny your -right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified in going -to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for Mr. Arrow, I believe -him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the same; all may be for what I -know. But I am responsible for the ship’s safety and the life of every man Jack -aboard of her. I see things going, as I think, not quite right. And I ask you -to take certain precautions or let me resign my berth. And that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Smollett,” began the doctor with a smile, “did ever you hear the fable -of the mountain and the mouse? You’ll excuse me, I dare say, but you remind me -of that fable. When you came in here, I’ll stake my wig, you meant more than -this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” said the captain, “you are smart. When I came in here I meant to get -discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word.” -</p> - -<p> -“No more I would,” cried the squire. “Had Livesey not been here I should have -seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you desire, but -I think the worse of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s as you please, sir,” said the captain. “You’ll find I do my duty.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he took his leave. -</p> - -<p> -“Trelawney,” said the doctor, “contrary to all my notions, I believed you have -managed to get two honest men on board with you—that man and John Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver, if you like,” cried the squire; “but as for that intolerable humbug, I -declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” says the doctor, “we shall see.” -</p> - -<p> -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and -powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by -superintending. -</p> - -<p> -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been -overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the after-part -of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to the galley and -forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had been originally meant -that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, and the squire were to -occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and I were to get two of them and Mr. -Arrow and the captain were to sleep on deck in the companion, which had been -enlarged on each side till you might almost have called it a round-house. Very -low it was still, of course; but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even -the mate seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been -doubtful as to the crew, but that is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had -not long the benefit of his opinion. -</p> - -<p> -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when the last man -or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a shore-boat. -</p> - -<p> -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as he saw -what was doing, “So ho, mates!” says he. “What’s this?” -</p> - -<p> -“We’re a-changing of the powder, Jack,” answers one. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, by the powers,” cried Long John, “if we do, we’ll miss the morning tide!” -</p> - -<p> -“My orders!” said the captain shortly. “You may go below, my man. Hands will -want supper.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he disappeared -at once in the direction of his galley. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a good man, captain,” said the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“Very likely, sir,” replied Captain Smollett. “Easy with that, men—easy,” he -ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and then suddenly -observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long brass nine, -“Here you, ship’s boy,” he cried, “out o’ that! Off with you to the cook and -get some work.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0103m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0103m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0103.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the doctor, -“I’ll have no favourites on my ship.” -</p> - -<p> -I assure you I was quite of the squire’s way of thinking, and hated the captain -deeply. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap10"></a> -<img src="images/0106m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0106m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">X<br/> -The Voyage</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9106m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9106m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -ll that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their place, -and boatfuls of the squire’s friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, coming off to -wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a night at the Admiral -Benbow when I had half the work; and I was dog-tired when, a little before -dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew began to man the -capstan-bars. I might have been twice as weary, yet I would not have left the -deck, all was so new and interesting to me—the brief commands, the shrill note -of the whistle, the men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship’s -lanterns. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave,” cried one voice. -</p> - -<p> -“The old one,” cried another. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, mates,” said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch under -his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so well: -</p> - -<p> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—” -</p> - -<p> -And then the whole crew bore chorus:— -</p> - -<p> -“Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -And at the third “Ho!” drove the bars before them with a will. -</p> - -<p> -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral Benbow in a -second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping in the chorus. But -soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at the bows; soon -the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping to flit by on either side; -and before I could lie down to snatch an hour of slumber the <i>Hispaniola</i> -had begun her voyage to the Isle of Treasure. -</p> - -<p> -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly prosperous. The -ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable seamen, and the captain -thoroughly understood his business. But before we came the length of Treasure -Island, two or three things had happened which require to be known. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had feared. He -had no command among the men, and people did what they pleased with him. But -that was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two at sea he began to -appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of -drunkenness. Time after time he was ordered below in disgrace. Sometimes he -fell and cut himself; sometimes he lay all day long in his little bunk at one -side of the companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober and -attend to his work at least passably. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That was the -ship’s mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to solve it; and -when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if he were drunk, and if he -were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted anything but water. -</p> - -<p> -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst the men, but -it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself outright, so nobody -was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with a head sea, he -disappeared entirely and was seen no more. -</p> - -<p> -“Overboard!” said the captain. “Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble of -putting him in irons.” -</p> - -<p> -But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to advance -one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest man aboard, and -though he kept his old title, he served in a way as mate. Mr. Trelawney had -followed the sea, and his knowledge made him very useful, for he often took a -watch himself in easy weather. And the coxswain, Israel Hands, was a careful, -wily, old, experienced seaman who could be trusted at a pinch with almost -anything. -</p> - -<p> -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of his name -leads me on to speak of our ship’s cook, Barbecue, as the men called him. -</p> - -<p> -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have both -hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the foot of the -crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding to every movement -of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe ashore. Still more -strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather cross the deck. He had a -line or two rigged up to help him across the widest spaces—Long John’s -earrings, they were called; and he would hand himself from one place to -another, now using the crutch, now trailing it alongside by the lanyard, as -quickly as another man could walk. Yet some of the men who had sailed with him -before expressed their pity to see him so reduced. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s no common man, Barbecue,” said the coxswain to me. “He had good schooling -in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; and brave—a lion’s -nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple four and knock their heads -together—him unarmed.” -</p> - -<p> -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking to each and -doing everybody some particular service. To me he was unweariedly kind, and -always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as clean as a new pin, the -dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in a cage in one corner. -</p> - -<p> -“Come away, Hawkins,” he would say; “come and have a yarn with John. Nobody -more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the news. Here’s -Cap’n Flint—I calls my parrot Cap’n Flint, after the famous buccaneer—here’s -Cap’n Flint predicting success to our v’yage. Wasn’t you, Cap’n?” -</p> - -<p> -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of -eight! Pieces of eight!” till you wondered that it was not out of breath, or -till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, that bird,” he would say, “is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins—they -live forever mostly; and if anybody’s seen more wickedness, it must be the -devil himself. She’s sailed with England, the great Cap’n England, the pirate. -She’s been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and -Portobello. She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It’s there -she learned ‘Pieces of eight,’ and little wonder; three hundred and fifty -thousand of ’em, Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the <i>Viceroy of the -Indies</i> out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a -babby. But you smelt powder—didn’t you, Cap’n?” -</p> - -<p> -“Stand by to go about,” the parrot would scream. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, she’s a handsome craft, she is,” the cook would say, and give her sugar -from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and swear straight -on, passing belief for wickedness. “There,” John would add, “you can’t touch -pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here’s this poor old innocent bird o’ mine -swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may lay to that. She would swear -the same, in a manner of speaking, before chaplain.” And John would touch his -forelock with a solemn way he had that made me think he was the best of men. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty distant -terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the matter; he despised -the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when he was spoken to, -and then sharp and short and dry, and not a word wasted. He owned, when driven -into a corner, that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew, that some of -them were as brisk as he wanted to see and all had behaved fairly well. As for -the ship, he had taken a downright fancy to her. “She’ll lie a point nearer the -wind than a man has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But,” he -would add, “all I say is, we’re not home again, and I don’t like the cruise.” -</p> - -<p> -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, chin in -air. -</p> - -<p> -“A trifle more of that man,” he would say, “and I shall explode.” -</p> - -<p> -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have -been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief there was -never a ship’s company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. Double grog was going -on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, as, for instance, if the -squire heard it was any man’s birthday, and always a barrel of apples standing -broached in the waist for anyone to help himself that had a fancy. -</p> - -<p> -“Never knew good come of it yet,” the captain said to Dr. Livesey. “Spoil -forecastle hands, make devils. That’s my belief.” -</p> - -<p> -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had not -been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all have -perished by the hand of treachery. -</p> - -<p> -This was how it came about. -</p> - -<p> -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after—I am not -allowed to be more plain—and now we were running down for it with a bright -lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our outward voyage by the -largest computation; some time that night, or at latest before noon of the -morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. We were heading S.S.W. and had a -steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. The <i>Hispaniola</i> rolled steadily, -dipping her bowsprit now and then with a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow -and aloft; everyone was in the bravest spirits because we were now so near an -end of the first part of our adventure. -</p> - -<p> -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way to my -berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on deck. The watch -was all forward looking out for the island. The man at the helm was watching -the luff of the sail and whistling away gently to himself, and that was the -only sound excepting the swish of the sea against the bows and around the sides -of the ship. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0111m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0111m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0111.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an apple -left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of the waters and -the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep or was on the -point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with rather a clash close by. The -barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders against it, and I was just about to -jump up when the man began to speak. It was Silver’s voice, and before I had -heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world, but lay -there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from -these dozen words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard -depended upon me alone. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap11"></a> -<img src="images/0114m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0114m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XI<br/> -What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9114m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9114m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -o, not I,” said Silver. “Flint was cap’n; I was quartermaster, along of my -timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his deadlights. It -was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me—out of college and all—Latin by the -bucket, and what not; but he was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the -rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing -names to their ships—<i>Royal Fortune</i> and so on. Now, what a ship was -christened, so let her stay, I says. So it was with the <i>Cassandra</i>, as -brought us all safe home from Malabar, after England took the <i>Viceroy of the -Indies;</i> so it was with the old <i>Walrus</i>, Flint’s old ship, as I’ve -seen amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and evidently -full of admiration. “He was the flower of the flock, was Flint!” -</p> - -<p> -“Davis was a man too, by all accounts,” said Silver. “I never sailed along of -him; first with England, then with Flint, that’s my story; and now here on my -own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred safe, from -England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain’t bad for a man before the -mast—all safe in bank. ’Tain’t earning now, it’s saving does it, you may lay to -that. Where’s all England’s men now? I dunno. Where’s Flint’s? Why, most on ’em -aboard here, and glad to get the duff—been begging before that, some on ’em. -Old Pew, as had lost his sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve -hundred pound in a year, like a lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he’s -dead now and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, -the man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and starved -at that, by the powers!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it ain’t much use, after all,” said the young seaman. -</p> - -<p> -“’Tain’t much use for fools, you may lay to it—that, nor nothing,” cried -Silver. “But now, you look here: you’re young, you are, but you’re as smart as -paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I’ll talk to you like a man.” -</p> - -<p> -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue addressing -another in the very same words of flattery as he had used to myself. I think, -if I had been able, that I would have killed him through the barrel. Meantime, -he ran on, little supposing he was overheard. -</p> - -<p> -“Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk -swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is -done, why, it’s hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in their -pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to sea again in their -shirts. But that’s not the course I lay. I puts it all away, some here, some -there, and none too much anywheres, by reason of suspicion. I’m fifty, mark -you; once back from this cruise, I set up gentleman in earnest. Time enough -too, says you. Ah, but I’ve lived easy in the meantime, never denied myself o’ -nothing heart desires, and slep’ soft and ate dainty all my days but when at -sea. And how did I begin? Before the mast, like you!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said the other, “but all the other money’s gone now, ain’t it? You -daren’t show face in Bristol after this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, where might you suppose it was?” asked Silver derisively. -</p> - -<p> -“At Bristol, in banks and places,” answered his companion. -</p> - -<p> -“It were,” said the cook; “it were when we weighed anchor. But my old missis -has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill and rigging; -and the old girl’s off to meet me. I would tell you where, for I trust you, but -it’d make jealousy among the mates.” -</p> - -<p> -“And can you trust your missis?” asked the other. -</p> - -<p> -“Gentlemen of fortune,” returned the cook, “usually trusts little among -themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with me, I -have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable—one as knows me, I mean—it won’t -be in the same world with old John. There was some that was feared of Pew, and -some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own self was feared of me. Feared -he was, and proud. They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil -himself would have been feared to go to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, -I’m not a boasting man, and you seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when -I was quartermaster, <i>lambs</i> wasn’t the word for Flint’s old buccaneers. -Ah, you may be sure of yourself in old John’s ship.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I tell you now,” replied the lad, “I didn’t half a quarter like the job -till I had this talk with you, John; but there’s my hand on it now.” -</p> - -<p> -“And a brave lad you were, and smart too,” answered Silver, shaking hands so -heartily that all the barrel shook, “and a finer figurehead for a gentleman of -fortune I never clapped my eyes on.” -</p> - -<p> -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a -“gentleman of fortune” they plainly meant neither more nor less than a common -pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last act in the -corruption of one of the honest hands—perhaps of the last one left aboard. But -on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver giving a little whistle, a -third man strolled up and sat down by the party. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick’s square,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I know’d Dick was square,” returned the voice of the coxswain, Israel -Hands. “He’s no fool, is Dick.” And he turned his quid and spat. “But look -here,” he went on, “here’s what I want to know, Barbecue: how long are we -a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I’ve had a’most enough o’ -Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by thunder! I want to go into that -cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Israel,” said Silver, “your head ain’t much account, nor ever was. But you’re -able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, here’s what I -say: you’ll berth forward, and you’ll live hard, and you’ll speak soft, and -you’ll keep sober till I give the word; and you may lay to that, my son.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I don’t say no, do I?” growled the coxswain. “What I say is, when? -That’s what I say.” -</p> - -<p> -“When! By the powers!” cried Silver. “Well now, if you want to know, I’ll tell -you when. The last moment I can manage, and that’s when. Here’s a first-rate -seaman, Cap’n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. Here’s this squire and -doctor with a map and such—I don’t know where it is, do I? No more do you, says -you. Well then, I mean this squire and doctor shall find the stuff, and help us -to get it aboard, by the powers. Then we’ll see. If I was sure of you all, sons -of double Dutchmen, I’d have Cap’n Smollett navigate us half-way back again -before I struck.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, we’re all seamen aboard here, I should think,” said the lad Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“We’re all forecastle hands, you mean,” snapped Silver. “We can steer a course, -but who’s to set one? That’s what all you gentlemen split on, first and last. -If I had my way, I’d have Cap’n Smollett work us back into the trades at least; -then we’d have no blessed miscalculations and a spoonful of water a day. But I -know the sort you are. I’ll finish with ’em at the island, as soon’s the -blunt’s on board, and a pity it is. But you’re never happy till you’re drunk. -Split my sides, I’ve a sick heart to sail with the likes of you!” -</p> - -<p> -“Easy all, Long John,” cried Israel. “Who’s a-crossin’ of you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And how many -brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?” cried Silver. “And all for -this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a thing or two at sea, -I have. If you would on’y lay your course, and a p’int to windward, you would -ride in carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You’ll have your -mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang.” -</p> - -<p> -“Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there’s others as -could hand and steer as well as you,” said Israel. “They liked a bit o’ fun, -they did. They wasn’t so high and dry, nohow, but took their fling, like jolly -companions every one.” -</p> - -<p> -“So?” says Silver. “Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, and he -died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they was a -sweet crew, they was! On’y, where are they?” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” asked Dick, “when we do lay ’em athwart, what are we to do with ’em, -anyhow?” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s the man for me!” cried the cook admiringly. “That’s what I call -business. Well, what would you think? Put ’em ashore like maroons? That would -have been England’s way. Or cut ’em down like that much pork? That would have -been Flint’s, or Billy Bones’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“Billy was the man for that,” said Israel. “‘Dead men don’t bite,’ says he. -Well, he’s dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; and if ever -a rough hand come to port, it was Billy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right you are,” said Silver; “rough and ready. But mark you here, I’m an easy -man—I’m quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it’s serious. Dooty is -dooty, mates. I give my vote—death. When I’m in Parlyment and riding in my -coach, I don’t want none of these sea-lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, -unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; but when the time -comes, why, let her rip!” -</p> - -<p> -“John,” cries the coxswain, “you’re a man!” -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll say so, Israel when you see,” said Silver. “Only one thing I claim—I -claim Trelawney. I’ll wring his calf’s head off his body with these hands, -Dick!” he added, breaking off. “You just jump up, like a sweet lad, and get me -an apple, to wet my pipe like.” -</p> - -<p> -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for it if I -had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I heard Dick -begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and the voice of Hands -exclaimed, “Oh, stow that! Don’t you get sucking of that bilge, John. Let’s -have a go of the rum.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick,” said Silver, “I trust you. I’ve a gauge on the keg, mind. There’s the -key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up.” -</p> - -<p> -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must have -been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. -</p> - -<p> -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke straight -on in the cook’s ear. It was but a word or two that I could catch, and yet I -gathered some important news, for besides other scraps that tended to the same -purpose, this whole clause was audible: “Not another man of them’ll jine.” -Hence there were still faithful men on board. -</p> - -<p> -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and -drank—one “To luck,” another with a “Here’s to old Flint,” and Silver himself -saying, in a kind of song, “Here’s to ourselves, and hold your luff, plenty of -prizes and plenty of duff.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0117m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0117m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0117.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking up, I -found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and shining white on -the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time the voice of the lookout -shouted, “Land ho!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap12"></a> -<img src="images/0122m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0122m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XII<br/> -Council of War</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9122m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9122m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people tumbling up -from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an instant outside my -barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double towards the stern, and came -out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for -the weather bow. -</p> - -<p> -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted almost -simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of us we -saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind one of them -a third and higher hill, whose peak was still buried in the fog. All three -seemed sharp and conical in figure. -</p> - -<p> -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my horrid -fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of Captain Smollett -issuing orders. The <i>Hispaniola</i> was laid a couple of points nearer the -wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the island on the east. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, men,” said the captain, when all was sheeted home, “has any one of -you ever seen that land ahead?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have, sir,” said Silver. “I’ve watered there with a trader I was cook in.” -</p> - -<p> -“The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for pirates -once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. That hill to -the nor’ard they calls the Foremast Hill; there are three hills in a row -running south’ard—fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the main—that’s the big un, -with the cloud on it—they usually calls the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout -they kept when they was in the anchorage cleaning, for it’s there they cleaned -their ships, sir, asking your pardon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have a chart here,” says Captain Smollett. “See if that’s the place.” -</p> - -<p> -Long John’s eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the fresh look -of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This was not the map we -found in Billy Bones’s chest, but an accurate copy, complete in all -things—names and heights and soundings—with the single exception of the red -crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have been his annoyance, Silver -had the strength of mind to hide it. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir,” said he, “this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily drawed -out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I -reckon. Aye, here it is: ‘Capt. Kidd’s Anchorage’—just the name my shipmate -called it. There’s a strong current runs along the south, and then away nor’ard -up the west coast. Right you was, sir,” says he, “to haul your wind and keep -the weather of the island. Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter -and careen, and there ain’t no better place for that in these waters.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, my man,” says Captain Smollett. “I’ll ask you later on to give us a -help. You may go.” -</p> - -<p> -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge of the -island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing nearer to -myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council from the -apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of his cruelty, -duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he laid his -hand upon my arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” says he, “this here is a sweet spot, this island—a sweet spot for a lad -to get ashore on. You’ll bathe, and you’ll climb trees, and you’ll hunt goats, -you will; and you’ll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself. Why, it -makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber leg, I was. It’s a -pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When you -want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he’ll put up a snack -for you to take along.” -</p> - -<p> -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off -forward and went below. -</p> - -<p> -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the -quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt -them openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts to find some -probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his side. He had left his pipe below, -and being a slave to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as -I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, -“Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then -make some pretence to send for me. I have terrible news.” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master of -himself. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, Jim,” said he quite loudly, “that was all I wanted to know,” as if -he had asked me a question. -</p> - -<p> -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They spoke -together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised his voice, or -so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey had communicated my -request, for the next thing that I heard was the captain giving an order to Job -Anderson, and all hands were piped on deck. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said Captain Smollett, “I’ve a word to say to you. This land that we -have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, being a very -open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked me a word or two, and as -I was able to tell him that every man on board had done his duty, alow and -aloft, as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and the doctor are -going below to the cabin to drink <i>your</i> health and luck, and you’ll have -grog served out for you to drink <i>our</i> health and luck. I’ll tell you what -I think of this: I think it handsome. And if you think as I do, you’ll give a -good sea-cheer for the gentleman that does it.” -</p> - -<p> -The cheer followed—that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full and -hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were plotting for -our blood. -</p> - -<p> -“One more cheer for Cap’n Smollett,” cried Long John when the first had -subsided. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0125m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0125m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0125.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And this also was given with a will. -</p> - -<p> -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, word was -sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine and -some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, -and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern window was open, -for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon shining behind on the -ship’s wake. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Hawkins,” said the squire, “you have something to say. Speak up.” -</p> - -<p> -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole details of -Silver’s conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one -of the three of them make so much as a movement, but they kept their eyes upon -my face from first to last. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” said Dr. Livesey, “take a seat.” -</p> - -<p> -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of wine, -filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, and each with -a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for my luck and courage. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, captain,” said the squire, “you were right, and I was wrong. I own myself -an ass, and I await your orders.” -</p> - -<p> -“No more an ass than I, sir,” returned the captain. “I never heard of a crew -that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that had an eye -in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But this crew,” he -added, “beats me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said the doctor, “with your permission, that’s Silver. A very -remarkable man.” -</p> - -<p> -“He’d look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir,” returned the captain. “But -this is talk; this don’t lead to anything. I see three or four points, and with -Mr. Trelawney’s permission, I’ll name them.” -</p> - -<p> -“You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak,” says Mr. Trelawney -grandly. -</p> - -<p> -“First point,” began Mr. Smollett. “We must go on, because we can’t turn back. -If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second point, we have -time before us—at least until this treasure’s found. Third point, there are -faithful hands. Now, sir, it’s got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I -propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows -some fine day when they least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own -home servants, Mr. Trelawney?” -</p> - -<p> -“As upon myself,” declared the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Three,” reckoned the captain; “ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins here. -Now, about the honest hands?” -</p> - -<p> -“Most likely Trelawney’s own men,” said the doctor; “those he had picked up for -himself before he lit on Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” replied the squire. “Hands was one of mine.” -</p> - -<p> -“I did think I could have trusted Hands,” added the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“And to think that they’re all Englishmen!” broke out the squire. “Sir, I could -find it in my heart to blow the ship up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, gentlemen,” said the captain, “the best that I can say is not much. We -must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It’s trying on a man, I -know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But there’s no help for it till -we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a wind, that’s my view.” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim here,” said the doctor, “can help us more than anyone. The men are not shy -with him, and Jim is a noticing lad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you,” added the squire. -</p> - -<p> -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether helpless; and -yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety -came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only seven out of the -twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and out of these seven one was a boy, -so that the grown men on our side were six to their nineteen. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0131m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0131m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0131.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part03"></a> -PART THREE—My Shore Adventure</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap13"></a> -<img src="images/0133m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0133m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIII<br/> -How I Began My Shore Adventure</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9133m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9133m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was altogether -changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had made a great deal -of way during the night and were now lying becalmed about half a mile to the -south-east of the low eastern coast. Grey-coloured woods covered a large part -of the surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow -sand-break in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine family, -out-topping the others—some singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring -was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of -naked rock. All were strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or -four hundred feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in -configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly cut -off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms -were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole -ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had to cling tight -to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my eyes, for though I was -a good enough sailor when there was way on, this standing still and being -rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to stand without a qualm -or so, above all in the morning, on an empty stomach. -</p> - -<p> -Perhaps it was this—perhaps it was the look of the island, with its grey, -melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could both see -and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach—at least, although the sun -shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were fishing and crying all around -us, and you would have thought anyone would have been glad to get to land after -being so long at sea, my heart sank, as the saying is, into my boots; and from -the first look onward, I hated the very thought of Treasure Island. -</p> - -<p> -We had a dreary morning’s work before us, for there was no sign of any wind, -and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped three or four -miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow passage to the haven -behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of the boats, where I had, of -course, no business. The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely -over their work. Anderson was in command of my boat, and instead of keeping the -crew in order, he grumbled as loud as the worst. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he said with an oath, “it’s not forever.” -</p> - -<p> -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone briskly -and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the island had -relaxed the cords of discipline. -</p> - -<p> -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. He knew -the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the chains got -everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never hesitated once. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a strong scour with the ebb,” he said, “and this here passage has been -dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade.” -</p> - -<p> -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of a mile -from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on the other. The -bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up clouds of birds -wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a minute they were down -again and all was once more silent. -</p> - -<p> -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming right -down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops standing -round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one there. Two little -rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this pond, as you might call it; -and the foliage round that part of the shore had a kind of poisonous -brightness. From the ship we could see nothing of the house or stockade, for -they were quite buried among trees; and if it had not been for the chart on the -companion, we might have been the first that had ever anchored there since the -island arose out of the seas. -</p> - -<p> -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the surf booming -half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks outside. A peculiar -stagnant smell hung over the anchorage—a smell of sodden leaves and rotting -tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing, like someone tasting -a bad egg. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know about treasure,” he said, “but I’ll stake my wig there’s fever -here.” -</p> - -<p> -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly -threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling -together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and -grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught the -infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, it was -plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. -</p> - -<p> -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long John -was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in good advice, -and as for example no man could have shown a better. He fairly outstripped -himself in willingness and civility; he was all smiles to everyone. If an order -were given, John would be on his crutch in an instant, with the cheeriest “Aye, -aye, sir!” in the world; and when there was nothing else to do, he kept up one -song after another, as if to conceal the discontent of the rest. -</p> - -<p> -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety on -the part of Long John appeared the worst. -</p> - -<p> -We held a council in the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said the captain, “if I risk another order, the whole ship’ll come about -our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, do I not? -Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I don’t, Silver -will see there’s something under that, and the game’s up. Now, we’ve only one -man to rely on.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who is that?” asked the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Silver, sir,” returned the captain; “he’s as anxious as you and I to smother -things up. This is a tiff; he’d soon talk ’em out of it if he had the chance, -and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let’s allow the men an -afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we’ll fight the ship. If they none of -them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God defend the right. If some go, -you mark my words, sir, Silver’ll bring ’em aboard again as mild as lambs.” -</p> - -<p> -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; Hunter, -Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received the news with -less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, and then the captain -went on deck and addressed the crew. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said he, “we’ve had a hot day and are all tired and out of sorts. A -turn ashore’ll hurt nobody—the boats are still in the water; you can take the -gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the afternoon. I’ll fire a gun -half an hour before sundown.” -</p> - -<p> -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their shins over -treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out of their sulks in a -moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a faraway hill and sent the -birds once more flying and squalling round the anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight in a -moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he did -so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as have pretended not to -understand the situation. It was as plain as day. Silver was the captain, and a -mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands—and I was soon to see it -proved that there were such on board—must have been very stupid fellows. Or -rather, I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the -example of the ringleaders—only some more, some less; and a few, being good -fellows in the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one -thing to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a number -of innocent men. -</p> - -<p> -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on board, and -the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. -</p> - -<p> -Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions that -contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by Silver, it was -plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and since only six were -left, it was equally plain that the cabin party had no present need of my -assistance. It occurred to me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped -over the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost -at the same moment she shoved off. -</p> - -<p> -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you, Jim? Keep your -head down.” But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply over and called out -to know if that were me; and from that moment I began to regret what I had -done. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0137m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0137m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0137.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start and -being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, -and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had caught a branch and -swung myself out and plunged into the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest -were still a hundred yards behind. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting. -</p> - -<p> -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking through, I -ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap14"></a> -<img src="images/0140m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0140m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIV<br/> -The First Blow</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9140m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9140m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to enjoy -myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land that I was in. -</p> - -<p> -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, -swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of -undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with a few pines and a -great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the -foliage, like willows. On the far side of the open stood one of the hills, with -two quaint, craggy peaks shining vividly in the sun. -</p> - -<p> -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was uninhabited; -my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front of me but dumb -brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the trees. Here and there -were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and there I saw snakes, and one -raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me with a noise not unlike -the spinning of a top. Little did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that -the noise was the famous rattle. -</p> - -<p> -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees—live, or evergreen, oaks, -I heard afterwards they should be called—which grew low along the sand like -brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage compact, like thatch. The -thicket stretched down from the top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and -growing taller as it went, until it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, -through which the nearest of the little rivers soaked its way into the -anchorage. The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the -Spy-glass trembled through the haze. -</p> - -<p> -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; a wild duck -flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the whole surface of the -marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in the air. I judged -at once that some of my shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the -fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon I heard the very distant and low tones of a -human voice, which, as I continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and -nearer. -</p> - -<p> -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest live-oak -and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. -</p> - -<p> -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized to be -Silver’s, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while in a stream, -only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they must have been -talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no distinct word came to my -hearing. -</p> - -<p> -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, for -not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves began to -grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp. -</p> - -<p> -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since I had -been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the least I could -do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my plain and obvious duty -was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable ambush of the -crouching trees. -</p> - -<p> -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by the -sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that still hung in -alarm above the heads of the intruders. -</p> - -<p> -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at last, -raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear down into a -little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about with trees, where -Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to face in conversation. -</p> - -<p> -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the -ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was lifted to -the other man’s in a kind of appeal. -</p> - -<p> -“Mate,” he was saying, “it’s because I thinks gold dust of you—gold dust, and -you may lay to that! If I hadn’t took to you like pitch, do you think I’d have -been here a-warning of you? All’s up—you can’t make nor mend; it’s to save your -neck that I’m a-speaking, and if one of the wild uns knew it, where’d I be, -Tom—now, tell me, where’d I be?” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver,” said the other man—and I observed he was not only red in the face, -but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a taut -rope—“Silver,” says he, “you’re old, and you’re honest, or has the name for it; -and you’ve money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn’t; and you’re brave, or -I’m mistook. And will you tell me you’ll let yourself be led away with that -kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure as God sees me, I’d sooner lose my -hand. If I turn agin my dooty—” -</p> - -<p> -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found one of the -honest hands—well, here, at that same moment, came news of another. Far away -out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like the cry of anger, -then another on the back of it; and then one horrid, long-drawn scream. The -rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a score of times; the whole troop of -marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, with a simultaneous whirr; and long -after that death yell was still ringing in my brain, silence had re-established -its empire, and only the rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the -distant surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. -</p> - -<p> -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had not -winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching -his companion like a snake about to spring. -</p> - -<p> -“John!” said the sailor, stretching out his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Hands off!” cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with the -speed and security of a trained gymnast. -</p> - -<p> -“Hands off, if you like, John Silver,” said the other. “It’s a black conscience -that can make you feared of me. But in heaven’s name, tell me, what was that?” -</p> - -<p> -“That?” returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye a mere -pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. “That? Oh, I -reckon that’ll be Alan.” -</p> - -<p> -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. -</p> - -<p> -“Alan!” he cried. “Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, John -Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine, but you’re mate of mine no more. If I -die like a dog, I’ll die in my dooty. You’ve killed Alan, have you? Kill me -too, if you can. But I defies you.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook and set -off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. With a cry John -seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of his armpit, and sent -that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. It struck poor Tom, point -foremost, and with stunning violence, right between the shoulders in the middle -of his back. His hands flew up, he gave a sort of gasp, and fell. -</p> - -<p> -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like enough, to -judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he had no time given -him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without leg or crutch, was on -the top of him next moment and had twice buried his knife up to the hilt in -that defenceless body. From my place of ambush, I could hear him pant aloud as -he struck the blows. -</p> - -<p> -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the next -little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling mist; -Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and round and -topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing and distant voices -shouting in my ear. -</p> - -<p> -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, his crutch -under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom lay motionless upon -the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, cleansing his blood-stained -knife the while upon a wisp of grass. Everything else was unchanged, the sun -still shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the -mountain, and I could scarce persuade myself that murder had been actually done -and a human life cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0141m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0141m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0141.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0145m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0145m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0145.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and blew upon -it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated air. I could not -tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but it instantly awoke my fears. -More men would be coming. I might be discovered. They had already slain two of -the honest people; after Tom and Alan, might not I come next? -</p> - -<p> -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what speed and -silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the wood. As I did so, I -could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades, -and this sound of danger lent me wings. As soon as I was clear of the thicket, -I ran as I never ran before, scarce minding the direction of my flight, so long -as it led me from the murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me until -it turned into a kind of frenzy. -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, how -should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still smoking from -their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring my neck like a -snipe’s? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to them of my alarm, and -therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, I thought. Good-bye to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>; good-bye to the squire, the doctor, and the captain! There -was nothing left for me but death by starvation or death by the hands of the -mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any notice, I -had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two peaks and had got -into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew more widely apart and seemed -more like forest trees in their bearing and dimensions. Mingled with these were -a few scattered pines, some fifty, some nearer seventy, feet high. The air too -smelt more freshly than down beside the marsh. -</p> - -<p> -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap15"></a> -<img src="images/0150m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0150m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XV<br/> -The Man of the Island</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9150m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9150m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -rom the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of gravel was -dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. My eyes turned -instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap with great rapidity -behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether bear or man or monkey, I could -in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of -this new apparition brought me to a stand. -</p> - -<p> -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, before -me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer the dangers that -I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less terrible in contrast -with this creature of the woods, and I turned on my heel, and looking sharply -behind me over my shoulder, began to retrace my steps in the direction of the -boats. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to head me -off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I rose, I could -see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an adversary. From -trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running manlike on two legs, -but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as it ran. Yet -a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt about that. -</p> - -<p> -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of calling -for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, had somewhat -reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in proportion. I stood -still, therefore, and cast about for some method of escape; and as I was so -thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed into my mind. As soon as I -remembered I was not defenceless, courage glowed again in my heart and I set my -face resolutely for this man of the island and walked briskly towards him. -</p> - -<p> -He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must have been -watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his direction he -reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, drew back, came -forward again, and at last, to my wonder and confusion, threw himself on his -knees and held out his clasped hands in supplication. -</p> - -<p> -At that I once more stopped. -</p> - -<p> -“Who are you?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ben Gunn,” he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, like a rusty -lock. “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a Christian these -three years.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0153m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0153m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0153.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his features were -even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was burnt by the sun; even -his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked quite startling in so dark a -face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen or fancied, he was the chief for -raggedness. He was clothed with tatters of old ship’s canvas and old sea-cloth, -and this extraordinary patchwork was all held together by a system of the most -various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of -tarry gaskin. About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which -was the one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. -</p> - -<p> -“Three years!” I cried. “Were you shipwrecked?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, mate,” said he; “marooned.” -</p> - -<p> -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of punishment -common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender is put ashore with a -little powder and shot and left behind on some desolate and distant island. -</p> - -<p> -“Marooned three years agone,” he continued, “and lived on goats since then, and -berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can do for himself. But, -mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn’t happen to have a piece -of cheese about you, now? No? Well, many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of -cheese—toasted, mostly—and woke up again, and here I were.” -</p> - -<p> -“If ever I can get aboard again,” said I, “you shall have cheese by the stone.” -</p> - -<p> -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing my hands, -looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of his speech, showing a -childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow creature. But at my last words he -perked up into a kind of startled slyness. -</p> - -<p> -“If ever you can get aboard again, says you?” he repeated. “Why, now, who’s to -hinder you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not you, I know,” was my reply. -</p> - -<p> -“And right you was,” he cried. “Now you—what do you call yourself, mate?” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” I told him. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim, Jim,” says he, quite pleased apparently. “Well, now, Jim, I’ve lived that -rough as you’d be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn’t think I -had had a pious mother—to look at me?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, no, not in particular,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well,” said he, “but I had—<i>re</i>markable pious. And I was a civil, -pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn’t tell -one word from another. And here’s what it come to, Jim, and it begun with -chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That’s what it begun with, but it -went further’n that; and so my mother told me, and predicked the whole, she -did, the pious woman! But it were Providence that put me here. I’ve thought it -all out in this here lonely island, and I’m back on piety. You don’t catch me -tasting rum so much, but just a thimbleful for luck, of course, the first -chance I have. I’m bound I’ll be good, and I see the way to. And, Jim”—looking -all round him and lowering his voice to a whisper—“I’m rich.” -</p> - -<p> -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and I -suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the statement -hotly: “Rich! Rich! I says. And I’ll tell you what: I’ll make a man of you, -Jim. Ah, Jim, you’ll bless your stars, you will, you was the first that found -me!” -</p> - -<p> -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he -tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly before -my eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain’t Flint’s ship?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found an ally, -and I answered him at once. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not Flint’s ship, and Flint is dead; but I’ll tell you true, as you ask -me—there are some of Flint’s hands aboard; worse luck for the rest of us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a man—with one—leg?” he gasped. -</p> - -<p> -“Silver?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Silver!” says he. “That were his name.” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s the cook, and the ringleader too.” -</p> - -<p> -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a wring. -</p> - -<p> -“If you was sent by Long John,” he said, “I’m as good as pork, and I know it. -But where was you, do you suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him the whole -story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found ourselves. He heard -me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he patted me on the head. -</p> - -<p> -“You’re a good lad, Jim,” he said; “and you’re all in a clove hitch, ain’t you? -Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn—Ben Gunn’s the man to do it. Would -you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a liberal-minded one in -case of help—him being in a clove hitch, as you remark?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, but you see,” returned Ben Gunn, “I didn’t mean giving me a gate to keep, -and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that’s not my mark, Jim. What I mean -is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one thousand pounds out -of money that’s as good as a man’s own already?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sure he would,” said I. “As it was, all hands were to share.” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>And</i> a passage home?” he added with a look of great shrewdness. -</p> - -<p> -“Why,” I cried, “the squire’s a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of the -others, we should want you to help work the vessel home.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said he, “so you would.” And he seemed very much relieved. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, I’ll tell you what,” he went on. “So much I’ll tell you, and no more. I -were in Flint’s ship when he buried the treasure; he and six along—six strong -seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us standing off and on in the old -<i>Walrus</i>. One fine day up went the signal, and here come Flint by himself -in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, -and mortal white he looked about the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and -the six all dead—dead and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could -make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways—him against six. -Billy Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him -where the treasure was. ‘Ah,’ says he, ‘you can go ashore, if you like, and -stay,’ he says; ‘but as for the ship, she’ll beat up for more, by thunder!’ -That’s what he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this island. -‘Boys,’ said I, ‘here’s Flint’s treasure; let’s land and find it.’ The cap’n -was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed. Twelve -days they looked for it, and every day they had the worse word for me, until -one fine morning all hands went aboard. ‘As for you, Benjamin Gunn,’ says they, -‘here’s a musket,’ they says, ‘and a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and -find Flint’s money for yourself,’ they says. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian diet from -that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I look like a man -before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren’t, neither, I says.” -</p> - -<p> -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. -</p> - -<p> -“Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim,” he went on. “Nor he weren’t, -neither—that’s the words. Three years he were the man of this island, light and -dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe think upon a prayer (says -you), and sometimes he would maybe think of his old mother, so be as she’s -alive (you’ll say); but the most part of Gunn’s time (this is what you’ll -say)—the most part of his time was took up with another matter. And then you’ll -give him a nip, like I do.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. -</p> - -<p> -“Then,” he continued, “then you’ll up, and you’ll say this: Gunn is a good man -(you’ll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence—a precious sight, -mind that—in a gen’leman born than in these gen’leman of fortune, having been -one hisself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” I said, “I don’t understand one word that you’ve been saying. But -that’s neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said he, “that’s the hitch, for sure. Well, there’s my boat, that I made -with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst come to the -worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!” he broke out. “What’s that?” -</p> - -<p> -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the echoes -of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. -</p> - -<p> -“They have begun to fight!” I cried. “Follow me.” -</p> - -<p> -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, while close -at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly. -</p> - -<p> -“Left, left,” says he; “keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the trees with -you! Theer’s where I killed my first goat. They don’t come down here now; -they’re all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And -there’s the cetemery”—cemetery, he must have meant. “You see the mounds? I come -here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought maybe a Sunday would be about -doo. It weren’t quite a chapel, but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says -you, Ben Gunn was short-handed—no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, -you says.” -</p> - -<p> -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. -</p> - -<p> -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley of small -arms. -</p> - -<p> -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I beheld the -Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0159m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0159m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0159.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part04"></a> -PART FOUR—The Stockade</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap16"></a> -<img src="images/0161m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0161m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVI<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9161m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9161m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was about half past one—three bells in the sea phrase—that the two boats went -ashore from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. The captain, the squire, and I were talking -matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, we should have -fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our cable, -and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and to complete our helplessness, -down came Hunter with the news that Jim Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was -gone ashore with the rest. -</p> - -<p> -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for his -safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we -should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was bubbling in the seams; -the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; if ever a man smelt fever and -dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The six scoundrels were sitting -grumbling under a sail in the forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made -fast and a man sitting in each, hard by where the river runs in. One of them -was whistling “Lillibullero.” -</p> - -<p> -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go ashore -with the jolly-boat in quest of information. -</p> - -<p> -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, in the -direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were left guarding their -boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; “Lillibullero” stopped off, and I -could see the pair discussing what they ought to do. Had they gone and told -Silver, all might have turned out differently; but they had their orders, I -suppose, and decided to sit quietly where they were and hark back again to -“Lillibullero.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it between us; -even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. I jumped out and came -as near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief under my hat for -coolness’ sake and a brace of pistols ready primed for safety. -</p> - -<p> -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. -</p> - -<p> -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a knoll. -Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a stout loghouse -fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed for musketry on either -side. All round this they had cleared a wide space, and then the thing was -completed by a paling six feet high, without door or opening, too strong to -pull down without time and labour and too open to shelter the besiegers. The -people in the log-house had them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and -shot the others like partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; -for, short of a complete surprise, they might have held the place against a -regiment. -</p> - -<p> -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good enough -place of it in the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, with plenty of arms and -ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been one thing -overlooked—we had no water. I was thinking this over when there came ringing -over the island the cry of a man at the point of death. I was not new to -violent death—I have served his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and got -a wound myself at Fontenoy—but I know my pulse went dot and carry one. “Jim -Hawkins is gone,” was my first thought. -</p> - -<p> -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been a -doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made up my -mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and jumped on board -the jolly-boat. -</p> - -<p> -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the boat -was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. -</p> - -<p> -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as white -as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! And one of -the six forecastle hands was little better. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a man,” says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, “new to this work. -He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. Another touch of the -rudder and that man would join us.” -</p> - -<p> -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details of its -accomplishment. -</p> - -<p> -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, with -three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter brought the -boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work loading her with -powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a cask of cognac, and my -invaluable medicine chest. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the latter -hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Hands,” he said, “here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. If any -one of you six make a signal of any description, that man’s dead.” -</p> - -<p> -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one and all -tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us on the rear. But -when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred galley, they went about -ship at once, and a head popped out again on deck. -</p> - -<p> -“Down, dog!” cries the captain. -</p> - -<p> -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of these -six very faint-hearted seamen. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0163m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0163m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0163.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat loaded as -much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, and we made for -shore again as fast as oars could take us. -</p> - -<p> -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. “Lillibullero” was -dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the little point, -one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a mind to change my plan -and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver and the others might be close -at hand, and all might very well be lost by trying for too much. -</p> - -<p> -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to provision the -block house. All three made the first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our -stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them—one man, to be -sure, but with half a dozen muskets—Hunter and I returned to the jolly-boat and -loaded ourselves once more. So we proceeded without pausing to take breath, -till the whole cargo was bestowed, when the two servants took up their position -in the block house, and I, with all my power, sculled back to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it really -was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the advantage of -arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before they could get within -range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves we should be able to give a -good account of a half-dozen at least. -</p> - -<p> -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness gone from -him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat -for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo, with only a musket -and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me and Redruth and the captain. The -rest of the arms and powder we dropped overboard in two fathoms and a half of -water, so that we could see the bright steel shining far below us in the sun, -on the clean, sandy bottom. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging round to -her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the direction of the two -gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and Hunter, who were well to the -eastward, it warned our party to be off. -</p> - -<p> -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the boat, -which we then brought round to the ship’s counter, to be handier for Captain -Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, men,” said he, “do you hear me?” -</p> - -<p> -There was no answer from the forecastle. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s to you, Abraham Gray—it’s to you I am speaking.” -</p> - -<p> -Still no reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Gray,” resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, “I am leaving this ship, and I -order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at bottom, and I -dare say not one of the lot of you’s as bad as he makes out. I have my watch -here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join me in.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a pause. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, my fine fellow,” continued the captain; “don’t hang so long in stays. -I’m risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every second.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham Gray with a -knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the captain like a dog -to the whistle. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m with you, sir,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we had -shoved off and given way. -</p> - -<p> -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap17"></a> -<img src="images/0168m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0168m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVII<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9168m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9168m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -his fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the first place, -the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five -grown men, and three of them—Trelawney, Redruth, and the captain—over six feet -high, was already more than she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, -pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times we shipped -a little water, and my breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet -before we had gone a hundred yards. -</p> - -<p> -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more evenly. -All the same, we were afraid to breathe. -</p> - -<p> -In the second place, the ebb was now making—a strong rippling current running -westward through the basin, and then south’ard and seaward down the straits by -which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples were a danger to our -overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we were swept out of our true -course and away from our proper landing-place behind the point. If we let the -current have its way we should come ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates -might appear at any moment. -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,” said I to the captain. I was -steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. “The tide -keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not without swamping the boat,” said he. “You must bear up, sir, if you -please—bear up until you see you’re gaining.” -</p> - -<p> -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward until I -had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the way we ought to -go. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ll never get ashore at this rate,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“If it’s the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it,” returned -the captain. “We must keep upstream. You see, sir,” he went on, “if once we -dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it’s hard to say where we should get -ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the gigs; whereas, the way we go -the current must slacken, and then we can dodge back along the shore.” -</p> - -<p> -“The current’s less a’ready, sir,” said the man Gray, who was sitting in the -fore-sheets; “you can ease her off a bit.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, my man,” said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we had all -quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a little -changed. -</p> - -<p> -“The gun!” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“I have thought of that,” said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a -bombardment of the fort. “They could never get the gun ashore, and if they did, -they could never haul it through the woods.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look astern, doctor,” replied the captain. -</p> - -<p> -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were the -five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called the stout -tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but it flashed into my -mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the powder for the gun had been -left behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into the possession of -the evil ones abroad. -</p> - -<p> -“Israel was Flint’s gunner,” said Gray hoarsely. -</p> - -<p> -At any risk, we put the boat’s head direct for the landing-place. By this time -we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept steerage way even -at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could keep her steady for the -goal. But the worst of it was that with the course I now held we turned our -broadside instead of our stern to the <i>Hispaniola</i> and offered a target -like a barn door. -</p> - -<p> -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands plumping down -a round-shot on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -“Who’s the best shot?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Trelawney, out and away,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? Hands, if -possible,” said the captain. -</p> - -<p> -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” cried the captain, “easy with that gun, sir, or you’ll swamp the boat. -All hands stand by to trim her when he aims.” -</p> - -<p> -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the other -side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we did not ship -a drop. -</p> - -<p> -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, who -was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. -However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he stooped, the ball -whistled over him, and it was one of the other four who fell. -</p> - -<p> -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a great -number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other -pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling into their places in the -boats. -</p> - -<p> -“Here come the gigs, sir,” said I. -</p> - -<p> -“Give way, then,” cried the captain. “We mustn’t mind if we swamp her now. If -we can’t get ashore, all’s up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir,” I added; “the crew of the other -most likely going round by shore to cut us off.” -</p> - -<p> -“They’ll have a hot run, sir,” returned the captain. “Jack ashore, you know. -It’s not them I mind; it’s the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady’s maid -couldn’t miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we’ll hold water.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0171m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0171m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0171.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so -overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were now -close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the ebb had -already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering trees. The gig was -no longer to be feared; the little point had already concealed it from our -eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed us, was now making reparation -and delaying our assailants. The one source of danger was the gun. -</p> - -<p> -“If I durst,” said the captain, “I’d stop and pick off another man.” -</p> - -<p> -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They had -never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I -could see him trying to crawl away. -</p> - -<p> -“Ready!” cried the squire. -</p> - -<p> -“Hold!” cried the captain, quick as an echo. -</p> - -<p> -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily under -water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was the first that -Jim heard, the sound of the squire’s shot not having reached him. Where the -ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I fancy it must have been over -our heads and that the wind of it may have contributed to our disaster. -</p> - -<p> -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of water, -leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. The other three -took complete headers, and came up again drenched and bubbling. -</p> - -<p> -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade ashore in -safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to make things worse, -only two guns out of five remained in a state for service. Mine I had snatched -from my knees and held over my head, by a sort of instinct. As for the captain, -he had carried his over his shoulder by a bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock -uppermost. The other three had gone down with the boat. -</p> - -<p> -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the woods -along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from the stockade -in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, if Hunter and Joyce -were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the sense and conduct to stand -firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a doubtful case—a pleasant, -polite man for a valet and to brush one’s clothes, but not entirely fitted for -a man of war. -</p> - -<p> -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving behind -us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and provisions. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap18"></a> -<img src="images/0175m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0175m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XVIII<br/> -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9175m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9175m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -e made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from the -stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. -Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking of the branches -as they breasted across a bit of thicket. -</p> - -<p> -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my -priming. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said I, “Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his own is -useless.” -</p> - -<p> -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since the -beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all was fit for -service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I handed him my -cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his hand, knit his -brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was plain from every line of -his body that our new hand was worth his salt. -</p> - -<p> -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade in -front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south side, and -almost at the same time, seven mutineers—Job Anderson, the boatswain, at their -head—appeared in full cry at the southwestern corner. -</p> - -<p> -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the squire -and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to fire. The four -shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did the business: one of the -enemy actually fell, and the rest, without hesitation, turned and plunged into -the trees. -</p> - -<p> -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to the -fallen enemy. He was stone dead—shot through the heart. -</p> - -<p> -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a pistol -cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth -stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire and I returned the -shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable we only wasted powder. -Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor Tom. -</p> - -<p> -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an eye -that all was over. -</p> - -<p> -I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers once -more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the poor old -gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and bleeding, into -the log-house. -</p> - -<p> -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, fear, or -even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till now, when we had -laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a Trojan behind his -mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order silently, doggedly, and -well; he was the oldest of our party by a score of years; and now, sullen, old, -serviceable servant, it was he that was to die. -</p> - -<p> -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, crying -like a child. -</p> - -<p> -“Be I going, doctor?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom, my man,” said I, “you’re going home.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first,” he replied. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom,” said the squire, “say you forgive me, won’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?” was the answer. -“Howsoever, so be it, amen!” -</p> - -<p> -After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read a -prayer. “It’s the custom, sir,” he added apologetically. And not long after, -without another word, he passed away. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully swollen -about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various stores—the -British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, the log-book, and -pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree lying felled and trimmed in -the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter he had set it up at the corner of -the log-house where the trunks crossed and made an angle. Then, climbing on the -roof, he had with his own hand bent and run up the colours. -</p> - -<p> -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set about -counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an eye on Tom’s -passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward with another -flag and reverently spread it on the body. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you take on, sir,” he said, shaking the squire’s hand. “All’s well with -him; no fear for a hand that’s been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. -It mayn’t be good divinity, but it’s a fact.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he pulled me aside. -</p> - -<p> -“Dr. Livesey,” he said, “in how many weeks do you and squire expect the -consort?” -</p> - -<p> -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we were not -back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but neither sooner -nor later. “You can calculate for yourself,” I said. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, yes,” returned the captain, scratching his head; “and making a large -allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we were pretty -close hauled.” -</p> - -<p> -“How do you mean?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That’s what I mean,” replied the -captain. “As for powder and shot, we’ll do. But the rations are short, very -short—so short, Dr. Livesey, that we’re perhaps as well without that extra -mouth.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. -</p> - -<p> -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the roof -of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. -</p> - -<p> -“Oho!” said the captain. “Blaze away! You’ve little enough powder already, my -lads.” -</p> - -<p> -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside the -stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain,” said the squire, “the house is quite invisible from the ship. It -must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it in?” -</p> - -<p> -“Strike my colours!” cried the captain. “No, sir, not I”; and as soon as he had -said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was not only a piece of -stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy besides and showed our -enemies that we despised their cannonade. -</p> - -<p> -All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew over or -fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had to fire so high -that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft sand. We had no ricochet -to fear, and though one popped in through the roof of the log-house and out -again through the floor, we soon got used to that sort of horse-play and minded -it no more than cricket. -</p> - -<p> -“There is one good thing about all this,” observed the captain; “the wood in -front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our stores should -be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork.” -</p> - -<p> -Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole out of -the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were bolder than -we fancied or they put more trust in Israel’s gunnery. For four or five of them -were busy carrying off our stores and wading out with them to one of the gigs -that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to hold her steady against the current. -Silver was in the stern-sheets in command; and every man of them was now -provided with a musket from some secret magazine of their own. -</p> - -<p> -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship’s doctor; Abraham Gray, -carpenter’s mate; John Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, owner’s -servants, landsmen—being all that is left faithful of the ship’s company—with -stores for ten days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew British -colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. Thomas Redruth, owner’s servant, -landsman, shot by the mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy— -</p> - -<p> -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins’ fate. -</p> - -<p> -A hail on the land side. -</p> - -<p> -“Somebody hailing us,” said Hunter, who was on guard. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?” came the cries. -</p> - -<p> -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come climbing -over the stockade. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0179m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0179m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0179.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap19"></a> -<img src="images/0182m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0182m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XIX<br/> -Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9182m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9182m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -s soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the arm, -and sat down. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said he, “there’s your friends, sure enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“Far more likely it’s the mutineers,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“That!” he cried. “Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but -gen’lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don’t make no doubt -of that. No, that’s your friends. There’s been blows too, and I reckon your -friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in the old stockade, -as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a -headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were never seen. He were afraid of -none, not he; on’y Silver—Silver was that genteel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that I -should hurry on and join my friends.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, mate,” returned Ben, “not you. You’re a good boy, or I’m mistook; but -you’re on’y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn’t bring me there, -where you’re going—not rum wouldn’t, till I see your born gen’leman and gets it -on his word of honour. And you won’t forget my words; ‘A precious sight (that’s -what you’ll say), a precious sight more confidence’—and then nips him.” -</p> - -<p> -And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. -</p> - -<p> -“And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just wheer you -found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing in his hand, and -he’s to come alone. Oh! And you’ll say this: ‘Ben Gunn,’ says you, ‘has reasons -of his own.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I believe I understand. You have something to propose, and you -wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you’re to be found where I found you. -Is that all?” -</p> - -<p> -“And when? says you,” he added. “Why, from about noon observation to about six -bells.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good,” said I, “and now may I go?” -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t forget?” he inquired anxiously. “Precious sight, and reasons of his -own, says you. Reasons of his own; that’s the mainstay; as between man and man. -Well, then”—still holding me—“I reckon you can go, Jim. And, Jim, if you was to -see Silver, you wouldn’t go for to sell Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn’t draw it -from you? No, says you. And if them pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you -say but there’d be widders in the morning?” -</p> - -<p> -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing through -the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where we two were -talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels in a different -direction. -</p> - -<p> -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and balls kept -crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, always -pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying missiles. But towards the -end of the bombardment, though still I durst not venture in the direction of -the stockade, where the balls fell oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck -up my heart again, and after a long detour to the east, crept down among the -shore-side trees. -</p> - -<p> -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the woods and -ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and -great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat of the day, chilled -me through my jacket. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there -was the Jolly Roger—the black flag of piracy—flying from her peak. Even as I -looked, there came another red flash and another report that sent the echoes -clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through the air. It was the last -of the cannonade. -</p> - -<p> -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men were -demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade—the poor -jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the river, a great -fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point and the ship one of -the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I had seen so gloomy, shouting at -the oars like children. But there was a sound in their voices which suggested -rum. -</p> - -<p> -At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty far down -on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, and is joined -at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my feet, I saw, some -distance further down the spit and rising from among low bushes, an isolated -rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in colour. It occurred to me that this -might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn had spoken and that some day or other -a boat might be wanted and I should know where to look for one. -</p> - -<p> -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or shoreward -side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the faithful party. -</p> - -<p> -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was made of -unsquared trunks of pine—roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several -places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of the sand. -There was a porch at the door, and under this porch the little spring welled up -into an artificial basin of a rather odd kind—no other than a great ship’s -kettle of iron, with the bottom knocked out, and sunk “to her bearings,” as the -captain said, among the sand. -</p> - -<p> -Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one corner -there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron basket -to contain the fire. -</p> - -<p> -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been cleared of -timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps what a fine and lofty -grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had been washed away or buried in -drift after the removal of the trees; only where the streamlet ran down from -the kettle a thick bed of moss and some ferns and little creeping bushes were -still green among the sand. Very close around the stockade—too close for -defence, they said—the wood still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the -land side, but towards the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. -</p> - -<p> -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every chink -of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine -sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our suppers, sand -dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all the world like -porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole in the roof; it was -but a little part of the smoke that found its way out, and the rest eddied -about the house and kept us coughing and piping the eye. -</p> - -<p> -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage for a cut -he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor old Tom Redruth, -still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, under the Union Jack. -</p> - -<p> -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the blues, but -Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were called up before -him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and Gray and I for one; the -squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired though we all were, two were -sent out for firewood; two more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor -was named cook; I was put sentry at the door; and the captain himself went from -one to another, keeping up our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was -wanted. -</p> - -<p> -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to rest his -eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he did so, he had -a word for me. -</p> - -<p> -“That man Smollett,” he said once, “is a better man than I am. And when I say -that it means a deal, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on one -side, and looked at me. -</p> - -<p> -“Is this Ben Gunn a man?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know, sir,” said I. “I am not very sure whether he’s sane.” -</p> - -<p> -“If there’s any doubt about the matter, he is,” returned the doctor. “A man who -has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, can’t expect to -appear as sane as you or me. It doesn’t lie in human nature. Was it cheese you -said he had a fancy for?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir, cheese,” I answered. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Jim,” says he, “just see the good that comes of being dainty in your -food. You’ve seen my snuff-box, haven’t you? And you never saw me take snuff, -the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of Parmesan cheese—a -cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, that’s for Ben Gunn!” -</p> - -<p> -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round him for a -while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had been got in, but -not enough for the captain’s fancy, and he shook his head over it and told us -we “must get back to this tomorrow rather livelier.” Then, when we had eaten -our pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got -together in a corner to discuss our prospects. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0187m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0187m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0187.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It appears they were at their wits’ end what to do, the stores being so low -that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. But our -best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they either -hauled down their flag or ran away with the <i>Hispaniola</i>. From nineteen -they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one at -least—the man shot beside the gun—severely wounded, if he were not dead. Every -time we had a crack at them, we were to take it, saving our own lives, with the -extremest care. And besides that, we had two able allies—rum and the climate. -</p> - -<p> -As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear them -roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, the doctor -staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh and unprovided with -remedies, the half of them would be on their backs before a week. -</p> - -<p> -“So,” he added, “if we are not all shot down first they’ll be glad to be -packing in the schooner. It’s always a ship, and they can get to buccaneering -again, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“First ship that ever I lost,” said Captain Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was not till -after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. -</p> - -<p> -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the pile of -firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a bustle and the -sound of voices. -</p> - -<p> -“Flag of truce!” I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with a cry -of surprise, “Silver himself!” -</p> - -<p> -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the wall. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap20"></a> -<img src="images/0190m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0190m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XX<br/> -Silver’s Embassy</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9190m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9190m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -ure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them waving a -white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, standing placidly -by. -</p> - -<p> -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever was -abroad in—a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright and -cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. But -where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in shadow, and they waded -knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled during the night out of the -morass. The chill and the vapour taken together told a poor tale of the island. -It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot. -</p> - -<p> -“Keep indoors, men,” said the captain. “Ten to one this is a trick.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he hailed the buccaneer. -</p> - -<p> -“Who goes? Stand, or we fire.” -</p> - -<p> -“Flag of truce,” cried Silver. -</p> - -<p> -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way of a -treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to us, “Doctor’s -watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, if you please; Jim, the -east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to load muskets. Lively, men, and -careful.” -</p> - -<p> -And then he turned again to the mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -“And what do you want with your flag of truce?” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -This time it was the other man who replied. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms,” he shouted. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n Silver! Don’t know him. Who’s he?” cried the captain. And we could hear -him adding to himself, “Cap’n, is it? My heart, and here’s promotion!” -</p> - -<p> -Long John answered for himself. “Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me cap’n, -after your desertion, sir”—laying a particular emphasis upon the word -“desertion.” “We’re willing to submit, if we can come to terms, and no bones -about it. All I ask is your word, Cap’n Smollett, to let me safe and sound out -of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o’ shot before a gun is -fired.” -</p> - -<p> -“My man,” said Captain Smollett, “I have not the slightest desire to talk to -you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that’s all. If there’s any -treachery, it’ll be on your side, and the Lord help you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s enough, Cap’n,” shouted Long John cheerily. “A word from you’s enough. -I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold Silver -back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the captain’s -answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the back as if the -idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over his -crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in surmounting -the fence and dropping safely to the other side. -</p> - -<p> -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on to be of -the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted my eastern loophole -and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated himself on the threshold, -with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands, and his eyes fixed on the -water as it bubbled out of the old iron kettle in the sand. He was whistling -“Come, Lasses and Lads.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the steepness of -the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he and his crutch were -as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a man in silence, and -at last arrived before the captain, whom he saluted in the handsomest style. He -was tricked out in his best; an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, -hung as low as to his knees, and a fine laced hat was set on the back of his -head. -</p> - -<p> -“Here you are, my man,” said the captain, raising his head. “You had better sit -down.” -</p> - -<p> -“You ain’t a-going to let me inside, Cap’n?” complained Long John. “It’s a main -cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Silver,” said the captain, “if you had pleased to be an honest man, you -might have been sitting in your galley. It’s your own doing. You’re either my -ship’s cook—and then you were treated handsome—or Cap’n Silver, a common -mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, well, Cap’n,” returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was bidden on -the sand, “you’ll have to give me a hand up again, that’s all. A sweet pretty -place you have of it here. Ah, there’s Jim! The top of the morning to you, Jim. -Doctor, here’s my service. Why, there you all are together like a happy family, -in a manner of speaking.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you have anything to say, my man, better say it,” said the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Right you were, Cap’n Smollett,” replied Silver. “Dooty is dooty, to be sure. -Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last night. I don’t deny -it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a handspike-end. And I’ll not -deny neither but what some of my people was shook—maybe all was shook; maybe I -was shook myself; maybe that’s why I’m here for terms. But you mark me, Cap’n, -it won’t do twice, by thunder! We’ll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point -or so on the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind’s eye. But -I’ll tell you I was sober; I was on’y dog tired; and if I’d awoke a second -sooner, I’d ’a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn’t dead when I got round -to him, not he.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. -</p> - -<p> -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have guessed it -from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben Gunn’s last words -came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid the buccaneers a -visit while they all lay drunk together round their fire, and I reckoned up -with glee that we had only fourteen enemies to deal with. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, here it is,” said Silver. “We want that treasure, and we’ll have -it—that’s our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; and -that’s yours. You have a chart, haven’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s as may be,” replied the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, you have, I know that,” returned Long John. “You needn’t be so husky -with a man; there ain’t a particle of service in that, and you may lay to it. -What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant you no harm, myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“That won’t do with me, my man,” interrupted the captain. “We know exactly what -you meant to do, and we don’t care, for now, you see, you can’t do it.” -</p> - -<p> -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“If Abe Gray—” Silver broke out. -</p> - -<p> -“Avast there!” cried Mr. Smollett. “Gray told me nothing, and I asked him -nothing; and what’s more, I would see you and him and this whole island blown -clean out of the water into blazes first. So there’s my mind for you, my man, -on that.” -</p> - -<p> -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been growing -nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. -</p> - -<p> -“Like enough,” said he. “I would set no limits to what gentlemen might consider -shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein’ as how you are about to -take a pipe, Cap’n, I’ll make so free as do likewise.” -</p> - -<p> -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently smoking for -quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now stopping their tobacco, -now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as the play to see them. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” resumed Silver, “here it is. You give us the chart to get the treasure -by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. -You do that, and we’ll offer you a choice. Either you come aboard along of us, -once the treasure shipped, and then I’ll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of -honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or if that ain’t to your fancy, some -of my hands being rough and having old scores on account of hazing, then you -can stay here, you can. We’ll divide stores with you, man for man; and I’ll -give my affy-davy, as before to speak the first ship I sight, and send ’em here -to pick you up. Now, you’ll own that’s talking. Handsomer you couldn’t look to -get, now you. And I hope”—raising his voice—“that all hands in this here block -house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to all.” -</p> - -<p> -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his pipe in -the palm of his left hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Every last word, by thunder!” answered John. “Refuse that, and you’ve seen the -last of me but musket-balls.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very good,” said the captain. “Now you’ll hear me. If you’ll come up one by -one, unarmed, I’ll engage to clap you all in irons and take you home to a fair -trial in England. If you won’t, my name is Alexander Smollett, I’ve flown my -sovereign’s colours, and I’ll see you all to Davy Jones. You can’t find the -treasure. You can’t sail the ship—there’s not a man among you fit to sail the -ship. You can’t fight us—Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship’s in -irons, Master Silver; you’re on a lee shore, and so you’ll find. I stand here -and tell you so; and they’re the last good words you’ll get from me, for in the -name of heaven, I’ll put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. Tramp, my -lad. Bundle out of this, please, hand over hand, and double quick.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He shook -the fire out of his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me a hand up!” he cried. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> -<a href="images/0195.jpg"> -<img src="images/0195.jpg" width="447" height="650" alt="Illustration:" /></a> -<p class="caption">“Give me a hand up!” he cried. “Not I,” returned the captain.</p> -</div> - -<p> -“Not I,” returned the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Who’ll give me a hand up?” he roared. -</p> - -<p> -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled along -the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself again upon his -crutch. Then he spat into the spring. -</p> - -<p> -“There!” he cried. “That’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, I’ll stove -in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before -an hour’s out, ye’ll laugh upon the other side. Them that die’ll be the lucky -ones.” -</p> - -<p> -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was helped -across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with the flag of -truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the trees. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap21"></a> -<img src="images/0198m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0198m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXI<br/> -The Attack</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9198m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9198m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -s soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely watching him, -turned towards the interior of the house and found not a man of us at his post -but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry. -</p> - -<p> -“Quarters!” he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, “Gray,” he -said, “I’ll put your name in the log; you’ve stood by your duty like a seaman. -Mr. Trelawney, I’m surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I thought you had worn the -king’s coat! If that was how you served at Fontenoy, sir, you’d have been -better in your berth.” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor’s watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy loading -the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be certain, and a flea -in his ear, as the saying is. -</p> - -<p> -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“My lads,” said he, “I’ve given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in red-hot on -purpose; and before the hour’s out, as he said, we shall be boarded. We’re -outnumbered, I needn’t tell you that, but we fight in shelter; and a minute ago -I should have said we fought with discipline. I’ve no manner of doubt that we -can drub them, if you choose.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. -</p> - -<p> -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two -loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the north -side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; the -firewood had been built into four piles—tables, you might say—one about the -middle of each side, and on each of these tables some ammunition and four -loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders. In the middle, the -cutlasses lay ranged. -</p> - -<p> -“Toss out the fire,” said the captain; “the chill is past, and we mustn’t have -smoke in our eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the embers -smothered among sand. -</p> - -<p> -“Hawkins hasn’t had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to your -post to eat it,” continued Captain Smollett. “Lively, now, my lad; you’ll want -it before you’ve done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy to all hands.” -</p> - -<p> -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the plan -of the defence. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor, you will take the door,” he resumed. “See, and don’t expose yourself; -keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east side, there. -Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you are the best shot—you -and Gray will take this long north side, with the five loopholes; it’s there -the danger is. If they can get up to it and fire in upon us through our own -ports, things would begin to look dirty. Hawkins, neither you nor I are much -account at the shooting; we’ll stand by to load and bear a hand.” -</p> - -<p> -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had climbed -above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the clearing and -drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking and the resin -melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats were flung aside, -shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the shoulders; and we stood -there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -An hour passed away. -</p> - -<p> -“Hang them!” said the captain. “This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, whistle -for a wind.” -</p> - -<p> -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. -</p> - -<p> -“If you please, sir,” said Joyce, “if I see anyone, am I to fire?” -</p> - -<p> -“I told you so!” cried the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, sir,” returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. -</p> - -<p> -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, -straining ears and eyes—the musketeers with their pieces balanced in their -hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his mouth very -tight and a frown on his face. -</p> - -<p> -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired. -The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and repeated from without -in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of geese, from every -side of the enclosure. Several bullets struck the log-house, but not one -entered; and as the smoke cleared away and vanished, the stockade and the woods -around it looked as quiet and empty as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam -of a musket-barrel betrayed the presence of our foes. -</p> - -<p> -“Did you hit your man?” asked the captain. -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir,” replied Joyce. “I believe not, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Next best thing to tell the truth,” muttered Captain Smollett. “Load his gun, -Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know precisely,” said Dr. Livesey. “Three shots were fired on this side. I -saw the three flashes—two close together—one farther to the west.” -</p> - -<p> -“Three!” repeated the captain. “And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?” -</p> - -<p> -But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the north—seven -by the squire’s computation, eight or nine according to Gray. From the east and -west only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, therefore, that the -attack would be developed from the north and that on the other three sides we -were only to be annoyed by a show of hostilities. But Captain Smollett made no -change in his arrangements. If the mutineers succeeded in crossing the -stockade, he argued, they would take possession of any unprotected loophole and -shoot us down like rats in our own stronghold. -</p> - -<p> -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzza, a -little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran -straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once more opened -from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked the -doctor’s musket into bits. -</p> - -<p> -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again -and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the -outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was -on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0201m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0201m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0201.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our -defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight men, each -evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though useless fire on -the log-house. -</p> - -<p> -The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, shouting -as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to encourage them. -Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the marksmen that not one -appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the four pirates had swarmed up the -mound and were upon us. -</p> - -<p> -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle loophole. -</p> - -<p> -“At ’em, all hands—all hands!” he roared in a voice of thunder. -</p> - -<p> -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter’s musket by the muzzle, -wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, and with one -stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. Meanwhile a third, -running unharmed all around the house, appeared suddenly in the doorway and -fell with his cutlass on the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under cover, -at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could not return a -blow. -</p> - -<p> -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative safety. Cries -and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, and one loud groan rang -in my ears. -</p> - -<p> -“Out, lads, out, and fight ’em in the open! Cutlasses!” cried the captain. -</p> - -<p> -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time snatching -another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly felt. I dashed out of -the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was close behind, I knew not whom. -Right in front, the doctor was pursuing his assailant down the hill, and just -as my eyes fell upon him, beat down his guard and sent him sprawling on his -back with a great slash across the face. -</p> - -<p> -“Round the house, lads! Round the house!” cried the captain; and even in the -hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. -</p> - -<p> -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, ran round -the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face with Anderson. He -roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, flashing in the sunlight. -I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow still hung impending, leaped in a -trice upon one side, and missing my foot in the soft sand, rolled headlong down -the slope. -</p> - -<p> -When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been already -swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red night-cap, -with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and thrown a leg -across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I found my feet again -all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still half-way -over, another still just showing his head above the top of the stockade. And -yet, in this breath of time, the fight was over and the victory was ours. -</p> - -<p> -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere he had time -to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in the very -act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the pistol still smoking in -his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor had disposed of at a blow. Of the -four who had scaled the palisade, one only remained unaccounted for, and he, -having left his cutlass on the field, was now clambering out again with the -fear of death upon him. -</p> - -<p> -“Fire—fire from the house!” cried the doctor. “And you, lads, back into cover.” -</p> - -<p> -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder made good -his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In three seconds -nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who had fallen, four on -the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors would soon -be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment the fire might -recommence. -</p> - -<p> -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at a glance -the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunned; -Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move again; while right in the -centre, the squire was supporting the captain, one as pale as the other. -</p> - -<p> -“The captain’s wounded,” said Mr. Trelawney. -</p> - -<p> -“Have they run?” asked Mr. Smollett. -</p> - -<p> -“All that could, you may be bound,” returned the doctor; “but there’s five of -them will never run again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Five!” cried the captain. “Come, that’s better. Five against three leaves us -four to nine. That’s better odds than we had at starting. We were seven to -nineteen then, or thought we were, and that’s as bad to bear.” * -</p> - -<p> -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. -Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But this -was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0207m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0207m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0207.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part05"></a> -PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap22"></a> -<img src="images/0209m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0209m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXII<br/> -How I Began My Sea Adventure</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9209m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9209m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here was no return of the mutineers—not so much as another shot out of the -woods. They had “got their rations for that day,” as the captain put it, and we -had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the wounded and get -dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the danger, and even outside we -could hardly tell what we were at, for horror of the loud groans that reached -us from the doctor’s patients. -</p> - -<p> -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still -breathed—that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, Hunter, and -Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good as dead; the -mutineer indeed died under the doctor’s knife, and Hunter, do what we could, -never recovered consciousness in this world. He lingered all day, breathing -loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his apoplectic fit, but the bones of -his chest had been crushed by the blow and his skull fractured in falling, and -some time in the following night, without sign or sound, he went to his Maker. -</p> - -<p> -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. No -organ was fatally injured. Anderson’s ball—for it was Job that shot him -first—had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not badly; the second -had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. He was sure to recover, -the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for weeks to come, he must not walk -nor move his arm, nor so much as speak when he could help it. -</p> - -<p> -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor Livesey -patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the bargain. -</p> - -<p> -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain’s side awhile in -consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts’ content, it being then -a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, girt on a cutlass, -put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over his shoulder crossed the -palisade on the north side and set off briskly through the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to be out -of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out of his mouth -and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck he was at this -occurrence. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, in the name of Davy Jones,” said he, “is Dr. Livesey mad?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why no,” says I. “He’s about the last of this crew for that, I take it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, shipmate,” said Gray, “mad he may not be; but if <i>he’s</i> not, you -mark my words, <i>I</i> am.” -</p> - -<p> -“I take it,” replied I, “the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, he’s going -now to see Ben Gunn.” -</p> - -<p> -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being stifling -hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze with midday sun, I -began to get another thought into my head, which was not by any means so right. -What I began to do was to envy the doctor walking in the cool shadow of the -woods with the birds about him and the pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat -grilling, with my clothes stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me -and so many poor dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the -place that was almost as strong as fear. -</p> - -<p> -All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up the things -from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger and stronger, till at -last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing me, I took the first -step towards my escapade and filled both pockets of my coat with biscuit. -</p> - -<p> -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, over-bold -act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in my power. These -biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at least, from starving -till far on in the next day. -</p> - -<p> -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already had a -powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. -</p> - -<p> -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I was to go -down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east from the open sea, -find the white rock I had observed last evening, and ascertain whether it was -there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, a thing quite worth doing, as I -still believe. But as I was certain I should not be allowed to leave the -enclosure, my only plan was to take French leave and slip out when nobody was -watching, and that was so bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong. -But I was only a boy, and I had made my mind up. -</p> - -<p> -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The squire -and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the coast was clear, -I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest of the trees, and -before my absence was observed I was out of cry of my companions. -</p> - -<p> -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two sound men -to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards saving all of us. -</p> - -<p> -I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was determined -to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of observation from the -anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, although still warm and sunny. -As I continued to thread the tall woods, I could hear from far before me not -only the continuous thunder of the surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and -grinding of boughs which showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. -Soon cool draughts of air began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came -forth into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny -to the horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the beach. -</p> - -<p> -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might blaze -overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and blue, but still -these great rollers would be running along all the external coast, thundering -and thundering by day and night; and I scarce believe there is one spot in the -island where a man would be out of earshot of their noise. -</p> - -<p> -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking I was now -got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick bushes and crept -warily up to the ridge of the spit. -</p> - -<p> -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though it had -the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already at an end; it -had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south and south-east, -carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under lee of Skeleton Island, -lay still and leaden as when first we entered it. The <i>Hispaniola</i>, in -that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from the truck to the waterline, -the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. -</p> - -<p> -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets—him I could always -recognize—while a couple of men were leaning over the stern bulwarks, one of -them with a red cap—the very rogue that I had seen some hours before -stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were talking and laughing, -though at that distance—upwards of a mile—I could, of course, hear no word of -what was said. All at once there began the most horrid, unearthly screaming, -which at first startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the voice of -Captain Flint and even thought I could make out the bird by her bright plumage -as she sat perched upon her master’s wrist. -</p> - -<p> -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man with -the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. -</p> - -<p> -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, and as -the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw I must -lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. -</p> - -<p> -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of a mile -further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up with it, -crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost come when I -laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was an exceedingly small -hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick underwood about knee-deep, -that grew there very plentifully; and in the centre of the dell, sure enough, a -little tent of goat-skins, like what the gipsies carry about with them in -England. -</p> - -<p> -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was Ben -Gunn’s boat—home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, lop-sided -framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of goat-skin, with -the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly -imagine that it could have floated with a full-sized man. There was one thwart -set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle -for propulsion. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0213m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0213m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0213.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but I have -seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn’s boat than by -saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever made by man. But the -great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for it was exceedingly -light and portable. -</p> - -<p> -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had enough of -truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another notion and become so -obstinately fond of it that I would have carried it out, I believe, in the -teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was to slip out under cover of the -night, cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> adrift, and let her go ashore where she -fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the mutineers, after their repulse of -the morning, had nothing nearer their hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; -this, I thought, it would be a fine thing to prevent, and now that I had seen -how they left their watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be done -with little risk. -</p> - -<p> -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It was a -night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried all heaven. As -the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, absolute blackness settled -down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, I shouldered the coracle and groped -my way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped, there were but two -points visible on the whole anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay carousing in -the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the darkness, indicated the -position of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the ebb—her bow was now -towards me—the only lights on board were in the cabin, and what I saw was -merely a reflection on the fog of the strong rays that flowed from the stern -window. -</p> - -<p> -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt of -swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I came to the -edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, with some strength -and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the surface. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap23"></a> -<img src="images/0217m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0217m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIII<br/> -The Ebb-tide Runs</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9217m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9217m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he coracle—as I had ample reason to know before I was done with her—was a very -safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a -seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided craft to manage. Do as -you pleased, she always made more leeway than anything else, and turning round -and round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted -that she was “queer to handle till you knew her way.” -</p> - -<p> -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the one I -was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, and I am very -sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the tide. By good -fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping me down; and there -lay the <i>Hispaniola</i> right in the fairway, hardly to be missed. -</p> - -<p> -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than darkness, -then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next moment, as it seemed -(for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the current of the ebb), I was -alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. -</p> - -<p> -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she pulled -upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the rippling current -bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. One cut with my sea-gully -and the <i>Hispaniola</i> would go humming down the tide. -</p> - -<p> -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut hawser, -suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to one, if I were -so foolhardy as to cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> from her anchor, I and the coracle -would be knocked clean out of the water. -</p> - -<p> -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again particularly -favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But the light airs which -had begun blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round after -nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was meditating, a puff came, caught -the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and forced her up into the current; and to my great joy, -I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by which I held it dip for -a second under water. -</p> - -<p> -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and -cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. Then I lay -quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be once more -lightened by a breath of wind. -</p> - -<p> -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but to say -truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts that I had -scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to do, I began to pay -more heed. -</p> - -<p> -One I recognized for the coxswain’s, Israel Hands, that had been Flint’s gunner -in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red night-cap. Both -men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still drinking, for even -while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken cry, opened the stern window -and threw out something, which I divined to be an empty bottle. But they were -not only tipsy; it was plain that they were furiously angry. Oaths flew like -hailstones, and every now and then there came forth such an explosion as I -thought was sure to end in blows. But each time the quarrel passed off and the -voices grumbled lower for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn -passed away without result. -</p> - -<p> -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly through -the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor’s song, -with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and seemingly no end to it -at all but the patience of the singer. I had heard it on the voyage more than -once and remembered these words: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“But one man of her crew alive,<br/> -What put to sea with seventy-five.” -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a company -that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from what I saw, -all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on. -</p> - -<p> -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the dark; I -felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough effort, cut the last -fibres through. -</p> - -<p> -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost instantly -swept against the bows of the <i>Hispaniola</i>. At the same time, the schooner -began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, across the current. -</p> - -<p> -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and since I -found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved straight astern. -At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just as I gave the last -impulsion, my hands came across a light cord that was trailing overboard across -the stern bulwarks. Instantly I grasped it. -</p> - -<p> -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere instinct, but -once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity began to get the upper -hand, and I determined I should have one look through the cabin window. -</p> - -<p> -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near enough, -rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a -slice of the interior of the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty swiftly -through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with the camp-fire. -The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable ripples -with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got my eye above the -window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen had taken no alarm. One -glance, however, was sufficient; and it was only one glance that I durst take -from that unsteady skiff. It showed me Hands and his companion locked together -in deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other’s throat. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0223m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0223m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0223.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near overboard. I -could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, encrimsoned faces -swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my eyes to let them grow once -more familiar with the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished company -about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so often: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!<br/> -Drink and the devil had done for the rest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very moment in -the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of -the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed to change her -course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. -</p> - -<p> -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing over with a -sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The <i>Hispaniola</i> -herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled along, seemed to -stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a little against the blackness -of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I made sure she also was wheeling to the -southward. -</p> - -<p> -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, right -behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned at right -angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the little dancing -coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever muttering louder, it went -spinning through the narrows for the open sea. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, perhaps, -through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one shout followed -another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the companion ladder and I -knew that the two drunkards had at last been interrupted in their quarrel and -awakened to a sense of their disaster. -</p> - -<p> -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly recommended -my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I made sure we must fall -into some bar of raging breakers, where all my troubles would be ended -speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to die, I could not bear to look -upon my fate as it approached. -</p> - -<p> -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the billows, -now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at -the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a numbness, an occasional -stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of my terrors, until sleep at last -supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay and dreamed of home and the old -Admiral Benbow. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap24"></a> -<img src="images/0226m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0226m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIV<br/> -The Cruise of the Coracle</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9226m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9226m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -t was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west end of -Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind the great bulk -of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to the sea in formidable -cliffs. -</p> - -<p> -Haulbowline Head and Mizzenmast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare and dark, -the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and fringed with great -masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile to seaward, and it was -my first thought to paddle in and land. -</p> - -<p> -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers spouted -and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and falling, succeeded -one another from second to second; and I saw myself, if I ventured nearer, -dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending my strength in vain to scale -the beetling crags. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or letting -themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge slimy -monsters—soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness—two or three score of -them together, making the rocks to echo with their barkings. -</p> - -<p> -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. But -the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the high running of -the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that landing-place. I felt -willing rather to starve at sea than to confront such perils. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0229m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0229m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0229.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North of -Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide a long -stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes another -cape—Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart—buried in tall green -pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. -</p> - -<p> -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward along -the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my position that I was -already under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline Head behind me -and reserve my strength for an attempt to land upon the kindlier-looking Cape -of the Woods. -</p> - -<p> -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady and -gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the current, -and the billows rose and fell unbroken. -</p> - -<p> -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, it is -surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could ride. Often, -as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above the gunwale, I -would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; yet the coracle would but -bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and subside on the other side into the -trough as lightly as a bird. -</p> - -<p> -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at -paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will produce -violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly moved before -the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, ran straight down a -slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a -spout of spray, deep into the side of the next wave. -</p> - -<p> -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old position, -whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led me as softly as -before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be interfered with, and -at that rate, since I could in no way influence her course, what hope had I -left of reaching land? -</p> - -<p> -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. First, -moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my sea-cap; then, -getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself to study how it was -she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. -</p> - -<p> -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks from -shore or from a vessel’s deck, was for all the world like any range of hills on -dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The coracle, left to -herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to speak, her way through -these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes and higher, toppling summits of -the wave. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now,” thought I to myself, “it is plain I must lie where I am and not -disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle over the -side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove or two towards -land.” No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on my elbows in the most -trying attitude, and every now and again gave a weak stroke or two to turn her -head to shore. -</p> - -<p> -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as we drew -near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly miss that point, I -had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, indeed, close in. I could -see the cool green tree-tops swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I -should make the next promontory without fail. -</p> - -<p> -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow of the -sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the sea-water that -fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, combined to make my -throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the trees so near at hand had -almost made me sick with longing, but the current had soon carried me past the -point, and as the next reach of sea opened out, I beheld a sight that changed -the nature of my thoughts. -</p> - -<p> -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the <i>Hispaniola</i> -under sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was so -distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or sorry at -the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, surprise had taken -entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing but stare and wonder. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Hispaniola</i> was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful -white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first sighted her, -all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about north-west, and I -presumed the men on board were going round the island on their way back to the -anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more and more to the westward, so that -I thought they had sighted me and were going about in chase. At last, however, -she fell right into the wind’s eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there -awhile helpless, with her sails shivering. -</p> - -<p> -“Clumsy fellows,” said I; “they must still be drunk as owls.” And I thought how -Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another tack, -sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead in the wind’s -eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and down, north, south, -east, and west, the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailed by swoops and dashes, and at each -repetition ended as she had begun, with idly flapping canvas. It became plain -to me that nobody was steering. And if so, where were the men? Either they were -dead drunk or had deserted her, I thought, and perhaps if I could get on board -I might return the vessel to her captain. -</p> - -<p> -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. As for -the latter’s sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she hung each time -so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if she did not even lose. -If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made sure that I could overhaul her. -The scheme had an air of adventure that inspired me, and the thought of the -water breaker beside the fore companion doubled my growing courage. -</p> - -<p> -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but this -time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and caution, to -paddle after the unsteered <i>Hispaniola</i>. Once I shipped a sea so heavy -that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like a bird, but -gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my coracle among the -waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash of foam in my -face. -</p> - -<p> -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten on the -tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her decks. I could -not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men were lying drunk -below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do what I chose with the -ship. -</p> - -<p> -For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for me—standing -still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each time -she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these brought her in a moment right -to the wind again. I have said this was the worst thing possible for me, for -helpless as she looked in this situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon -and the blocks trundling and banging on the deck, she still continued to run -away from me, not only with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount -of her leeway, which was naturally great. -</p> - -<p> -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, very low, -and the current gradually turning her, the <i>Hispaniola</i> revolved slowly -round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the cabin window -still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning on into the day. -The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was stock-still but for the -current. -</p> - -<p> -For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my efforts, I -began once more to overhaul the chase. -</p> - -<p> -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; she -filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming like a -swallow. -</p> - -<p> -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. Round she -came, till she was broadside on to me—round still till she had covered a half -and then two thirds and then three quarters of the distance that separated us. -I could see the waves boiling white under her forefoot. Immensely tall she -looked to me from my low station in the coracle. -</p> - -<p> -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to think—scarce -time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one swell when the schooner -came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was over my head. I sprang to my feet -and leaped, stamping the coracle under water. With one hand I caught the -jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay and the brace; and as I -still clung there panting, a dull blow told me that the schooner had charged -down upon and struck the coracle and that I was left without retreat on the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap25"></a> -<img src="images/0234m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0234m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXV<br/> -I Strike the Jolly Roger</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9234m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9234m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib flapped and -filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to -her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails still drawing, the -jib flapped back again and hung idle. -</p> - -<p> -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, crawled -back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was still -drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. Not a soul was -to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since the mutiny, bore the -print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by the neck, tumbled to and fro -like a live thing in the scuppers. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> came right into the wind. The jibs behind me -cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening heave and -shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, the sheet groaning -in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. -</p> - -<p> -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff as a -handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and his teeth -showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against the bulwarks, his -chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on the deck, his face as -white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. -</p> - -<p> -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the sails -filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to and fro till -the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too there would come a -cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy blow of the ship’s bows -against the swell; so much heavier weather was made of it by this great rigged -ship than by my home-made, lop-sided coracle, now gone to the bottom of the -sea. -</p> - -<p> -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but—what was ghastly -to behold—neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway -disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, Hands appeared still more to -sink into himself and settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the -farther out, and the whole body canting towards the stern, so that his face -became, little by little, hid from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond -his ear and the frayed ringlet of one whisker. -</p> - -<p> -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark blood upon -the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each other in their -drunken wrath. -</p> - -<p> -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship was -still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed himself -back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, which told of -pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw hung open went right to -my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from the apple barrel, -all pity left me. -</p> - -<p> -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. -</p> - -<p> -“Come aboard, Mr. Hands,” I said ironically. -</p> - -<p> -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express surprise. -All he could do was to utter one word, “Brandy.” -</p> - -<p> -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once -more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into -the cabin. -</p> - -<p> -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast -places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mud -where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading in the marshes -round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in clear white and beaded round -with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles clinked -together in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of the doctor’s medical -books lay open on the table, half of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for -pipelights. In the midst of all this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure -and brown as umber. -</p> - -<p> -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles a most -surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, since the -mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. -</p> - -<p> -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for -myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of -raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down my own -stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain’s reach, went forward -to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of water, and then, and not -till then, gave Hands the brandy. -</p> - -<p> -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye,” said he, “by thunder, but I wanted some o’ that!” -</p> - -<p> -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. -</p> - -<p> -“Much hurt?” I asked him. -</p> - -<p> -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. -</p> - -<p> -“If that doctor was aboard,” he said, “I’d be right enough in a couple of -turns, but I don’t have no manner of luck, you see, and that’s what’s the -matter with me. As for that swab, he’s good and dead, he is,” he added, -indicating the man with the red cap. “He warn’t no seaman anyhow. And where -mought you have come from?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, Mr. Hands; -and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further notice.” -</p> - -<p> -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had come -back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still continued to -slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. -</p> - -<p> -“By the by,” I continued, “I can’t have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by your -leave, I’ll strike ’em. Better none than these.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0237m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0237m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0237.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their cursed -black flag, and chucked it overboard. -</p> - -<p> -“God save the king!” said I, waving my cap. “And there’s an end to Captain -Silver!” -</p> - -<p> -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. -</p> - -<p> -“I reckon,” he said at last, “I reckon, Cap’n Hawkins, you’ll kind of want to -get ashore now. S’pose we talks.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, yes,” says I, “with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on.” And I went back to -my meal with a good appetite. -</p> - -<p> -“This man,” he began, nodding feebly at the corpse “—O’Brien were his name, a -rank Irelander—this man and me got the canvas on her, meaning for to sail her -back. Well, <i>he’s</i> dead now, he is—as dead as bilge; and who’s to sail -this ship, I don’t see. Without I gives you a hint, you ain’t that man, as -far’s I can tell. Now, look here, you gives me food and drink and a old scarf -or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and I’ll tell you how to sail her, and -that’s about square all round, I take it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll tell you one thing,” says I: “I’m not going back to Captain Kidd’s -anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there.” -</p> - -<p> -“To be sure you did,” he cried. “Why, I ain’t sich an infernal lubber after -all. I can see, can’t I? I’ve tried my fling, I have, and I’ve lost, and it’s -you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven’t no ch’ice, not I! I’d help -you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! So I would.” -</p> - -<p> -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our bargain -on the spot. In three minutes I had the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailing easily before -the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of turning the -northern point ere noon and beating down again as far as North Inlet before -high water, when we might beach her safely and wait till the subsiding tide -permitted us to land. -</p> - -<p> -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a soft -silk handkerchief of my mother’s. With this, and with my aid, Hands bound up -the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after he had eaten a -little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he began to pick up -visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, and looked in every way -another man. -</p> - -<p> -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the coast of -the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. Soon we were past -the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, sparsely dotted with -dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again and had turned the corner of -the rocky hill that ends the island on the north. -</p> - -<p> -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, sunshiny -weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now plenty of water -and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had smitten me hard for my -desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I had made. I should, I think, -have had nothing left me to desire but for the eyes of the coxswain as they -followed me derisively about the deck and the odd smile that appeared -continually on his face. It was a smile that had in it something both of pain -and weakness—a haggard old man’s smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of -derision, a shadow of treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and -watched, and watched me at my work. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap26"></a> -<img src="images/0241m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0241m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVI<br/> -Israel Hands</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9241m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9241m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run so much -the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth of the North -Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till the tide -had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. The coxswain told me -how to lay the ship to; after a good many trials I succeeded, and we both sat -in silence over another meal. -</p> - -<p> -“Cap’n,” said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, “here’s my old -shipmate, O’Brien; s’pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain’t partic’lar as -a rule, and I don’t take no blame for settling his hash, but I don’t reckon him -ornamental now, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not strong enough, and I don’t like the job; and there he lies, for me,” -said I. -</p> - -<p> -“This here’s an unlucky ship, this <i>Hispaniola</i>, Jim,” he went on, -blinking. “There’s a power of men been killed in this <i>Hispaniola</i>—a sight -o’ poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to Bristol. I never -seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here O’Brien now—he’s dead, ain’t -he? Well now, I’m no scholar, and you’re a lad as can read and figure, and to -put it straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for good, or do he come -alive again?” -</p> - -<p> -“You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know that -already,” I replied. “O’Brien there is in another world, and may be watching -us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” says he. “Well, that’s unfort’nate—appears as if killing parties was a -waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don’t reckon for much, by what I’ve seen. -I’ll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you’ve spoke up free, and I’ll -take it kind if you’d step down into that there cabin and get me a—well, -a—shiver my timbers! I can’t hit the name on ’t; well, you get me a bottle of -wine, Jim—this here brandy’s too strong for my head.” -</p> - -<p> -Now, the coxswain’s hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the notion of -his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was a -pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck—so much was plain; but with what -purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering -to and fro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now with a flitting glance -upon the dead O’Brien. All the time he kept smiling and putting his tongue out -in the most guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he -was bent on some deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw -where my advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily -conceal my suspicions to the end. -</p> - -<p> -“Some wine?” I said. “Far better. Will you have white or red?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I reckon it’s about the blessed same to me, shipmate,” he replied; “so -it’s strong, and plenty of it, what’s the odds?” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” I answered. “I’ll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I’ll have to dig -for it.” -</p> - -<p> -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, slipped off -my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, -and popped my head out of the fore companion. I knew he would not expect to see -me there, yet I took every precaution possible, and certainly the worst of my -suspicions proved too true. -</p> - -<p> -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his leg -obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved—for I could hear him stifle a -groan—yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himself across the -deck. In half a minute he had reached the port scuppers and picked, out of a -coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hilt -with blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting forth his under jaw, -tried the point upon his hand, and then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of -his jacket, trundled back again into his old place against the bulwark. -</p> - -<p> -This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was now -armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, it was plain -that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards—whether he would -try to crawl right across the island from North Inlet to the camp among the -swamps or whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own comrades might -come first to help him—was, of course, more than I could say. -</p> - -<p> -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that our -interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of the schooner. We -both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a sheltered place, and so -that, when the time came, she could be got off again with as little labour and -danger as might be; and until that was done I considered that my life would -certainly be spared. -</p> - -<p> -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been idle with -my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and -laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with this for an excuse, I -made my reappearance on the deck. -</p> - -<p> -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with his -eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He looked up, -however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man who had done -the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his favourite toast of “Here’s -luck!” Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of -tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. -</p> - -<p> -“Cut me a junk o’ that,” says he, “for I haven’t no knife and hardly strength -enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I’ve missed stays! Cut me a -quid, as’ll likely be the last, lad, for I’m for my long home, and no mistake.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I’ll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought myself -so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” said he. “Now, you tell me why.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” I cried. “You were asking me just now about the dead. You’ve broken your -trust; you’ve lived in sin and lies and blood; there’s a man you killed lying -at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God’s mercy, Mr. Hands, -that’s why.” -</p> - -<p> -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden in his -pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, -took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most unusual solemnity. -</p> - -<p> -“For thirty years,” he said, “I’ve sailed the seas and seen good and bad, -better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knives going, -and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o’ goodness yet. Him -as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don’t bite; them’s my views—amen, so be -it. And now, you look here,” he added, suddenly changing his tone, “we’ve had -about enough of this foolery. The tide’s made good enough by now. You just take -my orders, Cap’n Hawkins, and we’ll sail slap in and be done with it.” -</p> - -<p> -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was delicate, the -entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east -and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be got in. I think I -was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent -pilot, for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a -certainty and a neatness that were a pleasure to behold. -</p> - -<p> -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The shores -of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern anchorage, but -the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in truth it was, the -estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern end, we saw the wreck of a -ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It had been a great vessel of three -masts but had lain so long exposed to the injuries of the weather that it was -hung about with great webs of dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore -bushes had taken root and now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad -sight, but it showed us that the anchorage was calm. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship in. Fine -flat sand, never a cat’s paw, trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing -like a garding on that old ship.” -</p> - -<p> -“And once beached,” I inquired, “how shall we get her off again?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, so,” he replied: “you take a line ashore there on the other side at low -water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, take a turn -around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, all hands take a -pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet as natur’. And now, boy, you -stand by. We’re near the bit now, and she’s too much way on her. Starboard a -little—so—steady—starboard—larboard a little—steady—steady!” -</p> - -<p> -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a sudden, -he cried, “Now, my hearty, luff!” And I put the helm hard up, and the -<i>Hispaniola</i> swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, wooded -shore. -</p> - -<p> -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the watch -I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was still -so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I had quite forgot the -peril that hung over my head and stood craning over the starboard bulwarks and -watching the ripples spreading wide before the bows. I might have fallen -without a struggle for my life had not a sudden disquietude seized upon me and -made me turn my head. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving -with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an instinct like a cat’s; but, sure -enough, when I looked round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, with -the dirk in his right hand. -</p> - -<p> -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine was the -shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging bully’s. At the -same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways towards the bows. -As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think -this saved my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and stopped him, for -the moment, dead. -</p> - -<p> -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me trapped, -with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew -a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had already turned and was -once more coming directly after me, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but -there followed neither flash nor sound; the priming was useless with sea-water. -I cursed myself for my neglect. Why had not I, long before, reprimed and -reloaded my only weapons? Then I should not have been as now, a mere fleeing -sheep before this butcher. -</p> - -<p> -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled hair -tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign with his -haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeed much -inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I saw plainly: I -must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into the -bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in the stern. Once so caught, -and nine or ten inches of the blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on -this side of eternity. I placed my palms against the main-mast, which was of a -goodish bigness, and waited, every nerve upon the stretch. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed in -feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game as -I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, but never -before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I -say, it was a boy’s game, and I thought I could hold my own at it against an -elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my courage had begun to rise so -high that I allowed myself a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of -the affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw -no hope of any ultimate escape. -</p> - -<p> -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> struck, -staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a blow, canted -over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees and -about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes and lay, in a pool, -between the deck and bulwark. -</p> - -<p> -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost -together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still spread out, -tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my head came against -the coxswain’s foot with a crack that made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was -the first afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead body. The -sudden canting of the ship had made the deck no place for running on; I had to -find some new way of escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost -touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up -hand over hand, and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. -</p> - -<p> -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot below me -as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open -and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise and disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the priming of my -pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to make assurance doubly -sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it afresh from the -beginning. -</p> - -<p> -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice going -against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily -into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly and painfully to -mount. It cost him no end of time and groans to haul his wounded leg behind -him, and I had quietly finished my arrangements before he was much more than a -third of the way up. Then, with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him. -</p> - -<p> -“One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I, “and I’ll blow your brains out! Dead men -don’t bite, you know,” I added with a chuckle. -</p> - -<p> -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was trying -to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found -security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he spoke, his face -still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he -had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else he remained unmoved. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” says he, “I reckon we’re fouled, you and me, and we’ll have to sign -articles. I’d have had you but for that there lurch, but I don’t have no luck, -not I; and I reckon I’ll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, for a -master mariner to a ship’s younker like you, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock upon a -wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his shoulder. -Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and then a sharp -pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain -and surprise of the moment—I scarce can say it was by my own volition, and I am -sure it was without a conscious aim—both my pistols went off, and both escaped -out of my hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain -loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged head first into the water. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0219m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0219m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0219.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0247m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0247m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0247.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap27"></a> -<img src="images/0251m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0251m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVII<br/> -“Pieces of Eight”</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9251m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9251m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -wing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, and from -my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. -Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer to the ship and fell -between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to the surface in a lather of foam -and blood and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I could see him -lying huddled together on the clean, bright sand in the shadow of the vessel’s -sides. A fish or two whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the -water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was -dead enough, for all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish -in the very place where he had designed my slaughter. -</p> - -<p> -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and -terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, where it -had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot iron; yet it was -not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, for these, it seemed to -me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind of -falling from the cross-trees into that still green water, beside the body of -the coxswain. -</p> - -<p> -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to cover -up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted down to a -more natural time, and I was once more in possession of myself. -</p> - -<p> -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too hard -or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, -that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come the nearest in -the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and -this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to be sure, but I -was my own master again and only tacked to the mast by my coat and shirt. -</p> - -<p> -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the deck by -the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have again ventured, -shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from which Israel had so -lately fallen. -</p> - -<p> -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal and -still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly -gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, -in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from its last passenger—the -dead man, O’Brien. -</p> - -<p> -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay like some -horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how different from -life’s colour or life’s comeliness! In that position I could easily have my way -with him, and as the habit of tragical adventures had worn off almost all my -terror for the dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran -and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding -plunge; the red cap came off and remained floating on the surface; and as soon -as the splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side, both -wavering with the tremulous movement of the water. O’Brien, though still quite -a young man, was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the knees -of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and fro over -both. -</p> - -<p> -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was within so -few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines upon the western -shore began to reach right across the anchorage and fall in patterns on the -deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and though it was well warded off by -the hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had begun to sing a -little softly to itself and the idle sails to rattle to and fro. -</p> - -<p> -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and brought -tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when -the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and the cap of it and a -foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought this made it still more -dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to meddle. At last I -got my knife and cut the halyards. The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of -loose canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could -not budge the downhall, that was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the -rest, the <i>Hispaniola</i> must trust to luck, like myself. -</p> - -<p> -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow—the last rays, I -remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on -the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly -fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends. -</p> - -<p> -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and holding the -cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself drop softly -overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was firm and covered -with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, leaving the -<i>Hispaniola</i> on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide upon the -surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly down and the -breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. -</p> - -<p> -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence -empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers and ready -for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer my fancy -than to get home to the stockade and boast of my achievements. Possibly I might -be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the recapture of the <i>Hispaniola</i> was -a clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain Smollett would confess I had -not lost my time. -</p> - -<p> -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for the -block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly of the -rivers which drain into Captain Kidd’s anchorage ran from the two-peaked hill -upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction that I might pass the -stream while it was small. The wood was pretty open, and keeping along the -lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner of that hill, and not long after -waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse. -</p> - -<p> -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; and I -walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had come nigh -hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the two peaks, I became -aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the -island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire. And yet I wondered, in my -heart, that he should show himself so careless. For if I could see this -radiance, might it not reach the eyes of Silver himself where he camped upon -the shore among the marshes? -</p> - -<p> -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself even -roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on -my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and pale; and in the -low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy -pits. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer of -moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I saw -something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and knew the moon -had risen. -</p> - -<p> -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my journey, -and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near to the -stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it, I was not so -thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle warily. It would have -been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down by my own party in mistake. -</p> - -<p> -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here and there -in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and right in front of me -a glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. It was red and hot, and -now and again it was a little darkened—as it were, the embers of a bonfire -smouldering. -</p> - -<p> -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. -</p> - -<p> -At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western end was -already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house itself, still lay -in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks of light. On the other -side of the house an immense fire had burned itself into clear embers and shed -a steady, red reverberation, contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of -the moon. There was not a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the -breeze. -</p> - -<p> -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror also. It -had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, by the captain’s -orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to fear that something had -gone wrong while I was absent. -</p> - -<p> -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a convenient -place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, without a -sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly -and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in itself, and I have often -complained of it at other times, but just then it was like music to hear my -friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their sleep. The sea-cry of -the watch, that beautiful “All’s well,” never fell more reassuringly on my ear. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous bad -watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping in on them, -not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it was, thought I, to have -the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that -danger with so few to mount guard. -</p> - -<p> -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, so that I -could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there was the steady drone -of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering or pecking that I -could in no way account for. -</p> - -<p> -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own place -(I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they found me in -the morning. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0255m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0255m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0255.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -My foot struck something yielding—it was a sleeper’s leg; and he turned and -groaned, but without awaking. -</p> - -<p> -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness: -</p> - -<p> -“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of -eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny -mill. -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard pecking at a -piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, who thus -announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. -</p> - -<p> -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the parrot, -the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the voice of Silver -cried, “Who goes?” -</p> - -<p> -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran full -into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me tight. -</p> - -<p> -“Bring a torch, Dick,” said Silver when my capture was thus assured. -</p> - -<p> -And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a lighted -brand. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0259m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0259m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0259.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="part06"></a> -PART SIX—Captain Silver</h2> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap28"></a> -<img src="images/0261m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0261m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXVIII<br/> -In the Enemy’s Camp</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9261m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9261m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, showed -me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in possession of -the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, there were the pork and -bread, as before, and what tenfold increased my horror, not a sign of any -prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, and my heart smote me -sorely that I had not been there to perish with them. -</p> - -<p> -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left alive. -Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly called out of -the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen upon his elbow; he was -deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round his head told that he had -recently been wounded, and still more recently dressed. I remembered the man -who had been shot and had run back among the woods in the great attack, and -doubted not that this was he. -</p> - -<p> -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John’s shoulder. He himself, I -thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used to. He still wore -the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his mission, but it was -bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and torn with the sharp briers of -the wood. -</p> - -<p> -“So,” said he, “here’s Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, eh? -Well, come, I take that friendly.” -</p> - -<p> -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me a loan of the link, Dick,” said he; and then, when he had a good -light, “That’ll do, lad,” he added; “stick the glim in the wood heap; and you, -gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn’t stand up for Mr. Hawkins; -<i>he’ll</i> excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, Jim”—stopping the -tobacco—“here you were, and quite a pleasant surprise for poor old John. I see -you were smart when first I set my eyes on you, but this here gets away from me -clean, it do.” -</p> - -<p> -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me with my -back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the face, pluckily -enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black despair in my heart. -</p> - -<p> -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran on -again. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, you see, Jim, so be as you <i>are</i> here,” says he, “I’ll give you a -piece of my mind. I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the -picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always wanted you to -jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my cock, you’ve got to. -Cap’n Smollett’s a fine seaman, as I’ll own up to any day, but stiff on -discipline. ‘Dooty is dooty,’ says he, and right he is. Just you keep clear of -the cap’n. The doctor himself is gone dead again’ you—‘ungrateful scamp’ was -what he said; and the short and the long of the whole story is about here: you -can’t go back to your own lot, for they won’t have you; and without you start a -third ship’s company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you’ll have to -jine with Cap’n Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly -believed the truth of Silver’s statement, that the cabin party were incensed at -me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by what I heard. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t say nothing as to your being in our hands,” continued Silver, “though -there you are, and you may lay to it. I’m all for argyment; I never seen good -come out o’ threatening. If you like the service, well, you’ll jine; and if you -don’t, Jim, why, you’re free to answer no—free and welcome, shipmate; and if -fairer can be said by mortal seaman, shiver my sides!” -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to answer, then?” I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all this -sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung me, and my -cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. -</p> - -<p> -“Lad,” said Silver, “no one’s a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. None of us -won’t hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” says I, growing a bit bolder, “if I’m to choose, I declare I have a -right to know what’s what, and why you’re here, and where my friends are.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wot’s wot?” repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. “Ah, he’d be a -lucky one as knowed that!” -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll perhaps batten down your hatches till you’re spoke to, my friend,” -cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in his first gracious -tones, he replied to me, “Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins,” said he, “in the -dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a flag of truce. Says he, ‘Cap’n -Silver, you’re sold out. Ship’s gone.’ Well, maybe we’d been taking a glass, -and a song to help it round. I won’t say no. Leastways, none of us had looked -out. We looked out, and by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack -o’ fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the -fishiest. ‘Well,’ says the doctor, ‘let’s bargain.’ We bargained, him and I, -and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you was thoughtful -enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole blessed boat, from -cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they’ve tramped; I don’t know where’s they -are.” -</p> - -<p> -He drew again quietly at his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“And lest you should take it into that head of yours,” he went on, “that you -was included in the treaty, here’s the last word that was said: ‘How many are -you,’ says I, ‘to leave?’ ‘Four,’ says he; ‘four, and one of us wounded. As for -that boy, I don’t know where he is, confound him,’ says he, ‘nor I don’t much -care. We’re about sick of him.’ These was his words.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it’s all that you’re to hear, my son,” returned Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“And now I am to choose?” -</p> - -<p> -“And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said I, “I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have to -look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it’s little I care. I’ve seen too -many die since I fell in with you. But there’s a thing or two I have to tell -you,” I said, and by this time I was quite excited; “and the first is this: -here you are, in a bad way—ship lost, treasure lost, men lost, your whole -business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who did it—it was I! I was in -the apple barrel the night we sighted land, and I heard you, John, and you, -Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now at the bottom of the sea, and told every -word you said before the hour was out. And as for the schooner, it was I who -cut her cable, and it was I that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it -was I who brought her where you’ll never see her more, not one of you. The -laugh’s on my side; I’ve had the top of this business from the first; I no more -fear you than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing -I’ll say, and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when you -fellows are in court for piracy, I’ll save you all I can. It is for you to -choose. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness -to save you from the gallows.” -</p> - -<p> -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not a man of -them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And while they were -still staring, I broke out again, “And now, Mr. Silver,” I said, “I believe -you’re the best man here, and if things go to the worst, I’ll take it kind of -you to let the doctor know the way I took it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll bear it in mind,” said Silver with an accent so curious that I could not, -for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my request or had been -favourably affected by my courage. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll put one to that,” cried the old mahogany-faced seaman—Morgan by name—whom -I had seen in Long John’s public-house upon the quays of Bristol. “It was him -that knowed Black Dog.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and see here,” added the sea-cook. “I’ll put another again to that, by -thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. First -and last, we’ve split upon Jim Hawkins!” -</p> - -<p> -“Then here goes!” said Morgan with an oath. -</p> - -<p> -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. -</p> - -<p> -“Avast, there!” cried Silver. “Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you thought you -was cap’n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I’ll teach you better! Cross me, -and you’ll go where many a good man’s gone before you, first and last, these -thirty year back—some to the yard-arm, shiver my timbers, and some by the -board, and all to feed the fishes. There’s never a man looked me between the -eyes and seen a good day a’terwards, Tom Morgan, you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. -</p> - -<p> -“Tom’s right,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“I stood hazing long enough from one,” added another. “I’ll be hanged if I’ll -be hazed by you, John Silver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with <i>me</i>?” roared Silver, -bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing -in his right hand. “Put a name on what you’re at; you ain’t dumb, I reckon. Him -that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many years, and a son of a rum -puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You know the -way; you’re all gentlemen o’ fortune, by your account. Well, I’m ready. Take a -cutlass, him that dares, and I’ll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, -before that pipe’s empty.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0267m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0267m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0267.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s your sort, is it?” he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. “Well, -you’re a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain’t. -P’r’aps you can understand King George’s English. I’m cap’n here by ’lection. -I’m cap’n here because I’m the best man by a long sea-mile. You won’t fight, as -gentlemen o’ fortune should; then, by thunder, you’ll obey, and you may lay to -it! I like that boy, now; I never seen a better boy than that. He’s more a man -than any pair of rats of you in this here house, and what I say is this: let me -see him that’ll lay a hand on him—that’s what I say, and you may lay to it.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, my -heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope now shining in -my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, his pipe in the -corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had been in church; yet his eye kept -wandering furtively, and he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers. They, -on their part, drew gradually together towards the far end of the block house, -and the low hiss of their whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a -stream. One after another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch -would fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it -was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“You seem to have a lot to say,” remarked Silver, spitting far into the air. -“Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ax your pardon, sir,” returned one of the men; “you’re pretty free with some -of the rules; maybe you’ll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This crew’s -dissatisfied; this crew don’t vally bullying a marlin-spike; this crew has its -rights like other crews, I’ll make so free as that; and by your own rules, I -take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, acknowledging you for to -be capting at this present; but I claim my right, and steps outside for a -council.” -</p> - -<p> -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, yellow-eyed -man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and disappeared out of -the house. One after another the rest followed his example, each making a -salute as he passed, each adding some apology. “According to rules,” said one. -“Forecastle council,” said Morgan. And so with one remark or another all -marched out and left Silver and me alone with the torch. -</p> - -<p> -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins,” he said in a steady whisper that was no more -than audible, “you’re within half a plank of death, and what’s a long sight -worse, of torture. They’re going to throw me off. But, you mark, I stand by you -through thick and thin. I didn’t mean to; no, not till you spoke up. I was -about desperate to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into the bargain. But I -see you was the right sort. I says to myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and -Hawkins’ll stand by you. You’re his last card, and by the living thunder, John, -he’s yours! Back to back, says I. You save your witness, and he’ll save your -neck!” -</p> - -<p> -I began dimly to understand. -</p> - -<p> -“You mean all’s lost?” I asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, by gum, I do!” he answered. “Ship gone, neck gone—that’s the size of it. -Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no schooner—well, I’m tough, -but I gave out. As for that lot and their council, mark me, they’re outright -fools and cowards. I’ll save your life—if so be as I can—from them. But, see -here, Jim—tit for tat—you save Long John from swinging.” -</p> - -<p> -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking—he, the old -buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. -</p> - -<p> -“What I can do, that I’ll do,” I said. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a bargain!” cried Long John. “You speak up plucky, and by thunder, I’ve a -chance!” -</p> - -<p> -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and took a -fresh light to his pipe. -</p> - -<p> -“Understand me, Jim,” he said, returning. “I’ve a head on my shoulders, I have. -I’m on squire’s side now. I know you’ve got that ship safe somewheres. How you -done it, I don’t know, but safe it is. I guess Hands and O’Brien turned soft. I -never much believed in neither of <i>them</i>. Now you mark me. I ask no -questions, nor I won’t let others. I know when a game’s up, I do; and I know a -lad that’s staunch. Ah, you that’s young—you and me might have done a power of -good together!” -</p> - -<p> -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. -</p> - -<p> -“Will you taste, messmate?” he asked; and when I had refused: “Well, I’ll take -a dram myself, Jim,” said he. “I need a caulker, for there’s trouble on hand. -And talking o’ trouble, why did that doctor give me the chart, Jim?” -</p> - -<p> -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of -further questions. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well, he did, though,” said he. “And there’s something under that, no -doubt—something, surely, under that, Jim—bad or good.” -</p> - -<p> -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head like a -man who looks forward to the worst. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap29"></a> -<img src="images/0271m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0271m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXIX<br/> -The Black Spot Again</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9271m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9271m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them re-entered the -house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which had in my eyes an -ironical air, begged for a moment’s loan of the torch. Silver briefly agreed, -and this emissary retired again, leaving us together in the dark. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a breeze coming, Jim,” said Silver, who had by this time adopted quite -a friendly and familiar tone. -</p> - -<p> -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the great -fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and duskily that I -understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About half-way down the -slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; one held the light, -another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw the blade of an open knife -shine in his hand with varying colours in the moon and torchlight. The rest -were all somewhat stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of this last. I -could just make out that he had a book as well as a knife in his hand, and was -still wondering how anything so incongruous had come in their possession when -the kneeling figure rose once more to his feet and the whole party began to -move together towards the house. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0273m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0273m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0273.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“Here they come,” said I; and I returned to my former position, for it seemed -beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, let ’em come, lad—let ’em come,” said Silver cheerily. “I’ve still a -shot in my locker.” -</p> - -<p> -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just inside, -pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances it would have -been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set down each foot, but -holding his closed right hand in front of him. -</p> - -<p> -“Step up, lad,” cried Silver. “I won’t eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I know -the rules, I do; I won’t hurt a depytation.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having passed -something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly back again to -his companions. -</p> - -<p> -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. -</p> - -<p> -“The black spot! I thought so,” he observed. “Where might you have got the -paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain’t lucky! You’ve gone and cut this -out of a Bible. What fool’s cut a Bible?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, there!” said Morgan. “There! Wot did I say? No good’ll come o’ that, I -said.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you’ve about fixed it now, among you,” continued Silver. “You’ll all -swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was Dick,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers,” said Silver. “He’s seen his slice -of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. -</p> - -<p> -“Belay that talk, John Silver,” he said. “This crew has tipped you the black -spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as in dooty -bound, and see what’s wrote there. Then you can talk.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanky, George,” replied the sea-cook. “You always was brisk for business, and -has the rules by heart, George, as I’m pleased to see. Well, what is it, -anyway? Ah! ‘Deposed’—that’s it, is it? Very pretty wrote, to be sure; like -print, I swear. Your hand o’ write, George? Why, you was gettin’ quite a -leadin’ man in this here crew. You’ll be cap’n next, I shouldn’t wonder. Just -oblige me with that torch again, will you? This pipe don’t draw.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, now,” said George, “you don’t fool this crew no more. You’re a funny -man, by your account; but you’re over now, and you’ll maybe step down off that -barrel and help vote.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought you said you knowed the rules,” returned Silver contemptuously. -“Leastways, if you don’t, I do; and I wait here—and I’m still your cap’n, -mind—till you outs with your grievances and I reply; in the meantime, your -black spot ain’t worth a biscuit. After that, we’ll see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” replied George, “you don’t be under no kind of apprehension; <i>we’re</i> -all square, we are. First, you’ve made a hash of this cruise—you’ll be a bold -man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o’ this here trap for -nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it’s pretty plain they wanted it. -Third, you wouldn’t let us go at them upon the march. Oh, we see through you, -John Silver; you want to play booty, that’s what’s wrong with you. And then, -fourth, there’s this here boy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly. -</p> - -<p> -“Enough, too,” retorted George. “We’ll all swing and sun-dry for your -bungling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well now, look here, I’ll answer these four p’ints; one after another I’ll -answer ’em. I made a hash o’ this cruise, did I? Well now, you all know what I -wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we’d ’a been aboard the -<i>Hispaniola</i> this night as ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and -full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by thunder! Well, -who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the lawful cap’n? Who tipped me the -black spot the day we landed and began this dance? Ah, it’s a fine dance—I’m -with you there—and looks mighty like a hornpipe in a rope’s end at Execution -Dock by London town, it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, -and you, George Merry! And you’re the last above board of that same meddling -crew; and you have the Davy Jones’s insolence to up and stand for cap’n over -me—you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the stiffest yarn -to nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late comrades -that these words had not been said in vain. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s for number one,” cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his brow, for -he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. “Why, I give you my -word, I’m sick to speak to you. You’ve neither sense nor memory, and I leave it -to fancy where your mothers was that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o’ -fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go on, John,” said Morgan. “Speak up to the others.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the others!” returned John. “They’re a nice lot, ain’t they? You say this -cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad it’s bungled, -you would see! We’re that near the gibbet that my neck’s stiff with thinking on -it. You’ve seen ’em, maybe, hanged in chains, birds about ’em, seamen p’inting -’em out as they go down with the tide. ‘Who’s that?’ says one. ‘That! Why, -that’s John Silver. I knowed him well,’ says another. And you can hear the -chains a-jangle as you go about and reach for the other buoy. Now, that’s about -where we are, every mother’s son of us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, -and other ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about number four, -and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, isn’t he a hostage? Are we a-going to -waste a hostage? No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I shouldn’t -wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, well, there’s a -deal to say to number three. Maybe you don’t count it nothing to have a real -college doctor to see you every day—you, John, with your head broke—or you, -George Merry, that had the ague shakes upon you not six hours agone, and has -your eyes the colour of lemon peel to this same moment on the clock? And maybe, -perhaps, you didn’t know there was a consort coming either? But there is, and -not so long till then; and we’ll see who’ll be glad to have a hostage when it -comes to that. And as for number two, and why I made a bargain—well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it—on your knees you came, you was that -downhearted—and you’d have starved too if I hadn’t—but that’s a trifle! You -look there—that’s why!” -</p> - -<p> -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly recognized—none other -than the chart on yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I had found in -the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain’s chest. Why the doctor had given it -to him was more than I could fancy. -</p> - -<p> -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was incredible -to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats upon a mouse. It went -from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by the oaths and the cries -and the childish laughter with which they accompanied their examination, you -would have thought, not only they were fingering the very gold, but were at sea -with it, besides, in safety. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said one, “that’s Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, with a -clove hitch to it; so he done ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mighty pretty,” said George. “But how are we to get away with it, and us no -ship.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against the wall: -“Now I give you warning, George,” he cried. “One more word of your sauce, and -I’ll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I know? You had ought to -tell me that—you and the rest, that lost me my schooner, with your -interference, burn you! But not you, you can’t; you hain’t got the invention of -a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and shall, George Merry, you may lay to -that.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s fair enow,” said the old man Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Fair! I reckon so,” said the sea-cook. “You lost the ship; I found the -treasure. Who’s the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! Elect -whom you please to be your cap’n now; I’m done with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Silver!” they cried. “Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap’n!” -</p> - -<p> -“So that’s the toon, is it?” cried the cook. “George, I reckon you’ll have to -wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I’m not a revengeful man. But -that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? ’Tain’t much good -now, is it? Dick’s crossed his luck and spoiled his Bible, and that’s about -all.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’ll do to kiss the book on still, won’t it?” growled Dick, who was evidently -uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. -</p> - -<p> -“A Bible with a bit cut out!” returned Silver derisively. “Not it. It don’t -bind no more’n a ballad-book.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t it, though?” cried Dick with a sort of joy. “Well, I reckon that’s worth -having too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here, Jim—here’s a cur’osity for you,” said Silver, and he tossed me the -paper. -</p> - -<p> -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, for it had -been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of Revelation—these -words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my mind: “Without are dogs -and murderers.” The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, which -already began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had been -written with the same material the one word “Depposed.” I have that curiosity -beside me at this moment, but not a trace of writing now remains beyond a -single scratch, such as a man might make with his thumb-nail. -</p> - -<p> -That was the end of the night’s business. Soon after, with a drink all round, -we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver’s vengeance was to put George -Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he should prove -unfaithful. -</p> - -<p> -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter enough for -thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own most perilous -position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw Silver now engaged -upon—keeping the mutineers together with one hand and grasping with the other -after every means, possible and impossible, to make his peace and save his -miserable life. He himself slept peacefully and snored aloud, yet my heart was -sore for him, wicked as he was, to think on the dark perils that environed and -the shameful gibbet that awaited him. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap30"></a> -<img src="images/0280m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0280m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXX<br/> -On Parole</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9280m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9280m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> - was wakened—indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the sentinel -shake himself together from where he had fallen against the door-post—by a -clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the wood: -</p> - -<p> -“Block house, ahoy!” it cried. “Here’s the doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my gladness -was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my insubordinate and -stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me—among what companions -and surrounded by what dangers—I felt ashamed to look him in the face. -</p> - -<p> -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I ran to -a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to -the mid-leg in creeping vapour. -</p> - -<p> -“You, doctor! Top o’ the morning to you, sir!” cried Silver, broad awake and -beaming with good nature in a moment. “Bright and early, to be sure; and it’s -the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. George, shake up -your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship’s side. All a-doin’ well, -your patients was—all well and merry.” -</p> - -<p> -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his elbow and -one hand upon the side of the log-house—quite the old John in voice, manner, -and expression. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ve quite a surprise for you too, sir,” he continued. “We’ve a little -stranger here—he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit and taut -as a fiddle; slep’ like a supercargo, he did, right alongside of John—stem to -stem we was, all night.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the cook, and -I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, “Not Jim?” -</p> - -<p> -“The very same Jim as ever was,” says Silver. -</p> - -<p> -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some seconds -before he seemed able to move on. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, well,” he said at last, “duty first and pleasure afterwards, as you -might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of yours.” -</p> - -<p> -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim nod to me -proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no apprehension, though -he must have known that his life, among these treacherous demons, depended on a -hair; and he rattled on to his patients as if he were paying an ordinary -professional visit in a quiet English family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on -the men, for they behaved to him as if nothing had occurred, as if he were -still ship’s doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. -</p> - -<p> -“You’re doing well, my friend,” he said to the fellow with the bandaged head, -“and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head must be as -hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You’re a pretty colour, certainly; -why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take that medicine? Did he take -that medicine, men?” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough,” returned Morgan. -</p> - -<p> -“Because, you see, since I am mutineers’ doctor, or prison doctor as I prefer -to call it,” says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, “I make it a point of -honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) and the gallows.” -</p> - -<p> -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick don’t feel well, sir,” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t he?” replied the doctor. “Well, step up here, Dick, and let me see your -tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man’s tongue is fit to -frighten the French. Another fever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, there,” said Morgan, “that comed of sp’iling Bibles.” -</p> - -<p> -“That comes—as you call it—of being arrant asses,” retorted the doctor, “and -not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a -vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable—though of course it’s only -an opinion—that you’ll all have the deuce to pay before you get that malaria -out of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, I’m surprised at you. -You’re less of a fool than many, take you all round; but you don’t appear to me -to have the rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken his -prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity schoolchildren -than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates—“well, that’s done for today. And now I -should wish to have a talk with that boy, please.” -</p> - -<p> -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. -</p> - -<p> -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some bad-tasted -medicine; but at the first word of the doctor’s proposal he swung round with a -deep flush and cried “No!” and swore. -</p> - -<p> -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Si-lence!” he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. “Doctor,” he -went on in his usual tones, “I was a-thinking of that, knowing as how you had a -fancy for the boy. We’re all humbly grateful for your kindness, and as you see, -puts faith in you and takes the drugs down like that much grog. And I take it -I’ve found a way as’ll suit all. Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour -as a young gentleman—for a young gentleman you are, although poor born—your -word of honour not to slip your cable?” -</p> - -<p> -I readily gave the pledge required. -</p> - -<p> -“Then, doctor,” said Silver, “you just step outside o’ that stockade, and once -you’re there I’ll bring the boy down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn -through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our dooties to the squire and -Cap’n Smollett.” -</p> - -<p> -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver’s black looks had -restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver was -roundly accused of playing double—of trying to make a separate peace for -himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and victims, and, in -one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was doing. It seemed to me so -obvious, in this case, that I could not imagine how he was to turn their anger. -But he was twice the man the rest were, and his last night’s victory had given -him a huge preponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools and dolts -you can imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the doctor, fluttered -the chart in their faces, asked them if they could afford to break the treaty -the very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting. -</p> - -<p> -“No, by thunder!” he cried. “It’s us must break the treaty when the time comes; -and till then I’ll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy.” -</p> - -<p> -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, with -his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced by his -volubility rather than convinced. -</p> - -<p> -“Slow, lad, slow,” he said. “They might round upon us in a twinkle of an eye if -we was seen to hurry.” -</p> - -<p> -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the doctor -awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we were within -easy speaking distance Silver stopped. -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll make a note of this here also, doctor,” says he, “and the boy’ll tell -you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you may lay to that. -Doctor, when a man’s steering as near the wind as me—playing chuck-farthing -with the last breath in his body, like—you wouldn’t think it too much, mayhap, -to give him one good word? You’ll please bear in mind it’s not my life only -now—it’s that boy’s into the bargain; and you’ll speak me fair, doctor, and -give me a bit o’ hope to go on, for the sake of mercy.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his friends -and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his voice trembled; -never was a soul more dead in earnest. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, John, you’re not afraid?” asked Dr. Livesey. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor, I’m no coward; no, not I—not <i>so</i> much!” and he snapped his -fingers. “If I was I wouldn’t say it. But I’ll own up fairly, I’ve the shakes -upon me for the gallows. You’re a good man and a true; I never seen a better -man! And you’ll not forget what I done good, not any more than you’ll forget -the bad, I know. And I step aside—see here—and leave you and Jim alone. And -you’ll put that down for me too, for it’s a long stretch, is that!” -</p> - -<p> -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and there -sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round now and again -upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and the doctor and -sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and fro in the sand between -the fire—which they were busy rekindling—and the house, from which they brought -forth pork and bread to make the breakfast. -</p> - -<p> -“So, Jim,” said the doctor sadly, “here you are. As you have brewed, so shall -you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you, but -this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain Smollett was well, you -dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and couldn’t help it, by George, -it was downright cowardly!” -</p> - -<p> -I will own that I here began to weep. “Doctor,” I said, “you might spare me. I -have blamed myself enough; my life’s forfeit anyway, and I should have been -dead by now if Silver hadn’t stood for me; and doctor, believe this, I can -die—and I dare say I deserve it—but what I fear is torture. If they come to -torture me—” -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, “Jim, I can’t -have this. Whip over, and we’ll run for it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” said I, “I passed my word.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know, I know,” he cried. “We can’t help that, Jim, now. I’ll take it on my -shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let -you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it like antelopes.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0285m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0285m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0285.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -“No,” I replied; “you know right well you wouldn’t do the thing -yourself—neither you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver trusted -me; I passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me finish. If -they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of where the ship is, for I -got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, and she lies in North Inlet, on -the southern beach, and just below high water. At half tide she must be high -and dry.” -</p> - -<p> -“The ship!” exclaimed the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a kind of fate in this,” he observed when I had done. “Every step, -it’s you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance that we are -going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my boy. You found out -the plot; you found Ben Gunn—the best deed that ever you did, or will do, -though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this -is the mischief in person. Silver!” he cried. “Silver! I’ll give you a piece of -advice,” he continued as the cook drew near again; “don’t you be in any great -hurry after that treasure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain’t,” said Silver. “I can only, -asking your pardon, save my life and the boy’s by seeking for that treasure; -and you may lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Silver,” replied the doctor, “if that is so, I’ll go one step further: -look out for squalls when you find it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Silver, “as between man and man, that’s too much and too little. -What you’re after, why you left the block house, why you given me that there -chart, I don’t know, now, do I? And yet I done your bidding with my eyes shut -and never a word of hope! But no, this here’s too much. If you won’t tell me -what you mean plain out, just say so and I’ll leave the helm.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the doctor musingly; “I’ve no right to say more; it’s not my secret, -you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I’d tell it you. But I’ll go as far -with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I’ll have my wig sorted by the -captain or I’m mistaken! And first, I’ll give you a bit of hope; Silver, if we -both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I’ll do my best to save you, short of -perjury.” -</p> - -<p> -Silver’s face was radiant. “You couldn’t say more, I’m sure, sir, not if you -was my mother,” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that’s my first concession,” added the doctor. “My second is a piece of -advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, halloo. I’m off -to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I speak at random. -Good-bye, Jim.” -</p> - -<p> -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to Silver, and -set off at a brisk pace into the wood. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap31"></a> -<img src="images/0289m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0289m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXI<br/> -The Treasure-hunt—Flint’s Pointer</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9289m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9289m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -im,” said Silver when we were alone, “if I saved your life, you saved mine; and -I’ll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for it—with the tail of -my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. Jim, that’s one to -you. This is the first glint of hope I had since the attack failed, and I owe -it you. And now, Jim, we’re to go in for this here treasure-hunting, with -sealed orders too, and I don’t like it; and you and me must stick close, back -to back like, and we’ll save our necks in spite o’ fate and fortune.” -</p> - -<p> -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and we were -soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had -lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot that they could only -approach it from the windward, and even there not without precaution. In the -same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three times more than we -could eat; and one of them, with an empty laugh, threw what was left into the -fire, which blazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life -saw men so careless of the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can -describe their way of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, -though they were bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their -entire unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. -</p> - -<p> -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a word -of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, for I thought -he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, mates,” said he, “it’s lucky you have Barbecue to think for you with this -here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where -they have it, I don’t know yet; but once we hit the treasure, we’ll have to -jump about and find out. And then, mates, us that has the boats, I reckon, has -the upper hand.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he restored -their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired his own at the -same time. -</p> - -<p> -“As for hostage,” he continued, “that’s his last talk, I guess, with them he -loves so dear. I’ve got my piece o’ news, and thanky to him for that; but it’s -over and done. I’ll take him in a line when we go treasure-hunting, for we’ll -keep him like so much gold, in case of accidents, you mark, and in the -meantime. Once we got the ship and treasure both and off to sea like jolly -companions, why then we’ll talk Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we’ll give him -his share, to be sure, for all his kindness.” -</p> - -<p> -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I was horribly -cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, -already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt it. He had still a foot -in either camp, and there was no doubt he would prefer wealth and freedom with -the pirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was the best he had to hope on -our side. -</p> - -<p> -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith with -Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment that would be -when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty and he and I should -have to fight for dear life—he a cripple and I a boy—against five strong and -active seamen! -</p> - -<p> -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the behaviour -of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, their inexplicable -cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, the doctor’s last warning -to Silver, “Look out for squalls when you find it,” and you will readily -believe how little taste I found in my breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I -set forth behind my captors on the quest for treasure. -</p> - -<p> -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us—all in soiled sailor -clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about -him—one before and one behind—besides the great cutlass at his waist and a -pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed coat. To complete his strange -appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds and -ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about my waist and followed -obediently after the sea-cook, who held the loose end of the rope, now in his -free hand, now between his powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a -dancing bear. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0291m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0291m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0291.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and shovels—for -that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore from the -<i>Hispaniola</i>—others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the midday -meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I could see the -truth of Silver’s words the night before. Had he not struck a bargain with the -doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been driven to -subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their hunting. Water would have been -little to their taste; a sailor is not usually a good shot; and besides all -that, when they were so short of eatables, it was not likely they would be very -flush of powder. -</p> - -<p> -Well, thus equipped, we all set out—even the fellow with the broken head, who -should certainly have kept in shadow—and straggled, one after another, to the -beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore trace of the drunken -folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, and both in their muddy and -unbailed condition. Both were to be carried along with us for the sake of -safety; and so, with our numbers divided between them, we set forth upon the -bosom of the anchorage. -</p> - -<p> -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross was, -of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note on the back, -as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the reader may -remember, thus: -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. -</p> - -<p> -Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -Ten feet. -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the anchorage was -bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the -north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass and rising again towards -the south into the rough, cliffy eminence called the Mizzenmast Hill. The top -of the plateau was dotted thickly with pine-trees of varying height. Every here -and there, one of a different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its -neighbours, and which of these was the particular “tall tree” of Captain Flint -could only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. -</p> - -<p> -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had picked a -favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his -shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. -</p> - -<p> -We pulled easily, by Silver’s directions, not to weary the hands prematurely, -and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of the second river—that -which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, bending to our left, we -began to ascend the slope towards the plateau. -</p> - -<p> -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation greatly -delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began to steepen and -become stony under foot, and the wood to change its character and to grow in a -more open order. It was, indeed, a most pleasant portion of the island that we -were now approaching. A heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs had -almost taken the place of grass. Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted -here and there with the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the -first mingled their spice with the aroma of the others. The air, besides, was -fresh and stirring, and this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. -</p> - -<p> -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to and -fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed—I -tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among the sliding gravel. -From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, or he must have missed his -footing and fallen backward down the hill. -</p> - -<p> -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the brow of -the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in -terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others began to run in his -direction. -</p> - -<p> -“He can’t ’a found the treasure,” said old Morgan, hurrying past us from the -right, “for that’s clean a-top.” -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something very -different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green creeper, -which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton lay, -with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a chill struck for a -moment to every heart. -</p> - -<p> -“He was a seaman,” said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had gone up -close and was examining the rags of clothing. “Leastways, this is good -sea-cloth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” said Silver; “like enough; you wouldn’t look to find a bishop here, -I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? ’Tain’t in natur’.” -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body was in -a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that -had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had gradually enveloped -his remains) the man lay perfectly straight—his feet pointing in one direction, -his hands, raised above his head like a diver’s, pointing directly in the -opposite. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ve taken a notion into my old numbskull,” observed Silver. “Here’s the -compass; there’s the tip-top p’int o’ Skeleton Island, stickin’ out like a -tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones.” -</p> - -<p> -It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, and the -compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought so,” cried the cook; “this here is a p’inter. Right up there is our -line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it don’t make -me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of <i>his</i> jokes, and no -mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed ’em, every man; and this -one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my timbers! They’re long -bones, and the hair’s been yellow. Aye, that would be Allardyce. You mind -Allardyce, Tom Morgan?” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, aye,” returned Morgan; “I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and took my -knife ashore with him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Speaking of knives,” said another, “why don’t we find his’n lying round? Flint -warn’t the man to pick a seaman’s pocket; and the birds, I guess, would leave -it be.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, and that’s true!” cried Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“There ain’t a thing left here,” said Merry, still feeling round among the -bones; “not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don’t look nat’ral to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, by gum, it don’t,” agreed Silver; “not nat’ral, nor not nice, says you. -Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for -you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what they are now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I saw him dead with these here deadlights,” said Morgan. “Billy took me in. -There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dead—aye, sure enough he’s dead and gone below,” said the fellow with the -bandage; “but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint’s. Dear heart, but he -died bad, did Flint!” -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, that he did,” observed another; “now he raged, and now he hollered for -the rum, and now he sang. ‘Fifteen Men’ were his only song, mates; and I tell -you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was main hot, and the -windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as clear as clear—and the -death-haul on the man already.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t walk, that -I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a -cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.” -</p> - -<p> -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring daylight, -the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the wood, but kept side -by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of the dead buccaneer had -fallen on their spirits. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap32"></a> -<img src="images/0298m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0298m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXII<br/> -The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9298m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9298m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -artly from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver and the -sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained the brow of the -ascent. -</p> - -<p> -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which we had -paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, over the tree-tops, -we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; behind, we not only looked -down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, but saw—clear across the spit and -the eastern lowlands—a great field of open sea upon the east. Sheer above us -rose the Spy-glass, here dotted with single pines, there black with precipices. -There was no sound but that of the distant breakers, mounting from all round, -and the chirp of countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon -the sea; the very largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. -</p> - -<p> -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. -</p> - -<p> -“There are three ‘tall trees,’” said he, “about in the right line from Skeleton -Island. ‘Spy-glass shoulder,’ I take it, means that lower p’int there. It’s -child’s play to find the stuff now. I’ve half a mind to dine first.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t feel sharp,” growled Morgan. “Thinkin’ o’ Flint—I think it were—as -done me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he’s dead,” said Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“He were an ugly devil,” cried a third pirate with a shudder; “that blue in the -face too!” -</p> - -<p> -“That was how the rum took him,” added Merry. “Blue! Well, I reckon he was -blue. That’s a true word.” -</p> - -<p> -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of thought, they -had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to whispering by now, so -that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence of the wood. All of -a sudden, out of the middle of the trees in front of us, a thin, high, -trembling voice struck up the well-known air and words: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—<br/> - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” -</p> - -<p> -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The colour -went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their feet, some -clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s Flint, by ——!” cried Merry. -</p> - -<p> -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began—broken off, you would have said, -in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon the singer’s -mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the green tree-tops, I -thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the effect on my companions was -the stranger. -</p> - -<p> -“Come,” said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; “this -won’t do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can’t name the -voice, but it’s someone skylarking—someone that’s flesh and blood, and you may -lay to that.” -</p> - -<p> -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his face along -with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this encouragement and -were coming a little to themselves, when the same voice broke out again—not -this time singing, but in a faint distant hail that echoed yet fainter among -the clefts of the Spy-glass. -</p> - -<p> -“Darby M’Graw,” it wailed—for that is the word that best describes the -sound—“Darby M’Graw! Darby M’Graw!” again and again and again; and then rising -a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: “Fetch aft the rum, Darby!” -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0301m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0301m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0301.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from their -heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in silence, -dreadfully, before them. -</p> - -<p> -“That fixes it!” gasped one. “Let’s go.” -</p> - -<p> -“They was his last words,” moaned Morgan, “his last words above board.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought up, -had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. -</p> - -<p> -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, but he -had not yet surrendered. -</p> - -<p> -“Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby,” he muttered; “not one but us -that’s here.” And then, making a great effort: “Shipmates,” he cried, “I’m here -to get that stuff, and I’ll not be beat by man or devil. I never was feared of -Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I’ll face him dead. There’s seven -hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a mile from here. When did ever a -gentleman o’ fortune show his stern to that much dollars for a boozy old seaman -with a blue mug—and him dead too?” -</p> - -<p> -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, indeed, -of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. -</p> - -<p> -“Belay there, John!” said Merry. “Don’t you cross a sperrit.” -</p> - -<p> -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away -severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them close by -John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty well fought his -weakness down. -</p> - -<p> -“Sperrit? Well, maybe,” he said. “But there’s one thing not clear to me. There -was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what’s -he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That ain’t in natur’, -surely?” -</p> - -<p> -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will affect -the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly relieved. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that’s so,” he said. “You’ve a head upon your shoulders, John, and no -mistake. ’Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do believe. -And come to think on it, it was like Flint’s voice, I grant you, but not just -so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker somebody else’s voice now—it was -liker—” -</p> - -<p> -“By the powers, Ben Gunn!” roared Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Aye, and so it were,” cried Morgan, springing on his knees. “Ben Gunn it -were!” -</p> - -<p> -“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here in the -body any more’n Flint.” -</p> - -<p> -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds him.” -</p> - -<p> -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural colour -had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, with intervals of -listening; and not long after, hearing no further sound, they shouldered the -tools and set forth again, Merry walking first with Silver’s compass to keep -them on the right line with Skeleton Island. He had said the truth: dead or -alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. -</p> - -<p> -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with fearful -glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on his -precautions. -</p> - -<p> -“I told you,” said he—“I told you you had sp’iled your Bible. If it ain’t no -good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that!” -and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his crutch. -</p> - -<p> -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that the lad -was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the -fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing swiftly higher. -</p> - -<p> -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little downhill, -for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The pines, great and -small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg and azalea, wide -open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, as we did, pretty near -north-west across the island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer under the -shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, looked ever wider over that -western bay where I had once tossed and trembled in the coracle. -</p> - -<p> -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the wrong -one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet into the air -above a clump of underwood—a giant of a vegetable, with a red column as big as -a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a company could have manoeuvred. -It was conspicuous far to sea both on the east and west and might have been -entered as a sailing mark upon the chart. -</p> - -<p> -But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the knowledge -that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere buried below its -spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they drew nearer, swallowed up -their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew -speedier and lighter; their whole soul was bound up in that fortune, that whole -lifetime of extravagance and pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. -</p> - -<p> -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and quivered; -he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and shiny -countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to him and from time -to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. Certainly he took no pains -to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate -nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten: his promise and the doctor’s -warning were both things of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to -seize upon the treasure, find and board the <i>Hispaniola</i> under cover of -night, cut every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at -first intended, laden with crimes and riches. -</p> - -<p> -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with the rapid -pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it was then that -Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his murderous glances. -Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought up the rear, was babbling to -himself both prayers and curses as his fever kept rising. This also added to my -wretchedness, and to crown all, I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy -that had once been acted on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the -blue face—he who died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink—had there, -with his own hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so -peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I -could believe I heard it ringing still. -</p> - -<p> -We were now at the margin of the thicket. -</p> - -<p> -“Huzza, mates, all together!” shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into a run. -</p> - -<p> -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry arose. -Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch like one -possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead halt. -</p> - -<p> -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had fallen in -and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft of a pick broken -in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around. On one of these -boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name <i>Walrus</i>—the name of -Flint’s ship. -</p> - -<p> -All was clear to probation. The <i>cache</i> had been found and rifled; the -seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap33"></a> -<img src="images/0306m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0306m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXIII<br/> -The Fall of a Chieftain</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9306m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9306m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -here never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men was as -though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. -Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a racer, on that -money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; and he kept his head, -found his temper, and changed his plan before the others had had time to -realize the disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -“Jim,” he whispered, “take that, and stand by for trouble.” -</p> - -<p> -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. -</p> - -<p> -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps had put -the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at me and nodded, -as much as to say, “Here is a narrow corner,” as, indeed, I thought it was. His -looks were not quite friendly, and I was so revolted at these constant changes -that I could not forbear whispering, “So you’ve changed sides again.” -</p> - -<p> -There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths and -cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig with their -fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found a piece of -gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It was a two-guinea piece, -and it went from hand to hand among them for a quarter of a minute. -</p> - -<p> -“Two guineas!” roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. “That’s your seven hundred -thousand pounds, is it? You’re the man for bargains, ain’t you? You’re him that -never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!” -</p> - -<p> -“Dig away, boys,” said Silver with the coolest insolence; “you’ll find some -pig-nuts and I shouldn’t wonder.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pig-nuts!” repeated Merry, in a scream. “Mates, do you hear that? I tell you -now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him and you’ll see -it wrote there.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Merry,” remarked Silver, “standing for cap’n again? You’re a pushing lad, -to be sure.” -</p> - -<p> -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry’s favour. They began to scramble -out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One thing I -observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the opposite side -from Silver. -</p> - -<p> -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit between us, -and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. Silver never moved; -he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as cool as ever I saw -him. He was brave, and no mistake. -</p> - -<p> -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. -</p> - -<p> -“Mates,” says he, “there’s two of them alone there; one’s the old cripple that -brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the other’s that cub that I -mean to have the heart of. Now, mates—” -</p> - -<p> -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a charge. But -just then—crack! crack! crack!—three musket-shots flashed out of the thicket. -Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the man with the bandage spun -round like a teetotum and fell all his length upon his side, where he lay dead, -but still twitching; and the other three turned and ran for it with all their -might. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0309m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0309m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0309.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into the -struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the last agony, -“George,” said he, “I reckon I settled you.” -</p> - -<p> -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with smoking -muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. -</p> - -<p> -“Forward!” cried the doctor. “Double quick, my lads. We must head ’em off the -boats.” -</p> - -<p> -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to the -chest. -</p> - -<p> -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man went -through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, -was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the doctor. As it was, he -was already thirty yards behind us and on the verge of strangling when we -reached the brow of the slope. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” he hailed, “see there! No hurry!” -</p> - -<p> -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we could -see the three survivors still running in the same direction as they had -started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between them and the boats; -and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, mopping his face, came -slowly up with us. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank ye kindly, doctor,” says he. “You came in in about the nick, I guess, -for me and Hawkins. And so it’s you, Ben Gunn!” he added. “Well, you’re a nice -one, to be sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m Ben Gunn, I am,” replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his -embarrassment. “And,” he added, after a long pause, “how do, Mr. Silver? Pretty -well, I thank ye, says you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ben, Ben,” murmured Silver, “to think as you’ve done me!” -</p> - -<p> -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their flight, -by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to where the -boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. It was a story -that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the -hero from beginning to end. -</p> - -<p> -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the skeleton—it -was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he had dug it up (it was -the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the excavation); he had carried it -on his back, in many weary journeys, from the foot of the tall pine to a cave -he had on the two-pointed hill at the north-east angle of the island, and there -it had lain stored in safety since two months before the arrival of the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the attack, -and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone to Silver, -given him the chart, which was now useless—given him the stores, for Ben Gunn’s -cave was well supplied with goats’ meat salted by himself—given anything and -everything to get a chance of moving in safety from the stockade to the -two-pointed hill, there to be clear of malaria and keep a guard upon the money. -</p> - -<p> -“As for you, Jim,” he said, “it went against my heart, but I did what I thought -best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not one of these, -whose fault was it?” -</p> - -<p> -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid disappointment he -had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way to the cave, and leaving -the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray and the maroon and started, -making the diagonal across the island to be at hand beside the pine. Soon, -however, he saw that our party had the start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet -of foot, had been dispatched in front to do his best alone. Then it had -occurred to him to work upon the superstitions of his former shipmates, and he -was so far successful that Gray and the doctor had come up and were already -ambushed before the arrival of the treasure-hunters. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said Silver, “it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. You would -have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a thought, doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a thought,” replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. -</p> - -<p> -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, -demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out to go -round by sea for North Inlet. -</p> - -<p> -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost killed -already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and we were soon -skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the straits and -doubled the south-east corner of the island, round which, four days ago, we had -towed the <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben Gunn’s -cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the squire, and -we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which the voice of Silver -joined as heartily as any. -</p> - -<p> -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should we meet -but the <i>Hispaniola</i>, cruising by herself? The last flood had lifted her, -and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as in the southern -anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found her stranded beyond -help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the wreck of the main-sail. -Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a fathom and a half of water. We -all pulled round again to Rum Cove, the nearest point for Ben Gunn’s -treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned with the gig to the -<i>Hispaniola</i>, where he was to pass the night on guard. -</p> - -<p> -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the top, -the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing of my escapade -either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver’s polite salute he somewhat -flushed. -</p> - -<p> -“John Silver,” he said, “you’re a prodigious villain and imposter—a monstrous -imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not. But -the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like mill-stones.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you kindly, sir,” replied Long John, again saluting. -</p> - -<p> -“I dare you to thank me!” cried the squire. “It is a gross dereliction of my -duty. Stand back.” -</p> - -<p> -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with a -little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The floor was -sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily -flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals -built of bars of gold. That was Flint’s treasure that we had come so far to -seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the -<i>Hispaniola</i>. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, -what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank -blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man -alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon that island—Silver, and old -Morgan, and Ben Gunn—who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had -hoped in vain to share in the reward. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in, Jim,” said the captain. “You’re a good boy in your line, Jim, but I -don’t think you and me’ll go to sea again. You’re too much of the born -favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Come back to my dooty, sir,” returned Silver. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” said the captain, and that was all he said. -</p> - -<p> -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and what a -meal it was, with Ben Gunn’s salted goat and some delicacies and a bottle of -old wine from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. Never, I am sure, were people gayer or -happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the firelight, but -eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was wanted, even -joining quietly in our laughter—the same bland, polite, obsequious seaman of -the voyage out. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<a name="chap34"></a> -<img src="images/0314m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0314m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h2 class="no-break">XXXIV<br/> -And Last</h2> - -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> -<img src="images/9314m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="9314m " width="100%" /> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"> -he next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this great -mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat -to the <i>Hispaniola</i>, was a considerable task for so small a number of -workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did not greatly trouble -us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us -against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, besides, they had had more than -enough of fighting. -</p> - -<p> -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and went with -the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure on the beach. Two -of the bars, slung in a rope’s end, made a good load for a grown man—one that -he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, as I was not much use at -carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave packing the minted money into -bread-bags. -</p> - -<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> -<img src="images/0317m.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="0317m" /><br/> -</div> - -<h5> -<a href="images/0317.jpg" style="width:100%;" > -<img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /></a> -</h5> - -<p> -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones’s hoard for the diversity of -coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I never had -more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, -Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, -the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange -Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of string or bits of -spider’s web, round pieces and square pieces, and pieces bored through the -middle, as if to wear them round your neck—nearly every variety of money in the -world must, I think, have found a place in that collection; and for number, I -am sure they were like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping and -my fingers with sorting them out. -</p> - -<p> -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been stowed -aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and all this time -we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. -</p> - -<p> -At last—I think it was on the third night—the doctor and I were strolling on -the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of the isle, when, -from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise between -shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached our ears, followed by -the former silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Heaven forgive them,” said the doctor; “’tis the mutineers!” -</p> - -<p> -“All drunk, sir,” struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. -</p> - -<p> -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of daily -rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged and friendly -dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these slights and with -what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to ingratiate himself with all. -Yet, I think, none treated him better than a dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who -was still terribly afraid of his old quartermaster, or myself, who had really -something to thank him for; although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason -to think even worse of him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a -fresh treachery upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the -doctor answered him. -</p> - -<p> -“Drunk or raving,” said he. -</p> - -<p> -“Right you were, sir,” replied Silver; “and precious little odds which, to you -and me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man,” returned the -doctor with a sneer, “and so my feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But -if I were sure they were raving—as I am morally certain one, at least, of them -is down with fever—I should leave this camp, and at whatever risk to my own -carcass, take them the assistance of my skill.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,” quoth Silver. “You would lose -your precious life, and you may lay to that. I’m on your side now, hand and -glove; and I shouldn’t wish for to see the party weakened, let alone yourself, -seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down there, they couldn’t keep -their word—no, not supposing they wished to; and what’s more, they couldn’t -believe as you could.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the doctor. “You’re the man to keep your word, we know that.” -</p> - -<p> -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only once we -heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. A council was -held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the island—to the huge -glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong approval of Gray. We left a -good stock of powder and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few medicines, and -some other necessaries, tools, clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, -and by the particular desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. -</p> - -<p> -That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the -treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the goat meat -in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we weighed anchor, -which was about all that we could manage, and stood out of North Inlet, the -same colours flying that the captain had flown and fought under at the -palisade. -</p> - -<p> -The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, as we -soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to lie very near the -southern point, and there we saw all three of them kneeling together on a spit -of sand, with their arms raised in supplication. It went to all our hearts, I -think, to leave them in that wretched state; but we could not risk another -mutiny; and to take them home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of -kindness. The doctor hailed them and told them of the stores we had left, and -where they were to find them. But they continued to call us by name and appeal -to us, for God’s sake, to be merciful and not leave them to die in such a -place. -</p> - -<p> -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly drawing -out of earshot, one of them—I know not which it was—leapt to his feet with a -hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent a shot whistling over -Silver’s head and through the main-sail. -</p> - -<p> -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked out -they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost melted out -of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end of that; and -before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of Treasure Island had -sunk into the blue round of sea. -</p> - -<p> -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand—only the -captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for though -greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her head for the -nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the voyage home without -fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds and a couple of fresh -gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. -</p> - -<p> -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful land-locked -gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full of Negroes and -Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and vegetables and offering to -dive for bits of money. The sight of so many good-humoured faces (especially -the blacks), the taste of the tropical fruits, and above all the lights that -began to shine in the town made a most charming contrast to our dark and bloody -sojourn on the island; and the doctor and the squire, taking me along with -them, went ashore to pass the early part of the night. Here they met the -captain of an English man-of-war, fell in talk with him, went on board his -ship, and, in short, had so agreeable a time that day was breaking when we came -alongside the <i>Hispaniola</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, with -wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. The maroon had -connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, and he now assured us he -had only done so to preserve our lives, which would certainly have been forfeit -if “that man with the one leg had stayed aboard.” But this was not all. The -sea-cook had not gone empty-handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved -and had removed one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred -guineas, to help him on his further wanderings. -</p> - -<p> -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. -</p> - -<p> -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a good -cruise home, and the <i>Hispaniola</i> reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was -beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of those who had -sailed returned with her. “Drink and the devil had done for the rest,” with a -vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite in so bad a case as that -other ship they sang about: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> -With one man of her crew alive,<br/> -What put to sea with seventy-five. -</p> - -<p> -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or foolishly, -according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired from the sea. Gray -not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit with the desire to rise, also -studied his profession, and he is now mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged -ship, married besides, and the father of a family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a -thousand pounds, which he spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in -nineteen days, for he was back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a -lodge to keep, exactly as he had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a -great favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys, and a -notable singer in church on Sundays and saints’ days. -</p> - -<p> -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one leg has -at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old Negress, and -perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. It is to be hoped -so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small. -</p> - -<p> -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where Flint buried -them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not -bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I -have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts or start upright in bed -with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: “Pieces of -eight! Pieces of eight!” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 120 ***</div> -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010.jpg b/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0f86e95..0000000 --- a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010m.jpg b/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010m.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6d7de02..0000000 --- a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0010m.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0017.jpg b/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0017.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 518424d..0000000 --- a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0017.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0017m.jpg b/old/old-2025-04-01/120-h/images/0017m.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 92da86d..0000000 --- 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--- a/old/old/120.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7887 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Treasure Island - -Author: Robert Louis Stevenson - -Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #120] -[Last Updated: November 10, 2010] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE ISLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Judy Boss, John Hamm and David Widger - - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - -by Robert Louis Stevenson - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - -To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste -the following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for -numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his -affectionate friend, the author. - - - - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - --So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! - - - CONTENTS - - PART ONE - The Old Buccaneer - - 1. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE ADMIRAL BENBOW 11 - 2. BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS . . . . 17 - 3. THE BLACK SPOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 4. THE SEA-CHEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 - 5. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN . . . . . . . 36 - 6. THE CAPTAIN'S PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . 41 - - PART TWO - The Sea Cook - - 7. I GO TO BRISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 - 8. AT THE SIGN OF THE SPY-GLASS . . . . . . . 54 - 9. POWDER AND ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - 10. THE VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 - 11. WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL . . . . 70 - 12. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 - - PART THREE - My Shore Adventure - - 13. HOW MY SHORE ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . 82 - 14. THE FIRST BLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 - 15. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . 93 - - PART FOUR - The Stockade - - 16. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED . . . . . . 100 - 17. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - THE JOLLY-BOAT'S LAST TRIP . . . . . . 105 - 18. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - END OF THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHTING . . . 109 - 19. NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: - THE GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE . . . . . 114 - 20. SILVER'S EMBASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 - 21. THE ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 - - PART FIVE - My Sea Adventure - - 22. HOW MY SEA ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . . 132 - 23. THE EBB-TIDE RUNS . . . . . . . . . . . 138 - 24. THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE . . . . . . . 143 - 25. I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER . . . . . . . . 148 - 26. ISRAEL HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 - 27. "PIECES OF EIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . 161 - - PART SIX - Captain Silver - - 28. IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP . . . . . . . . . . 168 - 29. THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN . . . . . . . . . . 176 - 30. ON PAROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 - 31. THE TREASURE-HUNT--FLINT'S POINTER . . . 189 - 32. THE TREASURE-HUNT--THE VOICE AMONG - THE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 - 33. THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN . . . . . . . . 201 - 34. AND LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 - - - - -TREASURE ISLAND - - - - -PART ONE--The Old Buccaneer - - - - -1 - -The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow - - -SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having -asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from -the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the -island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I -take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when -my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the -sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof. - -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the -inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow--a -tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the -shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with -black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid -white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself -as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so -often afterwards: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and -broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of -stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, -called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, -he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still -looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard. - -"This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a pleasant sittyated -grog-shop. Much company, mate?" - -My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. - -"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. Here you, matey," he -cried to the man who trundled the barrow; "bring up alongside and help -up my chest. I'll stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum -and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch -ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I -see what you're at--there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces -on the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked through that," says -he, looking as fierce as a commander. - -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none -of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like -a mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came -with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at -the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the -coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as -lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And -that was all we could learn of our guest. - -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or -upon the cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner -of the parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly -he would not speak when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and -blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came -about our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when he came back -from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the -road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind -that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was -desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the Admiral Benbow -(as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) he -would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such -was present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for -I was, in a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day -and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I -would only keep my "weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg" -and let him know the moment he appeared. Often enough when the first -of the month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he would only -blow through his nose at me and stare me down, but before the week was -out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and -repeat his orders to look out for "the seafaring man with one leg." - -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On -stormy nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and -the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a -thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg -would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; now he was a monstrous -kind of a creature who had never had but the one leg, and that in the -middle of his body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and -ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I paid pretty dear for -my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies. - -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one -leg, I was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who -knew him. There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water -than his head would carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his -wicked, old, wild sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call -for glasses round and force all the trembling company to listen to his -stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have heard the house -shaking with "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum," all the neighbours joining -in for dear life, with the fear of death upon them, and each singing -louder than the other to avoid remark. For in these fits he was the most -overriding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on the table for -silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, -or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was not -following his story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he -had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories -they were--about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and -the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his -own account he must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men -that God ever allowed upon the sea, and the language in which he told -these stories shocked our plain country people almost as much as the -crimes that he described. My father was always saying the inn would be -ruined, for people would soon cease coming there to be tyrannized over -and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I really believe his -presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on looking -back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet country -life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog" and a "real old salt" and -such like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England -terrible at sea. - -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week -after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had -been long exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to -insist on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through -his nose so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared my poor -father out of the room. I have seen him wringing his hands after such a -rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the terror he lived in must have -greatly hastened his early and unhappy death. - -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his -dress but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his -hat having fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it -was a great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his -coat, which he patched himself upstairs in his room, and which, before -the end, was nothing but patches. He never wrote or received a letter, -and he never spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these, for the -most part, only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us had -ever seen open. - -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor -father was far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came -late one afternoon to see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my -mother, and went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse should -come down from the hamlet, for we had no stabling at the old Benbow. I -followed him in, and I remember observing the contrast the neat, bright -doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his bright, black eyes and -pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, and above all, -with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, -far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he--the captain, -that is--began to pipe up his eternal song: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -At first I had supposed "the dead man's chest" to be that identical big -box of his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled -in my nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this -time we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it -was new, that night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it -did not produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite -angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on -a new cure for the rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually -brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his hand upon -the table before him in a way we all knew to mean silence. The voices -stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey's; he went on as before speaking -clear and kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or -two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, -glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, -"Silence, there, between decks!" - -"Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and when the ruffian had -told him, with another oath, that this was so, "I have only one thing to -say to you, sir," replies the doctor, "that if you keep on drinking rum, -the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!" - -The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened -a sailor's clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, -threatened to pin the doctor to the wall. - -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his -shoulder and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the -room might hear, but perfectly calm and steady: "If you do not put that -knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall -hang at the next assizes." - -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon -knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like -a beaten dog. - -"And now, sir," continued the doctor, "since I now know there's such a -fellow in my district, you may count I'll have an eye upon you day and -night. I'm not a doctor only; I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath -of complaint against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like -tonight's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted down and routed -out of this. Let that suffice." - -Soon after, Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door and he rode away, but -the captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. - - - - -2 - -Black Dog Appears and Disappears - - -IT was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the -mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you -will see, of his affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard -frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor -father was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my mother -and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without -paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - -It was one January morning, very early--a pinching, frosty morning--the -cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, -the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to -seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and set out down the -beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat, -his brass telescope under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I -remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and -the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort -of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the -breakfast-table against the captain's return when the parlour door -opened and a man stepped in on whom I had never set my eyes before. He -was a pale, tallowy creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and -though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a fighter. I -had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one leg or two, and I -remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a -smack of the sea about him too. - -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but -as I was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table -and motioned me to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my -hand. - -"Come here, sonny," says he. "Come nearer here." - -I took a step nearer. - -"Is this here table for my mate Bill?" he asked with a kind of leer. - -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who -stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - -"Well," said he, "my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like -as not. He has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, -particularly in drink, has my mate Bill. We'll put it, for argument -like, that your captain has a cut on one cheek--and we'll put it, if you -like, that that cheek's the right one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my -mate Bill in this here house?" - -I told him he was out walking. - -"Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?" - -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was -likely to return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, -"Ah," said he, "this'll be as good as drink to my mate Bill." - -The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all -pleasant, and I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was -mistaken, even supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of -mine, I thought; and besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The -stranger kept hanging about just inside the inn door, peering round the -corner like a cat waiting for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into -the road, but he immediately called me back, and as I did not obey quick -enough for his fancy, a most horrible change came over his tallowy face, -and he ordered me in with an oath that made me jump. As soon as I -was back again he returned to his former manner, half fawning, half -sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and he had -taken quite a fancy to me. "I have a son of my own," said he, "as like -you as two blocks, and he's all the pride of my 'art. But the great -thing for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you had sailed -along of Bill, you wouldn't have stood there to be spoke to twice--not -you. That was never Bill's way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. -And here, sure enough, is my mate Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, -bless his old 'art, to be sure. You and me'll just go back into the -parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we'll give Bill a little -surprise--bless his 'art, I say again." - -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me -behind him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I -was very uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my -fears to observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He -cleared the hilt of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; -and all the time we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt -what we used to call a lump in the throat. - -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without -looking to the right or left, and marched straight across the room to -where his breakfast awaited him. - -"Bill," said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make -bold and big. - -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had -gone out of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a -man who sees a ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything -can be; and upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn -so old and sick. - -"Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely," said -the stranger. - -The captain made a sort of gasp. - -"Black Dog!" said he. - -"And who else?" returned the other, getting more at his ease. "Black -Dog as ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral -Benbow inn. Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since -I lost them two talons," holding up his mutilated hand. - -"Now, look here," said the captain; "you've run me down; here I am; -well, then, speak up; what is it?" - -"That's you, Bill," returned Black Dog, "you're in the right of it, -Billy. I'll have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I've took -such a liking to; and we'll sit down, if you please, and talk square, -like old shipmates." - -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side -of the captain's breakfast-table--Black Dog next to the door and -sitting sideways so as to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I -thought, on his retreat. - -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. "None of your keyholes for -me, sonny," he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. - -For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear -nothing but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, -and I could pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - -"No, no, no, no; and an end of it!" he cried once. And again, "If it -comes to swinging, swing all, say I." - -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and -other noises--the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel -followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black -Dog in full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn -cutlasses, and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just -at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous -cut, which would certainly have split him to the chine had it not been -intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You may see the -notch on the lower side of the frame to this day. - -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black -Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and -disappeared over the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for -his part, stood staring at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he -passed his hand over his eyes several times and at last turned back into -the house. - -"Jim," says he, "rum"; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught -himself with one hand against the wall. - -"Are you hurt?" cried I. - -"Rum," he repeated. "I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!" - -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen -out, and I broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still -getting in my own way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running -in, beheld the captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same -instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting, came running -downstairs to help me. Between us we raised his head. He was breathing -very loud and hard, but his eyes were closed and his face a horrible -colour. - -"Dear, deary me," cried my mother, "what a disgrace upon the house! And -your poor father sick!" - -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any -other thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with -the stranger. I got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his -throat, but his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. -It was a happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor Livesey -came in, on his visit to my father. - -"Oh, doctor," we cried, "what shall we do? Where is he wounded?" - -"Wounded? A fiddle-stick's end!" said the doctor. "No more wounded than -you or I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, -just you run upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing -about it. For my part, I must do my best to save this fellow's trebly -worthless life; Jim, you get me a basin." - -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the -captain's sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed -in several places. "Here's luck," "A fair wind," and "Billy Bones his -fancy," were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm; and up -near the shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows and a man hanging from -it--done, as I thought, with great spirit. - -"Prophetic," said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. -"And now, Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we'll have a look at -the colour of your blood. Jim," he said, "are you afraid of blood?" - -"No, sir," said I. - -"Well, then," said he, "you hold the basin"; and with that he took his -lancet and opened a vein. - -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes -and looked mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with -an unmistakable frown; then his glance fell upon me, and he looked -relieved. But suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise -himself, crying, "Where's Black Dog?" - -"There is no Black Dog here," said the doctor, "except what you have -on your own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, -precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, -dragged you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones--" - -"That's not my name," he interrupted. - -"Much I care," returned the doctor. "It's the name of a buccaneer of my -acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I -have to say to you is this; one glass of rum won't kill you, but if -you take one you'll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you -don't break off short, you'll die--do you understand that?--die, and go -to your own place, like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. -I'll help you to your bed for once." - -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and -laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he -were almost fainting. - -"Now, mind you," said the doctor, "I clear my conscience--the name of -rum for you is death." - -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the -arm. - -"This is nothing," he said as soon as he had closed the door. "I have -drawn blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week -where he is--that is the best thing for him and you; but another stroke -would settle him." - - - - -3 - -The Black Spot - -ABOUT noon I stopped at the captain's door with some cooling drinks -and medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little -higher, and he seemed both weak and excited. - -"Jim," he said, "you're the only one here that's worth anything, and you -know I've been always good to you. Never a month but I've given you a -silver fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I'm pretty low, -and deserted by all; and Jim, you'll bring me one noggin of rum, now, -won't you, matey?" - -"The doctor--" I began. - -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. -"Doctors is all swabs," he said; "and that doctor there, why, what do -he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates -dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the -sea with earthquakes--what to the doctor know of lands like that?--and I -lived on rum, I tell you. It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, -to me; and if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a lee -shore, my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab"; and he ran on -again for a while with curses. "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges," -he continued in the pleading tone. "I can't keep 'em still, not I. I -haven't had a drop this blessed day. That doctor's a fool, I tell you. -If I don't have a drain o' rum, Jim, I'll have the horrors; I seen some -on 'em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as -plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I'm a man that -has lived rough, and I'll raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass -wouldn't hurt me. I'll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim." - -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, -who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by -the doctor's words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer -of a bribe. - -"I want none of your money," said I, "but what you owe my father. I'll -get you one glass, and no more." - -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. - -"Aye, aye," said he, "that's some better, sure enough. And now, matey, -did that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?" - -"A week at least," said I. - -"Thunder!" he cried. "A week! I can't do that; they'd have the black -spot on me by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me -this blessed moment; lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to -nail what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? -But I'm a saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost it -neither; and I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll shake out -another reef, matey, and daddle 'em again." - -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, -holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and -moving his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they -were in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in -which they were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting -position on the edge. - -"That doctor's done me," he murmured. "My ears is singing. Lay me back." - -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his -former place, where he lay for a while silent. - -"Jim," he said at length, "you saw that seafaring man today?" - -"Black Dog?" I asked. - -"Ah! Black Dog," says he. "HE'S a bad un; but there's worse that put him -on. Now, if I can't get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind -you, it's my old sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse--you can, -can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to--well, yes, -I will!--to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all -hands--magistrates and sich--and he'll lay 'em aboard at the Admiral -Benbow--all old Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I was -first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows -the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I -was to now, you see. But you won't peach unless they get the black spot -on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man with -one leg, Jim--him above all." - -"But what is the black spot, captain?" I asked. - -"That's a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get that. But you keep -your weather-eye open, Jim, and I'll share with you equals, upon my -honour." - -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I -had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, -"If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it's me," he fell at last into a heavy, -swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all -gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to -the doctor, for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of -his confessions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my poor -father died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters -on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the -arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on -in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of -the captain, far less to be afraid of him. - -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, -though he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of -rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through -his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral -he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, -to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, -we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly -taken up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after -my father's death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he -seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up -and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, -and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man -on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my -belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was -more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than -ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his -cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But with all that, -he minded people less and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather -wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a -different air, a kind of country love-song that he must have learned in -his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. - -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three -o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door -for a moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone -drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped -before him with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and -nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge -old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively -deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. -He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd -sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, "Will any kind friend -inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in -the gracious defence of his native country, England--and God bless King -George!--where or in what part of this country he may now be?" - -"You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man," said I. - -"I hear a voice," said he, "a young voice. Will you give me your hand, -my kind young friend, and lead me in?" - -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature -gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I -struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with -a single action of his arm. - -"Now, boy," he said, "take me in to the captain." - -"Sir," said I, "upon my word I dare not." - -"Oh," he sneered, "that's it! Take me in straight or I'll break your -arm." - -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - -"Sir," said I, "it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he -used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman--" - -"Come, now, march," interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, -and cold, and ugly as that blind man's. It cowed me more than the pain, -and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and -towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed -with rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist -and leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. "Lead me -straight up to him, and when I'm in view, cry out, 'Here's a friend -for you, Bill.' If you don't, I'll do this," and with that he gave me a -twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I -was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of -the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he -had ordered in a trembling voice. - -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of -him and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so -much of terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I -do not believe he had enough force left in his body. - -"Now, Bill, sit where you are," said the beggar. "If I can't see, I can -hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. -Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right." - -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the -hollow of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain's, -which closed upon it instantly. - -"And now that's done," said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly -left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, -skipped out of the parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood -motionless, I could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our -senses, but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his -wrist, which I was still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked -sharply into the palm. - -"Ten o'clock!" he cried. "Six hours. We'll do them yet," and he sprang -to his feet. - -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying -for a moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole -height face foremost to the floor. - -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. -The captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious -thing to understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of -late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I -burst into a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and -the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart. - - - - -4 - -The Sea-chest - -I LOST no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and -perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once -in a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man's money--if -he had any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our -captain's shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black -Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in -payment of the dead man's debts. The captain's order to mount at -once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone -and unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed -impossible for either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall -of coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled -us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by -approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain -on the parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind beggar -hovering near at hand and ready to return, there were moments when, as -the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. Something must speedily -be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth together -and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than done. -Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and -the frosty fog. - -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the -other side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was -in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his -appearance and whither he had presumably returned. We were not many -minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each -other and hearken. But there was no unusual sound--nothing but the low -wash of the ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall -never forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and -windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely -to get in that quarter. For--you would have thought men would have been -ashamed of themselves--no soul would consent to return with us to the -Admiral Benbow. The more we told of our troubles, the more--man, woman, -and child--they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of -Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well enough known to -some there and carried a great weight of terror. Some of the men who -had been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, -besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and taking them to -be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a little -lugger in what we called Kitt's Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain's was enough to frighten them to death. And the -short and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several -who were willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey's, which lay in another -direction, not one would help us to defend the inn. - -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other -hand, a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother -made them a speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that -belonged to her fatherless boy; "If none of the rest of you dare," -she said, "Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we came, and small -thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. We'll have that chest -open, if we die for it. And I'll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, -to bring back our lawful money in." - -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried -out at our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with -us. All they would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were -attacked, and to promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were -pursued on our return, while one lad was to ride forward to the doctor's -in search of armed assistance. - -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon -this dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered -redly through the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, -for it was plain, before we came forth again, that all would be as -bright as day, and our departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. -We slipped along the hedges, noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear -anything to increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of the -Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. - -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the -dark, alone in the house with the dead captain's body. Then my mother -got a candle in the bar, and holding each other's hands, we advanced -into the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes -open and one arm stretched out. - -"Draw down the blind, Jim," whispered my mother; "they might come and -watch outside. And now," said she when I had done so, "we have to get -the key off THAT; and who's to touch it, I should like to know!" and she -gave a kind of sob as she said the words. - -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there -was a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not -doubt that this was the BLACK SPOT; and taking it up, I found written -on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: "You -have till ten tonight." - -"He had till ten, Mother," said I; and just as I said it, our old clock -began striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news -was good, for it was only six. - -"Now, Jim," she said, "that key." - -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, -and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away -at the end, his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a -tinder box were all that they contained, and I began to despair. - -"Perhaps it's round his neck," suggested my mother. - -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and -there, sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with -his own gully, we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with -hope and hurried upstairs without delay to the little room where he had -slept so long and where his box had stood since the day of his arrival. - -It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside, the initial "B" -burned on the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat -smashed and broken as by long, rough usage. - -"Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, -she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. - -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing -was to be seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully -brushed and folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under -that, the miscellany began--a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of -tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an -old Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of -foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six -curious West Indian shells. I have often wondered since why he should -have carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and -hunted life. - -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and -the trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there -was an old boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My -mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last -things in the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like -papers, and a canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of -gold. - -"I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman," said my mother. "I'll -have my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley's bag." And -she began to count over the amount of the captain's score from the -sailor's bag into the one that I was holding. - -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries -and sizes--doubloons, and louis d'ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, -and I know not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, -too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother -knew how to make her count. - -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her -arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my -heart into my mouth--the tap-tapping of the blind man's stick upon the -frozen road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. -Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then we could hear the handle -being turned and the bolt rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; -and then there was a long time of silence both within and without. -At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable joy and -gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be heard. - -"Mother," said I, "take the whole and let's be going," for I was sure -the bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole -hornet's nest about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had -bolted it, none could tell who had never met that terrible blind man. - -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a -fraction more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be -content with less. It was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she -knew her rights and she would have them; and she was still arguing with -me when a little low whistle sounded a good way off upon the hill. That -was enough, and more than enough, for both of us. - -"I'll take what I have," she said, jumping to her feet. - -"And I'll take this to square the count," said I, picking up the oilskin -packet. - -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by -the empty chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full -retreat. We had not started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly -dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the high ground on -either side; and it was only in the exact bottom of the dell and round -the tavern door that a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the -first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very -little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into the -moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running -came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a -light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of -the newcomers carried a lantern. - -"My dear," said my mother suddenly, "take the money and run on. I am -going to faint." - -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the -cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty -and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were -just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering -as she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh -and fell on my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to do it -at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but I managed to drag her -down the bank and a little way under the arch. Farther I could not move -her, for the bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. -So there we had to stay--my mother almost entirely exposed and both of -us within earshot of the inn. - - - - -5 - -The Last of the Blind Man - -MY curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not -remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering -my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our -door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven -or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along -the road and the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran -together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the -middle man of this trio was the blind beggar. The next moment his voice -showed me that I was right. - -"Down with the door!" he cried. - -"Aye, aye, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the -Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see -them pause, and hear speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were -surprised to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the blind -man again issued his commands. His voice sounded louder and higher, as -if he were afire with eagerness and rage. - -"In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the -formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a -voice shouting from the house, "Bill's dead." - -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - -"Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and -get the chest," he cried. - -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the -house must have shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of -astonishment arose; the window of the captain's room was thrown open -with a slam and a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out into the -moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed the blind beggar on the -road below him. - -"Pew," he cried, "they've been before us. Someone's turned the chest out -alow and aloft." - -"Is it there?" roared Pew. - -"The money's there." - -The blind man cursed the money. - -"Flint's fist, I mean," he cried. - -"We don't see it here nohow," returned the man. - -"Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind man again. - -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search -the captain's body, came to the door of the inn. "Bill's been overhauled -a'ready," said he; "nothin' left." - -"It's these people of the inn--it's that boy. I wish I had put his eyes -out!" cried the blind man, Pew. "There were no time ago--they had the -door bolted when I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em." - -"Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the fellow from the -window. - -"Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated Pew, striking -with his stick upon the road. - -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet -pounding to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the -very rocks re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on -the road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just -the same whistle that had alarmed my mother and myself over the dead -captain's money was once more clearly audible through the night, -but this time twice repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's -trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault, but I now found -that it was a signal from the hillside towards the hamlet, and from its -effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of approaching danger. - -"There's Dirk again," said one. "Twice! We'll have to budge, mates." - -"Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. "Dirk was a fool and a coward from the -first--you wouldn't mind him. They must be close by; they can't be far; -you have your hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver -my soul," he cried, "if I had eyes!" - -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began -to look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, -and with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest -stood irresolute on the road. - -"You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You'd -be as rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it's here, and -you stand there skulking. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill, and -I did it--a blind man! And I'm to lose my chance for you! I'm to be a -poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a -coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit you would catch -them still." - -"Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloons!" grumbled one. - -"They might have hid the blessed thing," said another. "Take the -Georges, Pew, and don't stand here squalling." - -Squalling was the word for it; Pew's anger rose so high at these -objections till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, -he struck at them right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded -heavily on more than one. - -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him -in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from -his grasp. - -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, -another sound came from the top of the hill on the side of the -hamlet--the tramp of horses galloping. Almost at the same time a -pistol-shot, flash and report, came from the hedge side. And that was -plainly the last signal of danger, for the buccaneers turned at once -and ran, separating in every direction, one seaward along the cove, one -slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a sign of -them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer panic -or out of revenge for his ill words and blows I know not; but there he -remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping -and calling for his comrades. Finally he took a wrong turn and ran a few -steps past me, towards the hamlet, crying, "Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," -and other names, "you won't leave old Pew, mates--not old Pew!" - -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders -came in sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. - -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for -the ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a -second and made another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the -nearest of the coming horses. - -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that -rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him -and passed by. He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face -and moved no more. - -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any -rate, horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, -tailing out behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to -Dr. Livesey's; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the -way, and with whom he had had the intelligence to return at once. Some -news of the lugger in Kitt's Hole had found its way to Supervisor Dance -and set him forth that night in our direction, and to that circumstance -my mother and I owed our preservation from death. - -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up -to the hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her -back again, and she was none the worse for her terror, though she still -continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the meantime the -supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt's Hole; but his men -had to dismount and grope down the dingle, leading, and sometimes -supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it was -no great matter for surprise that when they got down to the Hole the -lugger was already under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A -voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get -some lead in him, and at the same time a bullet whistled close by his -arm. Soon after, the lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance -stood there, as he said, "like a fish out of water," and all he could do -was to dispatch a man to B---- to warn the cutter. "And that," said he, -"is just about as good as nothing. They've got off clean, and there's -an end. Only," he added, "I'm glad I trod on Master Pew's corns," for by -this time he had heard my story. - -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a -house in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down -by these fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; -and though nothing had actually been taken away except the captain's -money-bag and a little silver from the till, I could see at once that we -were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of the scene. - -"They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were -they after? More money, I suppose?" - -"No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. "In fact, sir, I believe I -have the thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should -like to get it put in safety." - -"To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. "I'll take it, if you like." - -"I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey--" I began. - -"Perfectly right," he interrupted very cheerily, "perfectly right--a -gentleman and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as -well ride round there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's -dead, when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's dead, you see, and -people will make it out against an officer of his Majesty's revenue, -if make it out they can. Now, I'll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I'll -take you along." - -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet -where the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they -were all in the saddle. - -"Dogger," said Mr. Dance, "you have a good horse; take up this lad -behind you." - -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt, the supervisor -gave the word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road -to Dr. Livesey's house. - - - - -6 - -The Captain's Papers - -WE rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey's door. The -house was all dark to the front. - -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup -to descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. - -"Is Dr. Livesey in?" I asked. - -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the -hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - -"So there we go, boys," said Mr. Dance. - -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with -Dogger's stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, -moonlit avenue to where the white line of the hall buildings looked on -either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking -me along with him, was admitted at a word into the house. - -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a -great library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, -where the squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a -bright fire. - -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six -feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready -face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His -eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of -some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high. - -"Come in, Mr. Dance," says he, very stately and condescending. - -"Good evening, Dance," says the doctor with a nod. "And good evening to -you, friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?" - -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a -lesson; and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward -and looked at each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and -interest. When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. -Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried "Bravo!" and -broke his long pipe against the grate. Long before it was done, Mr. -Trelawney (that, you will remember, was the squire's name) had got up -from his seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, as if to -hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig and sat there looking -very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll. - -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - -"Mr. Dance," said the squire, "you are a very noble fellow. And as for -riding down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of -virtue, sir, like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, -I perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some -ale." - -"And so, Jim," said the doctor, "you have the thing that they were -after, have you?" - -"Here it is, sir," said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open -it; but instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his -coat. - -"Squire," said he, "when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be -off on his Majesty's service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to -sleep at my house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up -the cold pie and let him sup." - -"As you will, Livesey," said the squire; "Hawkins has earned better than -cold pie." - -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made -a hearty supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was -further complimented and at last dismissed. - -"And now, squire," said the doctor. - -"And now, Livesey," said the squire in the same breath. - -"One at a time, one at a time," laughed Dr. Livesey. "You have heard of -this Flint, I suppose?" - -"Heard of him!" cried the squire. "Heard of him, you say! He was the -bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. -The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, -I was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his top-sails with -these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I -sailed with put back--put back, sir, into Port of Spain." - -"Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said the doctor. "But the -point is, had he money?" - -"Money!" cried the squire. "Have you heard the story? What were these -villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what -would they risk their rascal carcasses but money?" - -"That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. "But you are so -confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. -What I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket -some clue to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount -to much?" - -"Amount, sir!" cried the squire. "It will amount to this: If we have the -clue you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and -Hawkins here along, and I'll have that treasure if I search a year." - -"Very well," said the doctor. "Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we'll -open the packet"; and he laid it before him on the table. - -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his -instrument case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It -contained two things--a book and a sealed paper. - -"First of all we'll try the book," observed the doctor. - -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened -it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the -side-table, where I had been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. -On the first page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a man -with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or practice. One was the -same as the tattoo mark, "Billy Bones his fancy"; then there was "Mr. W. -Bones, mate," "No more rum," "Off Palm Key he got itt," and some other -snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. I could not help -wondering who it was that had "got itt," and what "itt" was that he got. -A knife in his back as like as not. - -"Not much instruction there," said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. - -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of -entries. There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a -sum of money, as in common account-books, but instead of explanatory -writing, only a varying number of crosses between the two. On the 12th -of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy pounds had plainly become -due to someone, and there was nothing but six crosses to explain the -cause. In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, -as "Offe Caraccas," or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, as "62o -17' 20", 19o 2' 40"." - -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate -entries growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total -had been made out after five or six wrong additions, and these words -appended, "Bones, his pile." - -"I can't make head or tail of this," said Dr. Livesey. - -"The thing is as clear as noonday," cried the squire. "This is the -black-hearted hound's account-book. These crosses stand for the names of -ships or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel's -share, and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something -clearer. 'Offe Caraccas,' now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel -boarded off that coast. God help the poor souls that manned her--coral -long ago." - -"Right!" said the doctor. "See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And -the amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank." - -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted -in the blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, -English, and Spanish moneys to a common value. - -"Thrifty man!" cried the doctor. "He wasn't the one to be cheated." - -"And now," said the squire, "for the other." - -The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of -seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain's -pocket. The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out -the map of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of -hills and bays and inlets, and every particular that would be needed -to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine -miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon -standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the -centre part marked "The Spy-glass." There were several additions of a -later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on the north -part of the island, one in the southwest--and beside this last, in -the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the -captain's tottery characters, these words: "Bulk of treasure here." - -Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - - Ten feet. - - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - J.F. - -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled -the squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. - -"Livesey," said the squire, "you will give up this wretched practice -at once. Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks' time--three -weeks!--two weeks--ten days--we'll have the best ship, sir, and the -choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You'll make -a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are ship's doctor; I am -admiral. We'll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We'll have favourable -winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding the -spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever -after." - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "I'll go with you; and I'll go bail for -it, so will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There's only one -man I'm afraid of." - -"And who's that?" cried the squire. "Name the dog, sir!" - -"You," replied the doctor; "for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not -the only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the -inn tonight--bold, desperate blades, for sure--and the rest who stayed -aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and all, -through thick and thin, bound that they'll get that money. We must none -of us go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the -meanwhile; you'll take Joyce and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and -from first to last, not one of us must breathe a word of what we've -found." - -"Livesey," returned the squire, "you are always in the right of it. I'll -be as silent as the grave." - - - - - - -PART TWO--The Sea-cook - - - - -7 - -I Go to Bristol - -IT was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, -and none of our first plans--not even Dr. Livesey's, of keeping me -beside him--could be carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go -to London for a physician to take charge of his practice; the squire was -hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on at the hall under the charge of -old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams -and the most charming anticipations of strange islands and adventures. -I brooded by the hour together over the map, all the details of which -I well remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper's room, I -approached that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I -explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that -tall hill they call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most -wonderful and changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with -savages, with whom we fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that -hunted us, but in all my fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and -tragic as our actual adventures. - -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed -to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, "To be opened, in the case of his -absence, by Tom Redruth or young Hawkins." Obeying this order, we -found, or rather I found--for the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading -anything but print--the following important news: - - Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17-- - - Dear Livesey--As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two - hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. - - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for--treasure, I mean. - -"Redruth," said I, interrupting the letter, "Dr. Livesey will not like -that. The squire has been talking, after all." - -"Well, who's a better right?" growled the gamekeeper. "A pretty rum go -if squire ain't to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think." - -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: - - Blandly himself found the HISPANIOLA, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the HISPANIOLA - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high--the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - - So far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure--riggers and what not--were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - - I wished a round score of men--in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French--and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - - I was monstrously touched--so would you have - been--and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship's cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country's service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable--not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It's the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - John Trelawney - - Postscript--I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don't turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master--a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o'-war fashion on board the good ship - HISPANIOLA. - - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker's account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - J. T. - - P.P.S.--Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - J. T. - -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half -beside myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old -Tom Redruth, who could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the -under-gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; but such -was not the squire's pleasure, and the squire's pleasure was like law -among them all. Nobody but old Redruth would have dared so much as even -to grumble. - -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and -there I found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had -so long been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked -cease from troubling. The squire had had everything repaired, and the -public rooms and the sign repainted, and had added some furniture--above -all a beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found her a boy -as an apprentice also so that she should not want help while I was gone. - -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my -situation. I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, -not at all of the home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this -clumsy stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my mother, I -had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I led that boy a dog's life, -for as he was new to the work, I had a hundred opportunities of setting -him right and putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were -afoot again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the -cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral -Benbow--since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last -thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode along the beach -with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope. -Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out of sight. - -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was -wedged in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the -swift motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from -the very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down dale through -stage after stage, for when I was awakened at last it was by a punch -in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to find that we were standing still -before a large building in a city street and that the day had already -broken a long time. - -"Where are we?" I asked. - -"Bristol," said Tom. "Get down." - -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to -superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and -our way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great -multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors -were singing at their work, in another there were men aloft, high over -my head, hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a spider's. -Though I had lived by the shore all my life, I seemed never to have been -near the sea till then. The smell of tar and salt was something new. -I saw the most wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over the -ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, and -whiskers curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, -clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could -not have been more delighted. - -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping -boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown -island, and to seek for buried treasure! - -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front -of a large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a -sea-officer, in stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on -his face and a capital imitation of a sailor's walk. - -"Here you are," he cried, "and the doctor came last night from London. -Bravo! The ship's company complete!" - -"Oh, sir," cried I, "when do we sail?" - -"Sail!" says he. "We sail tomorrow!" - - - - -8 - -At the Sign of the Spy-glass - -WHEN I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John -Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily -find the place by following the line of the docks and keeping a bright -lookout for a little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I -set off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the ships and -seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of people and carts and -bales, for the dock was now at its busiest, until I found the tavern in -question. - -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was -newly painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly -sanded. There was a street on each side and an open door on both, which -made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of -tobacco smoke. - -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that -I hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was -sure he must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, -and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with -wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall -and strong, with a face as big as a ham--plain and pale, but intelligent -and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling -as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the -shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. - -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in -Squire Trelawney's letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might -prove to be the very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at -the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen -the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew -what a buccaneer was like--a very different creature, according to me, -from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up -to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. - -"Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note. - -"Yes, my lad," said he; "such is my name, to be sure. And who may you -be?" And then as he saw the squire's letter, he seemed to me to give -something almost like a start. - -"Oh!" said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. "I see. You are our -new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you." - -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made -for the door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a -moment. But his hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at -glance. It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come -first to the Admiral Benbow. - -"Oh," I cried, "stop him! It's Black Dog!" - -"I don't care two coppers who he is," cried Silver. "But he hasn't paid -his score. Harry, run and catch him." - -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in -pursuit. - -"If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score," cried Silver; and -then, relinquishing my hand, "Who did you say he was?" he asked. "Black -what?" - -"Dog, sir," said I. "Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? -He was one of them." - -"So?" cried Silver. "In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those -swabs, was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here." - -The man whom he called Morgan--an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced -sailor--came forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. - -"Now, Morgan," said Long John very sternly, "you never clapped your eyes -on that Black--Black Dog before, did you, now?" - -"Not I, sir," said Morgan with a salute. - -"You didn't know his name, did you?" - -"No, sir." - -"By the powers, Tom Morgan, it's as good for you!" exclaimed the -landlord. "If you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would -never have put another foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what -was he saying to you?" - -"I don't rightly know, sir," answered Morgan. - -"Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?" -cried Long John. "Don't rightly know, don't you! Perhaps you don't -happen to rightly know who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what -was he jawing--v'yages, cap'ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?" - -"We was a-talkin' of keel-hauling," answered Morgan. - -"Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may -lay to that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom." - -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a -confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, "He's -quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y stupid. And now," he ran on again, -aloud, "let's see--Black Dog? No, I don't know the name, not I. Yet I -kind of think I've--yes, I've seen the swab. He used to come here with a -blind beggar, he used." - -"That he did, you may be sure," said I. "I knew that blind man too. His -name was Pew." - -"It was!" cried Silver, now quite excited. "Pew! That were his name for -certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, -now, there'll be news for Cap'n Trelawney! Ben's a good runner; few -seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by -the powers! He talked o' keel-hauling, did he? I'LL keel-haul him!" - -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and -down the tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving -such a show of excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge -or a Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on -finding Black Dog at the Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But -he was too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the time -the two men had come back out of breath and confessed that they had lost -the track in a crowd, and been scolded like thieves, I would have gone -bail for the innocence of Long John Silver. - -"See here, now, Hawkins," said he, "here's a blessed hard thing on a -man like me, now, ain't it? There's Cap'n Trelawney--what's he to think? -Here I have this confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house -drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and -here I let him give us all the slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, -Hawkins, you do me justice with the cap'n. You're a lad, you are, but -you're as smart as paint. I see that when you first come in. Now, here -it is: What could I do, with this old timber I hobble on? When I was an -A B master mariner I'd have come up alongside of him, hand over hand, -and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now--" - -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he -had remembered something. - -"The score!" he burst out. "Three goes o' rum! Why, shiver my timbers, -if I hadn't forgotten my score!" - -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. -I could not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, -until the tavern rang again. - -"Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!" he said at last, wiping his -cheeks. "You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy -I should be rated ship's boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This -won't do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I'll put on my old cockerel hat, -and step along of you to Cap'n Trelawney, and report this here affair. -For mind you, it's serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me's come -out of it with what I should make so bold as to call credit. Nor you -neither, says you; not smart--none of the pair of us smart. But dash my -buttons! That was a good un about my score." - -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not -see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. - -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting -companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, -their rig, tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going -forward--how one was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third -making ready for sea--and every now and then telling me some little -anecdote of ships or seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had -learned it perfectly. I began to see that here was one of the best of -possible shipmates. - -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, -finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go -aboard the schooner on a visit of inspection. - -Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit -and the most perfect truth. "That was how it were, now, weren't it, -Hawkins?" he would say, now and again, and I could always bear him -entirely out. - -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all -agreed there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, -Long John took up his crutch and departed. - -"All hands aboard by four this afternoon," shouted the squire after him. - -"Aye, aye, sir," cried the cook, in the passage. - -"Well, squire," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't put much faith in your -discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits -me." - -"The man's a perfect trump," declared the squire. - -"And now," added the doctor, "Jim may come on board with us, may he -not?" - -"To be sure he may," says squire. "Take your hat, Hawkins, and we'll see -the ship." - - - - -9 - -Powder and Arms - -THE HISPANIOLA lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and -round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated -underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, -we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the -mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a -squint. He and the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon -observed that things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and the -captain. - -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on -board and was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the -cabin when a sailor followed us. - -"Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you," said he. - -"I am always at the captain's orders. Show him in," said the squire. - -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and -shut the door behind him. - -"Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all -shipshape and seaworthy?" - -"Well, sir," said the captain, "better speak plain, I believe, even at -the risk of offence. I don't like this cruise; I don't like the men; and -I don't like my officer. That's short and sweet." - -"Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" inquired the squire, very -angry, as I could see. - -"I can't speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried," said the -captain. "She seems a clever craft; more I can't say." - -"Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?" says the -squire. - -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - -"Stay a bit," said he, "stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but -to produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too -little, and I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. -You don't, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?" - -"I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship -for that gentleman where he should bid me," said the captain. "So far -so good. But now I find that every man before the mast knows more than I -do. I don't call that fair, now, do you?" - -"No," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't." - -"Next," said the captain, "I learn we are going after treasure--hear -it from my own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don't -like treasure voyages on any account, and I don't like them, above all, -when they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the -secret has been told to the parrot." - -"Silver's parrot?" asked the squire. - -"It's a way of speaking," said the captain. "Blabbed, I mean. It's my -belief neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I'll tell -you my way of it--life or death, and a close run." - -"That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough," replied Dr. Livesey. -"We take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, -you say you don't like the crew. Are they not good seamen?" - -"I don't like them, sir," returned Captain Smollett. "And I think I -should have had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that." - -"Perhaps you should," replied the doctor. "My friend should, perhaps, -have taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was -unintentional. And you don't like Mr. Arrow?" - -"I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman, but he's too free with -the crew to be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to -himself--shouldn't drink with the men before the mast!" - -"Do you mean he drinks?" cried the squire. - -"No, sir," replied the captain, "only that he's too familiar." - -"Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?" asked the doctor. -"Tell us what you want." - -"Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?" - -"Like iron," answered the squire. - -"Very good," said the captain. "Then, as you've heard me very patiently, -saying things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are -putting the powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good -place under the cabin; why not put them there?--first point. Then, you -are bringing four of your own people with you, and they tell me some of -them are to be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here beside -the cabin?--second point." - -"Any more?" asked Mr. Trelawney. - -"One more," said the captain. "There's been too much blabbing already." - -"Far too much," agreed the doctor. - -"I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued Captain Smollett: -"that you have a map of an island, that there's crosses on the map to -show where treasure is, and that the island lies--" And then he named -the latitude and longitude exactly. - -"I never told that," cried the squire, "to a soul!" - -"The hands know it, sir," returned the captain. - -"Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins," cried the squire. - -"It doesn't much matter who it was," replied the doctor. And I could -see that neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney's -protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet -in this case I believe he was really right and that nobody had told the -situation of the island. - -"Well, gentlemen," continued the captain, "I don't know who has this -map; but I make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. -Arrow. Otherwise I would ask you to let me resign." - -"I see," said the doctor. "You wish us to keep this matter dark and to -make a garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend's -own people, and provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other -words, you fear a mutiny." - -"Sir," said Captain Smollett, "with no intention to take offence, I -deny your right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be -justified in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As -for Mr. Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the -same; all may be for what I know. But I am responsible for the ship's -safety and the life of every man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, -as I think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain precautions -or let me resign my berth. And that's all." - -"Captain Smollett," began the doctor with a smile, "did ever you hear -the fable of the mountain and the mouse? You'll excuse me, I dare say, -but you remind me of that fable. When you came in here, I'll stake my -wig, you meant more than this." - -"Doctor," said the captain, "you are smart. When I came in here I meant -to get discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a -word." - -"No more I would," cried the squire. "Had Livesey not been here I should -have seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you -desire, but I think the worse of you." - -"That's as you please, sir," said the captain. "You'll find I do my -duty." - -And with that he took his leave. - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "contrary to all my notions, I believed -you have managed to get two honest men on board with you--that man and -John Silver." - -"Silver, if you like," cried the squire; "but as for that intolerable -humbug, I declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright -un-English." - -"Well," says the doctor, "we shall see." - -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and -powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood -by superintending. - -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been -overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the -after-part of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to -the galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had -been originally meant that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the -doctor, and the squire were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and -I were to get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain were to sleep -on deck in the companion, which had been enlarged on each side till you -might almost have called it a round-house. Very low it was still, of -course; but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even the mate -seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been doubtful -as to the crew, but that is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had -not long the benefit of his opinion. - -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when -the last man or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a -shore-boat. - -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as -he saw what was doing, "So ho, mates!" says he. "What's this?" - -"We're a-changing of the powder, Jack," answers one. - -"Why, by the powers," cried Long John, "if we do, we'll miss the morning -tide!" - -"My orders!" said the captain shortly. "You may go below, my man. Hands -will want supper." - -"Aye, aye, sir," answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he -disappeared at once in the direction of his galley. - -"That's a good man, captain," said the doctor. - -"Very likely, sir," replied Captain Smollett. "Easy with that, -men--easy," he ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and -then suddenly observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, -a long brass nine, "Here you, ship's boy," he cried, "out o' that! Off -with you to the cook and get some work." - -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the -doctor, "I'll have no favourites on my ship." - -I assure you I was quite of the squire's way of thinking, and hated the -captain deeply. - - - - -10 - -The Voyage - -ALL that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their -place, and boatfuls of the squire's friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, -coming off to wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had -a night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; and I was -dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe -and the crew began to man the capstan-bars. I might have been twice -as weary, yet I would not have left the deck, all was so new and -interesting to me--the brief commands, the shrill note of the whistle, -the men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship's lanterns. - -"Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave," cried one voice. - -"The old one," cried another. - -"Aye, aye, mates," said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch -under his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so -well: - -"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--" - -And then the whole crew bore chorus:-- - -"Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -And at the third "Ho!" drove the bars before them with a will. - -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral -Benbow in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping -in the chorus. But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging -dripping at the bows; soon the sails began to draw, and the land and -shipping to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to -snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her voyage to the -Isle of Treasure. - -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly -prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable -seamen, and the captain thoroughly understood his business. But before -we came the length of Treasure Island, two or three things had happened -which require to be known. - -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had -feared. He had no command among the men, and people did what they -pleased with him. But that was by no means the worst of it, for after a -day or two at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, -stuttering tongue, and other marks of drunkenness. Time after time -he was ordered below in disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; -sometimes he lay all day long in his little bunk at one side of the -companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober and -attend to his work at least passably. - -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That -was the ship's mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to -solve it; and when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if -he were drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted -anything but water. - -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst -the men, but it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself -outright, so nobody was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark -night, with a head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - -"Overboard!" said the captain. "Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble -of putting him in irons." - -But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to -advance one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest -man aboard, and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as -mate. Mr. Trelawney had followed the sea, and his knowledge made him -very useful, for he often took a watch himself in easy weather. And the -coxswain, Israel Hands, was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who -could be trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of -his name leads me on to speak of our ship's cook, Barbecue, as the men -called him. - -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have -both hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the -foot of the crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding -to every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe -ashore. Still more strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather -cross the deck. He had a line or two rigged up to help him across the -widest spaces--Long John's earrings, they were called; and he would hand -himself from one place to another, now using the crutch, now trailing it -alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet some -of the men who had sailed with him before expressed their pity to see -him so reduced. - -"He's no common man, Barbecue," said the coxswain to me. "He had good -schooling in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; -and brave--a lion's nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple -four and knock their heads together--him unarmed." - -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking -to each and doing everybody some particular service. To me he was -unweariedly kind, and always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept -as clean as a new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in -a cage in one corner. - -"Come away, Hawkins," he would say; "come and have a yarn with John. -Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the -news. Here's Cap'n Flint--I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the -famous buccaneer--here's Cap'n Flint predicting success to our v'yage. -Wasn't you, cap'n?" - -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, "Pieces of eight! Pieces -of eight! Pieces of eight!" till you wondered that it was not out of -breath, or till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. - -"Now, that bird," he would say, "is, maybe, two hundred years -old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if anybody's seen more -wickedness, it must be the devil himself. She's sailed with England, -the great Cap'n England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at -Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. She was at the -fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It's there she learned 'Pieces -of eight,' and little wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, -Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the viceroy of the Indies out of -Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a babby. But -you smelt powder--didn't you, cap'n?" - -"Stand by to go about," the parrot would scream. - -"Ah, she's a handsome craft, she is," the cook would say, and give her -sugar from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and -swear straight on, passing belief for wickedness. "There," John would -add, "you can't touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here's this poor old -innocent bird o' mine swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may -lay to that. She would swear the same, in a manner of speaking, before -chaplain." And John would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had -that made me think he was the best of men. - -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty -distant terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the -matter; he despised the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke -but when he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a -word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, that he seemed to have -been wrong about the crew, that some of them were as brisk as he wanted -to see and all had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken a -downright fancy to her. "She'll lie a point nearer the wind than a man -has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But," he would add, -"all I say is, we're not home again, and I don't like the cruise." - -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, -chin in air. - -"A trifle more of that man," he would say, "and I shall explode." - -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the -HISPANIOLA. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have -been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief -there was never a ship's company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. -Double grog was going on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, -as, for instance, if the squire heard it was any man's birthday, and -always a barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for anyone to -help himself that had a fancy. - -"Never knew good come of it yet," the captain said to Dr. Livesey. -"Spoil forecastle hands, make devils. That's my belief." - -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had -not been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all -have perished by the hand of treachery. - -This was how it came about. - -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after--I -am not allowed to be more plain--and now we were running down for it -with a bright lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our -outward voyage by the largest computation; some time that night, or at -latest before noon of the morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. -We were heading S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. -The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with -a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the -bravest spirits because we were now so near an end of the first part of -our adventure. - -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way -to my berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on -deck. The watch was all forward looking out for the island. The man at -the helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently -to himself, and that was the only sound excepting the swish of the sea -against the bows and around the sides of the ship. - -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an -apple left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of -the waters and the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen -asleep or was on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with -rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders -against it, and I was just about to jump up when the man began to speak. -It was Silver's voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would -not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and -listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen -words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended -upon me alone. - - - - -11 - -What I Heard in the Apple Barrel - -"NO, not I," said Silver. "Flint was cap'n; I was quartermaster, along -of my timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his -deadlights. It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of -college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but he was hanged -like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That -was Roberts' men, that was, and comed of changing names to their -ships--ROYAL FORTUNE and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, so let -her stay, I says. So it was with the CASSANDRA, as brought us all safe -home from Malabar, after England took the viceroy of the Indies; so it -was with the old WALRUS, Flint's old ship, as I've seen amuck with the -red blood and fit to sink with gold." - -"Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and -evidently full of admiration. "He was the flower of the flock, was -Flint!" - -"Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. "I never sailed -along of him; first with England, then with Flint, that's my story; -and now here on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine -hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain't bad -for a man before the mast--all safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's -saving does it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men now? I -dunno. Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em aboard here, and glad to get -the duff--been begging before that, some on 'em. Old Pew, as had lost -his sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve hundred pound in -a year, like a lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he's dead now -and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, -the man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and -starved at that, by the powers!" - -"Well, it ain't much use, after all," said the young seaman. - -"'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, nor nothing," -cried Silver. "But now, you look here: you're young, you are, but you're -as smart as paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk -to you like a man." - -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue -addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used -to myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed -him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was -overheard. - -"Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk -swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise -is done, why, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings -in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to -sea again in their shirts. But that's not the course I lay. I puts it -all away, some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by reason -of suspicion. I'm fifty, mark you; once back from this cruise, I set up -gentleman in earnest. Time enough too, says you. Ah, but I've lived easy -in the meantime, never denied myself o' nothing heart desires, and slep' -soft and ate dainty all my days but when at sea. And how did I begin? -Before the mast, like you!" - -"Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, ain't it? -You daren't show face in Bristol after this." - -"Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver derisively. - -"At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his companion. - -"It were," said the cook; "it were when we weighed anchor. But my old -missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill -and rigging; and the old girl's off to meet me. I would tell you where, -for I trust you, but it'd make jealousy among the mates." - -"And can you trust your missis?" asked the other. - -"Gentlemen of fortune," returned the cook, "usually trusts little among -themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with -me, I have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable--one as knows me, I -mean--it won't be in the same world with old John. There was some that -was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own -self was feared of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest -crew afloat, was Flint's; the devil himself would have been feared to go -to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, I'm not a boasting man, and you -seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, -LAMBS wasn't the word for Flint's old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of -yourself in old John's ship." - -"Well, I tell you now," replied the lad, "I didn't half a quarter like -the job till I had this talk with you, John; but there's my hand on it -now." - -"And a brave lad you were, and smart too," answered Silver, shaking -hands so heartily that all the barrel shook, "and a finer figurehead for -a gentleman of fortune I never clapped my eyes on." - -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a -"gentleman of fortune" they plainly meant neither more nor less than a -common pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last -act in the corruption of one of the honest hands--perhaps of the last -one left aboard. But on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver -giving a little whistle, a third man strolled up and sat down by the -party. - -"Dick's square," said Silver. - -"Oh, I know'd Dick was square," returned the voice of the coxswain, -Israel Hands. "He's no fool, is Dick." And he turned his quid and spat. -"But look here," he went on, "here's what I want to know, Barbecue: how -long are we a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I've had -a'most enough o' Cap'n Smollett; he's hazed me long enough, by thunder! -I want to go into that cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and -that." - -"Israel," said Silver, "your head ain't much account, nor ever was. But -you're able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. -Now, here's what I say: you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and -you'll speak soft, and you'll keep sober till I give the word; and you -may lay to that, my son." - -"Well, I don't say no, do I?" growled the coxswain. "What I say is, -when? That's what I say." - -"When! By the powers!" cried Silver. "Well now, if you want to know, -I'll tell you when. The last moment I can manage, and that's when. -Here's a first-rate seaman, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for -us. Here's this squire and doctor with a map and such--I don't know -where it is, do I? No more do you, says you. Well then, I mean this -squire and doctor shall find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, -by the powers. Then we'll see. If I was sure of you all, sons of double -Dutchmen, I'd have Cap'n Smollett navigate us half-way back again before -I struck." - -"Why, we're all seamen aboard here, I should think," said the lad Dick. - -"We're all forecastle hands, you mean," snapped Silver. "We can steer -a course, but who's to set one? That's what all you gentlemen split on, -first and last. If I had my way, I'd have Cap'n Smollett work us back -into the trades at least; then we'd have no blessed miscalculations and -a spoonful of water a day. But I know the sort you are. I'll finish with -'em at the island, as soon's the blunt's on board, and a pity it is. But -you're never happy till you're drunk. Split my sides, I've a sick heart -to sail with the likes of you!" - -"Easy all, Long John," cried Israel. "Who's a-crossin' of you?" - -"Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And -how many brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?" cried Silver. -"And all for this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen -a thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on'y lay your course, and a -p'int to windward, you would ride in carriages, you would. But not you! -I know you. You'll have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang." - -"Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there's others -as could hand and steer as well as you," said Israel. "They liked a bit -o' fun, they did. They wasn't so high and dry, nohow, but took their -fling, like jolly companions every one." - -"So?" says Silver. "Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, -and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, -they was a sweet crew, they was! On'y, where are they?" - -"But," asked Dick, "when we do lay 'em athwart, what are we to do with -'em, anyhow?" - -"There's the man for me!" cried the cook admiringly. "That's what I call -business. Well, what would you think? Put 'em ashore like maroons? That -would have been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much pork? That -would have been Flint's, or Billy Bones's." - -"Billy was the man for that," said Israel. "'Dead men don't bite,' says -he. Well, he's dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; -and if ever a rough hand come to port, it was Billy." - -"Right you are," said Silver; "rough and ready. But mark you here, -I'm an easy man--I'm quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it's -serious. Dooty is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I'm in -Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don't want none of these sea-lawyers -in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. -Wait is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let her rip!" - -"John," cries the coxswain, "you're a man!" - -"You'll say so, Israel when you see," said Silver. "Only one thing I -claim--I claim Trelawney. I'll wring his calf's head off his body with -these hands, Dick!" he added, breaking off. "You just jump up, like a -sweet lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like." - -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for -it if I had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. -I heard Dick begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and -the voice of Hands exclaimed, "Oh, stow that! Don't you get sucking of -that bilge, John. Let's have a go of the rum." - -"Dick," said Silver, "I trust you. I've a gauge on the keg, mind. -There's the key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up." - -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must -have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. - -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke -straight on in the cook's ear. It was but a word or two that I could -catch, and yet I gathered some important news, for besides other scraps -that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: "Not -another man of them'll jine." Hence there were still faithful men on -board. - -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and -drank--one "To luck," another with a "Here's to old Flint," and Silver -himself saying, in a kind of song, "Here's to ourselves, and hold your -luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff." - -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking -up, I found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and -shining white on the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time -the voice of the lookout shouted, "Land ho!" - - - - -12 - -Council of War - -THERE was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people -tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an -instant outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double -towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join -Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the weather bow. - -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted -almost simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the -south-west of us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, -and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was -still buried in the fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure. - -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my -horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of -Captain Smollett issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple of -points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the -island on the east. - -"And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted home, "has any -one of you ever seen that land ahead?" - -"I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a trader I was cook -in." - -"The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?" asked the -captain. - -"Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for -pirates once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. -That hill to the nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three -hills in a row running south'ard--fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the -main--that's the big un, with the cloud on it--they usually calls -the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the -anchorage cleaning, for it's there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking -your pardon." - -"I have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. "See if that's the place." - -Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the -fresh look of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This -was not the map we found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy, -complete in all things--names and heights and soundings--with the single -exception of the red crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have -been his annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - -"Yes, sir," said he, "this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily -drawed out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too -ignorant, I reckon. Aye, here it is: 'Capt. Kidd's Anchorage'--just -the name my shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs along the -south, and then away nor'ard up the west coast. Right you was, sir," -says he, "to haul your wind and keep the weather of the island. -Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter and careen, and there -ain't no better place for that in these waters." - -"Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. "I'll ask you later on to -give us a help. You may go." - -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge -of the island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing -nearer to myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his -council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a -horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal -a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm. - -"Ah," says he, "this here is a sweet spot, this island--a sweet spot for -a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe, and you'll climb trees, and you'll -hunt goats, you will; and you'll get aloft on them hills like a goat -yourself. Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber -leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you -may lay to that. When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask -old John, and he'll put up a snack for you to take along." - -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off -forward and went below. - -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on -the quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst -not interrupt them openly. While I was still casting about in my -thoughts to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his -side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave to tobacco, had -meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as I was near enough to speak -and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, "Doctor, let me speak. Get -the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence to -send for me. I have terrible news." - -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master -of himself. - -"Thank you, Jim," said he quite loudly, "that was all I wanted to know," -as if he had asked me a question. - -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They -spoke together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised -his voice, or so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey -had communicated my request, for the next thing that I heard was the -captain giving an order to Job Anderson, and all hands were piped on -deck. - -"My lads," said Captain Smollett, "I've a word to say to you. This -land that we have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. -Trelawney, being a very open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just -asked me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that every man on -board had done his duty, alow and aloft, as I never ask to see it done -better, why, he and I and the doctor are going below to the cabin to -drink YOUR health and luck, and you'll have grog served out for you to -drink OUR health and luck. I'll tell you what I think of this: I think -it handsome. And if you think as I do, you'll give a good sea-cheer for -the gentleman that does it." - -The cheer followed--that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full -and hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were -plotting for our blood. - -"One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long John when the first had -subsided. - -And this also was given with a will. - -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, -word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. - -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine -and some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig -on his lap, and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern -window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon -shining behind on the ship's wake. - -"Now, Hawkins," said the squire, "you have something to say. Speak up." - -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole -details of Silver's conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, -nor did any one of the three of them make so much as a movement, but -they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - -"Jim," said Dr. Livesey, "take a seat." - -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of -wine, filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, -and each with a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for -my luck and courage. - -"Now, captain," said the squire, "you were right, and I was wrong. I own -myself an ass, and I await your orders." - -"No more an ass than I, sir," returned the captain. "I never heard of a -crew that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that -had an eye in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But -this crew," he added, "beats me." - -"Captain," said the doctor, "with your permission, that's Silver. A very -remarkable man." - -"He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir," returned the captain. -"But this is talk; this don't lead to anything. I see three or four -points, and with Mr. Trelawney's permission, I'll name them." - -"You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," says Mr. Trelawney -grandly. - -"First point," began Mr. Smollett. "We must go on, because we can't turn -back. If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second -point, we have time before us--at least until this treasure's found. -Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's got to come -to blows sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the -forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they -least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home servants, Mr. -Trelawney?" - -"As upon myself," declared the squire. - -"Three," reckoned the captain; "ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins -here. Now, about the honest hands?" - -"Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor; "those he had picked -up for himself before he lit on Silver." - -"Nay," replied the squire. "Hands was one of mine." - -"I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the captain. - -"And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke out the squire. "Sir, -I could find it in my heart to blow the ship up." - -"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, "the best that I can say is not -much. We must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It's -trying on a man, I know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But -there's no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a -wind, that's my view." - -"Jim here," said the doctor, "can help us more than anyone. The men are -not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad." - -"Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the squire. - -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether -helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed -through me that safety came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there -were only seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and -out of these seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on our side were -six to their nineteen. - - - - - - -PART THREE--My Shore Adventure - - - - -13 - -How My Shore Adventure Began - -THE appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was -altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had -made a great deal of way during the night and were now lying becalmed -about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. -Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface. This even tint -was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, -and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others--some -singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring was uniform and sad. -The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. -All were strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or four -hundred feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in -configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly -cut off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - -The HISPANIOLA was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms -were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the -whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had -to cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my -eyes, for though I was a good enough sailor when there was way on, this -standing still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never -learned to stand without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an -empty stomach. - -Perhaps it was this--perhaps it was the look of the island, with its -grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we -could both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach--at -least, although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were -fishing and crying all around us, and you would have thought anyone -would have been glad to get to land after being so long at sea, my heart -sank, as the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look onward, I -hated the very thought of Treasure Island. - -We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was no sign of any -wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped -three or four miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow -passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of -the boats, where I had, of course, no business. The heat was sweltering, -and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command -of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order, he grumbled as -loud as the worst. - -"Well," he said with an oath, "it's not forever." - -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone -briskly and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the -island had relaxed the cords of discipline. - -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. -He knew the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the -chains got everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never -hesitated once. - -"There's a strong scour with the ebb," he said, "and this here passage -has been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade." - -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of -a mile from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on -the other. The bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up -clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a -minute they were down again and all was once more silent. - -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming -right down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops -standing round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one -there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this -pond, as you might call it; and the foliage round that part of the shore -had a kind of poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see nothing -of the house or stockade, for they were quite buried among trees; and if -it had not been for the chart on the companion, we might have been the -first that had ever anchored there since the island arose out of the -seas. - -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the -surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks -outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage--a smell of -sodden leaves and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing -and sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg. - -"I don't know about treasure," he said, "but I'll stake my wig there's -fever here." - -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly -threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling -together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and -grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught -the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, -it was plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long -John was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in -good advice, and as for example no man could have shown a better. He -fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility; he was all -smiles to everyone. If an order were given, John would be on his crutch -in an instant, with the cheeriest "Aye, aye, sir!" in the world; and -when there was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after another, as -if to conceal the discontent of the rest. - -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious -anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - -We held a council in the cabin. - -"Sir," said the captain, "if I risk another order, the whole ship'll -come about our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough -answer, do I not? Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two -shakes; if I don't, Silver will see there's something under that, and -the game's up. Now, we've only one man to rely on." - -"And who is that?" asked the squire. - -"Silver, sir," returned the captain; "he's as anxious as you and I to -smother things up. This is a tiff; he'd soon talk 'em out of it if he -had the chance, and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. -Let's allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we'll fight -the ship. If they none of them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God -defend the right. If some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver'll bring -'em aboard again as mild as lambs." - -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; -Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received -the news with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, -and then the captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - -"My lads," said he, "we've had a hot day and are all tired and out of -sorts. A turn ashore'll hurt nobody--the boats are still in the water; -you can take the gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the -afternoon. I'll fire a gun half an hour before sundown." - -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their -shins over treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out -of their sulks in a moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a -faraway hill and sent the birds once more flying and squalling round the -anchorage. - -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight -in a moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as -well he did so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as -have pretended not to understand the situation. It was as plain as day. -Silver was the captain, and a mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The -honest hands--and I was soon to see it proved that there were such on -board--must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, I suppose the -truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the example of the -ringleaders--only some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in -the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one thing -to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a -number of innocent men. - -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on -board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. - -Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions -that contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by -Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and -since only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party -had no present need of my assistance. It occurred to me at once to go -ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and curled up in the -fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost at the same moment she -shoved off. - -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, "Is that you, Jim? -Keep your head down." But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply -over and called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I -began to regret what I had done. - -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start -and being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of -her consort, and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I -had caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into the nearest -thicket while Silver and the rest were still a hundred yards behind. - -"Jim, Jim!" I heard him shouting. - -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking -through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. - - - - -14 - -The First Blow - -I WAS so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to -enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land -that I was in. - -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, -outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an -open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with -a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak -in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the far side of -the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining -vividly in the sun. - -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was -uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front -of me but dumb brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the -trees. Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and -there I saw snakes, and one raised his head from a ledge of rock and -hissed at me with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did -I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that the noise was the famous -rattle. - -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees--live, or -evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should be called--which grew -low along the sand like brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the -foliage compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of -one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it went, until -it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest -of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh was -steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled -through the haze. - -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; -a wild duck flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the -whole surface of the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and -circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be -drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon -I heard the very distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I -continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest -live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. - -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized -to be Silver's, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while -in a stream, only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound -they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no -distinct word came to my hearing. - -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, -for not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves -began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the -swamp. - -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since -I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the -least I could do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my -plain and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage, under the -favourable ambush of the crouching trees. - -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by -the sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that -still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders. - -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at -last, raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear -down into a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about -with trees, where Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to -face in conversation. - -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the -ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was -lifted to the other man's in a kind of appeal. - -"Mate," he was saying, "it's because I thinks gold dust of you--gold -dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn't took to you like pitch, do -you think I'd have been here a-warning of you? All's up--you can't make -nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking, and if one of the -wild uns knew it, where'd I be, Tom--now, tell me, where'd I be?" - -"Silver," said the other man--and I observed he was not only red in the -face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a -taut rope--"Silver," says he, "you're old, and you're honest, or has the -name for it; and you've money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't; -and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you tell me you'll let -yourself be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure -as God sees me, I'd sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty--" - -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found -one of the honest hands--well, here, at that same moment, came news of -another. Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound -like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and then one -horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a -score of times; the whole troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening -heaven, with a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell was -still ringing in my brain, silence had re-established its empire, and -only the rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the distant -surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had -not winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, -watching his companion like a snake about to spring. - -"John!" said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - -"Hands off!" cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with -the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - -"Hands off, if you like, John Silver," said the other. "It's a black -conscience that can make you feared of me. But in heaven's name, tell -me, what was that?" - -"That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye -a mere pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. -"That? Oh, I reckon that'll be Alan." - -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - -"Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, -John Silver, long you've been a mate of mine, but you're mate of mine -no more. If I die like a dog, I'll die in my dooty. You've killed Alan, -have you? Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you." - -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook -and set off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. -With a cry John seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of -his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. -It struck poor Tom, point foremost, and with stunning violence, right -between the shoulders in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he -gave a sort of gasp, and fell. - -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like -enough, to judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he -had no time given him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without -leg or crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had twice buried -his knife up to the hilt in that defenceless body. From my place of -ambush, I could hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the -next little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling -mist; Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going -round and round and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells -ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear. - -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, -his crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom -lay motionless upon the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, -cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass. -Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining mercilessly on the -steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce -persuade myself that murder had been actually done and a human life -cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and -blew upon it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated -air. I could not tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but -it instantly awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be -discovered. They had already slain two of the honest people; after Tom -and Alan, might not I come next? - -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what -speed and silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the -wood. As I did so, I could hear hails coming and going between the old -buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings. As -soon as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran before, scarce -minding the direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the -murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me until it turned into -a kind of frenzy. - -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, -how should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still -smoking from their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring -my neck like a snipe's? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to -them of my alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, -I thought. Good-bye to the HISPANIOLA; good-bye to the squire, the -doctor, and the captain! There was nothing left for me but death by -starvation or death by the hands of the mutineers. - -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any -notice, I had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two -peaks and had got into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew -more widely apart and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and -dimensions. Mingled with these were a few scattered pines, some fifty, -some nearer seventy, feet high. The air too smelt more freshly than down -beside the marsh. - -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. - - - - -15 - -The Man of the Island - -FROM the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of -gravel was dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. -My eyes turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap -with great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether -bear or man or monkey, I could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and -shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition brought -me to a stand. - -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, -before me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer -the dangers that I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared -less terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, and I turned -on my heel, and looking sharply behind me over my shoulder, began to -retrace my steps in the direction of the boats. - -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to -head me off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I -rose, I could see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an -adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running -manlike on two legs, but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping -almost double as it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt -about that. - -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of -calling for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, -had somewhat reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in -proportion. I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method of -escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed -into my mind. As soon as I remembered I was not defenceless, courage -glowed again in my heart and I set my face resolutely for this man of -the island and walked briskly towards him. - -He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must -have been watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his -direction he reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, -drew back, came forward again, and at last, to my wonder and -confusion, threw himself on his knees and held out his clasped hands in -supplication. - -At that I once more stopped. - -"Who are you?" I asked. - -"Ben Gunn," he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, -like a rusty lock. "I'm poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven't spoke with a -Christian these three years." - -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his -features were even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was -burnt by the sun; even his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked -quite startling in so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen -or fancied, he was the chief for raggedness. He was clothed with tatters -of old ship's canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary patchwork -was all held together by a system of the most various and incongruous -fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. -About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which was the -one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. - -"Three years!" I cried. "Were you shipwrecked?" - -"Nay, mate," said he; "marooned." - -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of -punishment common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender -is put ashore with a little powder and shot and left behind on some -desolate and distant island. - -"Marooned three years agone," he continued, "and lived on goats since -then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can -do for himself. But, mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You -mightn't happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, -many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese--toasted, mostly--and woke -up again, and here I were." - -"If ever I can get aboard again," said I, "you shall have cheese by the -stone." - -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing -my hands, looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of -his speech, showing a childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow -creature. But at my last words he perked up into a kind of startled -slyness. - -"If ever you can get aboard again, says you?" he repeated. "Why, now, -who's to hinder you?" - -"Not you, I know," was my reply. - -"And right you was," he cried. "Now you--what do you call yourself, -mate?" - -"Jim," I told him. - -"Jim, Jim," says he, quite pleased apparently. "Well, now, Jim, I've -lived that rough as you'd be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you -wouldn't think I had had a pious mother--to look at me?" he asked. - -"Why, no, not in particular," I answered. - -"Ah, well," said he, "but I had--remarkable pious. And I was a civil, -pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn't -tell one word from another. And here's what it come to, Jim, and it -begun with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That's what it -begun with, but it went further'n that; and so my mother told me, and -predicked the whole, she did, the pious woman! But it were Providence -that put me here. I've thought it all out in this here lonely island, -and I'm back on piety. You don't catch me tasting rum so much, but just -a thimbleful for luck, of course, the first chance I have. I'm bound -I'll be good, and I see the way to. And, Jim"--looking all round him and -lowering his voice to a whisper--"I'm rich." - -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and -I suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the -statement hotly: "Rich! Rich! I says. And I'll tell you what: I'll make -a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you'll bless your stars, you will, you was -the first that found me!" - -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he -tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly -before my eyes. - -"Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?" he asked. - -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found -an ally, and I answered him at once. - -"It's not Flint's ship, and Flint is dead; but I'll tell you true, as -you ask me--there are some of Flint's hands aboard; worse luck for the -rest of us." - -"Not a man--with one--leg?" he gasped. - -"Silver?" I asked. - -"Ah, Silver!" says he. "That were his name." - -"He's the cook, and the ringleader too." - -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a -wring. - -"If you was sent by Long John," he said, "I'm as good as pork, and I -know it. But where was you, do you suppose?" - -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him -the whole story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found -ourselves. He heard me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he -patted me on the head. - -"You're a good lad, Jim," he said; "and you're all in a clove hitch, -ain't you? Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn--Ben Gunn's the man -to do it. Would you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove -a liberal-minded one in case of help--him being in a clove hitch, as you -remark?" - -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - -"Aye, but you see," returned Ben Gunn, "I didn't mean giving me a gate -to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that's not my mark, -Jim. What I mean is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say -one thousand pounds out of money that's as good as a man's own already?" - -"I am sure he would," said I. "As it was, all hands were to share." - -"AND a passage home?" he added with a look of great shrewdness. - -"Why," I cried, "the squire's a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of -the others, we should want you to help work the vessel home." - -"Ah," said he, "so you would." And he seemed very much relieved. - -"Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. "So much I'll tell you, and no -more. I were in Flint's ship when he buried the treasure; he and -six along--six strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us -standing off and on in the old WALRUS. One fine day up went the signal, -and here come Flint by himself in a little boat, and his head done up in -a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked about -the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and the six all dead--dead -and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was -battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways--him against six. Billy -Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him -where the treasure was. 'Ah,' says he, 'you can go ashore, if you like, -and stay,' he says; 'but as for the ship, she'll beat up for more, by -thunder!' That's what he said. - -"Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this -island. 'Boys,' said I, 'here's Flint's treasure; let's land and find -it.' The cap'n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a -mind and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had -the worse word for me, until one fine morning all hands went aboard. 'As -for you, Benjamin Gunn,' says they, 'here's a musket,' they says, 'and -a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flint's money for -yourself,' they says. - -"Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian -diet from that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I -look like a man before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren't, neither, I -says." - -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - -"Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim," he went on. "Nor he -weren't, neither--that's the words. Three years he were the man of this -island, light and dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe -think upon a prayer (says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of -his old mother, so be as she's alive (you'll say); but the most part -of Gunn's time (this is what you'll say)--the most part of his time was -took up with another matter. And then you'll give him a nip, like I do." - -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - -"Then," he continued, "then you'll up, and you'll say this: Gunn is a -good man (you'll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence--a -precious sight, mind that--in a gen'leman born than in these gen'leman -of fortune, having been one hisself." - -"Well," I said, "I don't understand one word that you've been saying. -But that's neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?" - -"Ah," said he, "that's the hitch, for sure. Well, there's my boat, that -I made with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst -come to the worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!" he broke out. -"What's that?" - -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the -echoes of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - -"They have begun to fight!" I cried. "Follow me." - -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, -while close at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily -and lightly. - -"Left, left," says he; "keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the -trees with you! Theer's where I killed my first goat. They don't come -down here now; they're all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear -of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And there's the cetemery"--cemetery, he must have -meant. "You see the mounds? I come here and prayed, nows and thens, when -I thought maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren't quite a chapel, -but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you, Ben Gunn was -short-handed--no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, you says." - -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. - -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley -of small arms. - -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I -beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. - - - - - - -PART FOUR--The Stockade - - - - -16 - -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned - -IT was about half past one--three bells in the sea phrase--that the two -boats went ashore from the HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I -were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, -we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with -us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and -to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that Jim -Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest. - -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for -his safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even -chance if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was -bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; -if ever a man smelt fever and dysentery, it was in that abominable -anchorage. The six scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in the -forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made fast and a man sitting -in each, hard by where the river runs in. One of them was whistling -"Lillibullero." - -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go -ashore with the jolly-boat in quest of information. - -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, -in the direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were -left guarding their boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; -"Lillibullero" stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what -they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all might have turned -out differently; but they had their orders, I suppose, and decided to -sit quietly where they were and hark back again to "Lillibullero." - -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it -between us; even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. -I jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk -handkerchief under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols -ready primed for safety. - -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a -knoll. Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a -stout loghouse fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed -for musketry on either side. All round this they had cleared a wide -space, and then the thing was completed by a paling six feet high, -without door or opening, too strong to pull down without time and labour -and too open to shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house had -them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like -partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; for, short of a -complete surprise, they might have held the place against a regiment. - -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good -enough place of it in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms -and ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been -one thing overlooked--we had no water. I was thinking this over when -there came ringing over the island the cry of a man at the point of -death. I was not new to violent death--I have served his Royal Highness -the Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy--but I know -my pulse went dot and carry one. "Jim Hawkins is gone," was my first -thought. - -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been -a doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made -up my mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and -jumped on board the jolly-boat. - -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the -boat was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. - -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as -white as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! -And one of the six forecastle hands was little better. - -"There's a man," says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, "new to -this work. He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. -Another touch of the rudder and that man would join us." - -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details -of its accomplishment. - -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, -with three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter -brought the boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work -loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a -cask of cognac, and my invaluable medicine chest. - -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the -latter hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. - -"Mr. Hands," he said, "here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. -If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man's -dead." - -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one -and all tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us -on the rear. But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred -galley, they went about ship at once, and a head popped out again on -deck. - -"Down, dog!" cries the captain. - -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of -these six very faint-hearted seamen. - -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat -loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, -and we made for shore again as fast as oars could take us. - -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. "Lillibullero" -was dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the -little point, one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a -mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver -and the others might be close at hand, and all might very well be lost -by trying for too much. - -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to -provision the block house. All three made the first journey, heavily -laden, and tossed our stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to -guard them--one man, to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets--Hunter -and I returned to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. So -we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the whole cargo was -bestowed, when the two servants took up their position in the block -house, and I, with all my power, sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. - -That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it -really was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the -advantage of arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before -they could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves -we should be able to give a good account of a half-dozen at least. - -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness -gone from him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to -loading the boat for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the -cargo, with only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me -and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the arms and powder we dropped -overboard in two fathoms and a half of water, so that we could see -the bright steel shining far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy -bottom. - -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging -round to her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the -direction of the two gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and -Hunter, who were well to the eastward, it warned our party to be off. - -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the -boat, which we then brought round to the ship's counter, to be handier -for Captain Smollett. - -"Now, men," said he, "do you hear me?" - -There was no answer from the forecastle. - -"It's to you, Abraham Gray--it's to you I am speaking." - -Still no reply. - -"Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, "I am leaving this ship, -and I order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at -bottom, and I dare say not one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes -out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join -me in." - -There was a pause. - -"Come, my fine fellow," continued the captain; "don't hang so long in -stays. I'm risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every -second." - -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham -Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the -captain like a dog to the whistle. - -"I'm with you, sir," said he. - -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we -had shoved off and given way. - -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. - - - - -17 - -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's Last Trip - -THIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the -first place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely -overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and -the captain--over six feet high, was already more than she was meant -to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was -lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches -and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a -hundred yards. - -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more -evenly. All the same, we were afraid to breathe. - -In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong rippling current -running westward through the basin, and then south'ard and seaward down -the straits by which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples -were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we -were swept out of our true course and away from our proper landing-place -behind the point. If we let the current have its way we should come -ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any moment. - -"I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir," said I to the captain. -I was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. -"The tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?" - -"Not without swamping the boat," said he. "You must bear up, sir, if you -please--bear up until you see you're gaining." - -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward -until I had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the -way we ought to go. - -"We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I. - -"If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it," -returned the captain. "We must keep upstream. You see, sir," he went on, -"if once we dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say -where we should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the -gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, and then we can -dodge back along the shore." - -"The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, who was sitting in -the fore-sheets; "you can ease her off a bit." - -"Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we -had all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. - -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a -little changed. - -"The gun!" said he. - -"I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a -bombardment of the fort. "They could never get the gun ashore, and if -they did, they could never haul it through the woods." - -"Look astern, doctor," replied the captain. - -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were -the five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called -the stout tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but -it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the -powder for the gun had been left behind, and a stroke with an axe would -put it all into the possession of the evil ones abroad. - -"Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely. - -At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the landing-place. By -this time we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept -steerage way even at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could -keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was that with the -course I now held we turned our broadside instead of our stern to the -HISPANIOLA and offered a target like a barn door. - -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands -plumping down a round-shot on the deck. - -"Who's the best shot?" asked the captain. - -"Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I. - -"Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? -Hands, if possible," said the captain. - -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. - -"Now," cried the captain, "easy with that gun, sir, or you'll swamp the -boat. All hands stand by to trim her when he aims." - -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the -other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we -did not ship a drop. - -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, -who was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most -exposed. However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he -stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of the other four -who fell. - -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a -great number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction -I saw the other pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling -into their places in the boats. - -"Here come the gigs, sir," said I. - -"Give way, then," cried the captain. "We mustn't mind if we swamp her -now. If we can't get ashore, all's up." - -"Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added; "the crew of the -other most likely going round by shore to cut us off." - -"They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain. "Jack ashore, you -know. It's not them I mind; it's the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's -maid couldn't miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we'll -hold water." - -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so -overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were -now close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the -ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering -trees. The gig was no longer to be feared; the little point had already -concealed it from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed -us, was now making reparation and delaying our assailants. The one -source of danger was the gun. - -"If I durst," said the captain, "I'd stop and pick off another man." - -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They -had never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not -dead, and I could see him trying to crawl away. - -"Ready!" cried the squire. - -"Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo. - -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily -under water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was -the first that Jim heard, the sound of the squire's shot not having -reached him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I -fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind of it may have -contributed to our disaster. - -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of -water, leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. -The other three took complete headers, and came up again drenched and -bubbling. - -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade -ashore in safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to -make things worse, only two guns out of five remained in a state for -service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my head, by -a sort of instinct. As for the captain, he had carried his over his -shoulder by a bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The other -three had gone down with the boat. - -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the -woods along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from -the stockade in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, -if Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the -sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce -was a doubtful case--a pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush -one's clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving -behind us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and -provisions. - - - - -18 - -Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day's Fighting - -WE made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from -the stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers -rang nearer. Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the -cracking of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my -priming. - -"Captain," said I, "Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his -own is useless." - -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since -the beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all -was fit for service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I -handed him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his -hand, knit his brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was -plain from every line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade -in front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south -side, and almost at the same time, seven mutineers--Job Anderson, the -boatswain, at their head--appeared in full cry at the southwestern -corner. - -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the -squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to -fire. The four shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did -the business: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without -hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to -the fallen enemy. He was stone dead--shot through the heart. - -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a -pistol cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor -Tom Redruth stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire -and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable -we only wasted powder. Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor -Tom. - -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an -eye that all was over. - -I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers -once more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the -poor old gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and -bleeding, into the log-house. - -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, -fear, or even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till -now, when we had laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like -a Trojan behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order -silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of our party by a score -of years; and now, sullen, old, serviceable servant, it was he that was -to die. - -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, -crying like a child. - -"Be I going, doctor?" he asked. - -"Tom, my man," said I, "you're going home." - -"I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first," he replied. - -"Tom," said the squire, "say you forgive me, won't you?" - -"Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?" was the answer. -"Howsoever, so be it, amen!" - -After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read -a prayer. "It's the custom, sir," he added apologetically. And not long -after, without another word, he passed away. - -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully -swollen about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various -stores--the British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, -the log-book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree -lying felled and trimmed in the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter -he had set it up at the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed -and made an angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had with his own hand -bent and run up the colours. - -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set -about counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an -eye on Tom's passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came -forward with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - -"Don't you take on, sir," he said, shaking the squire's hand. "All's -well with him; no fear for a hand that's been shot down in his duty to -captain and owner. It mayn't be good divinity, but it's a fact." - -Then he pulled me aside. - -"Dr. Livesey," he said, "in how many weeks do you and squire expect the -consort?" - -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we -were not back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but -neither sooner nor later. "You can calculate for yourself," I said. - -"Why, yes," returned the captain, scratching his head; "and making a -large allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we -were pretty close hauled." - -"How do you mean?" I asked. - -"It's a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's what I mean," -replied the captain. "As for powder and shot, we'll do. But the rations -are short, very short--so short, Dr. Livesey, that we're perhaps as well -without that extra mouth." - -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the -roof of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. - -"Oho!" said the captain. "Blaze away! You've little enough powder -already, my lads." - -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside -the stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. - -"Captain," said the squire, "the house is quite invisible from the ship. -It must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it -in?" - -"Strike my colours!" cried the captain. "No, sir, not I"; and as soon -as he had said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was -not only a piece of stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy -besides and showed our enemies that we despised their cannonade. - -All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew -over or fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had -to fire so high that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft -sand. We had no ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the -roof of the log-house and out again through the floor, we soon got used -to that sort of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - -"There is one good thing about all this," observed the captain; "the -wood in front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our -stores should be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork." - -Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole -out of the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were -bolder than we fancied or they put more trust in Israel's gunnery. For -four or five of them were busy carrying off our stores and wading out -with them to one of the gigs that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to -hold her steady against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in -command; and every man of them was now provided with a musket from some -secret magazine of their own. - -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: - - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship's - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner's servants, landsmen--being all that is left - faithful of the ship's company--with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner's servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy-- - -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins' fate. - -A hail on the land side. - -"Somebody hailing us," said Hunter, who was on guard. - -"Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?" came the cries. - -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come -climbing over the stockade. - - - - -19 - -Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade - -AS soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the -arm, and sat down. - -"Now," said he, "there's your friends, sure enough." - -"Far more likely it's the mutineers," I answered. - -"That!" he cried. "Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but -gen'lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don't make -no doubt of that. No, that's your friends. There's been blows too, and I -reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in -the old stockade, as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was -the man to have a headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were -never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y Silver--Silver was that -genteel." - -"Well," said I, "that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that -I should hurry on and join my friends." - -"Nay, mate," returned Ben, "not you. You're a good boy, or I'm mistook; -but you're on'y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn't -bring me there, where you're going--not rum wouldn't, till I see your -born gen'leman and gets it on his word of honour. And you won't forget -my words; 'A precious sight (that's what you'll say), a precious sight -more confidence'--and then nips him." - -And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. - -"And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just -wheer you found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing -in his hand, and he's to come alone. Oh! And you'll say this: 'Ben -Gunn,' says you, 'has reasons of his own.'" - -"Well," said I, "I believe I understand. You have something to propose, -and you wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you're to be found -where I found you. Is that all?" - -"And when? says you," he added. "Why, from about noon observation to -about six bells." - -"Good," said I, "and now may I go?" - -"You won't forget?" he inquired anxiously. "Precious sight, and reasons -of his own, says you. Reasons of his own; that's the mainstay; as -between man and man. Well, then"--still holding me--"I reckon you can -go, Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn't go for to sell -Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn't draw it from you? No, says you. And if -them pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you say but there'd be widders -in the morning?" - -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing -through the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where -we two were talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels -in a different direction. - -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and -balls kept crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to -hiding-place, always pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying -missiles. But towards the end of the bombardment, though still I durst -not venture in the direction of the stockade, where the balls fell -oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and -after a long detour to the east, crept down among the shore-side trees. - -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the -woods and ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was -far out, and great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat -of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - -The HISPANIOLA still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there -was the Jolly Roger--the black flag of piracy--flying from her peak. -Even as I looked, there came another red flash and another report that -sent the echoes clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through the -air. It was the last of the cannonade. - -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men -were demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade--the -poor jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the -river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point -and the ship one of the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I -had seen so gloomy, shouting at the oars like children. But there was a -sound in their voices which suggested rum. - -At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty -far down on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, -and is joined at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my -feet, I saw, some distance further down the spit and rising from among -low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in -colour. It occurred to me that this might be the white rock of which Ben -Gunn had spoken and that some day or other a boat might be wanted and I -should know where to look for one. - -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or -shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the -faithful party. - -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was -made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter -stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the -surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, and under this porch -the little spring welled up into an artificial basin of a rather odd -kind--no other than a great ship's kettle of iron, with the bottom -knocked out, and sunk "to her bearings," as the captain said, among the -sand. - -Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one -corner there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old -rusty iron basket to contain the fire. - -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been -cleared of timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps -what a fine and lofty grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had -been washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the trees; only -where the streamlet ran down from the kettle a thick bed of moss and -some ferns and little creeping bushes were still green among the sand. -Very close around the stockade--too close for defence, they said--the -wood still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the land side, but -towards the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. - -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every -chink of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain -of fine sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our -suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all -the world like porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole -in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way -out, and the rest eddied about the house and kept us coughing and piping -the eye. - -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage -for a cut he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor -old Tom Redruth, still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, -under the Union Jack. - -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the -blues, but Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were -called up before him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and -Gray and I for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired -though we all were, two were sent out for firewood; two more were set to -dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at -the door; and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping up -our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to -rest his eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he -did so, he had a word for me. - -"That man Smollett," he said once, "is a better man than I am. And when -I say that it means a deal, Jim." - -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on -one side, and looked at me. - -"Is this Ben Gunn a man?" he asked. - -"I do not know, sir," said I. "I am not very sure whether he's sane." - -"If there's any doubt about the matter, he is," returned the doctor. "A -man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, -can't expect to appear as sane as you or me. It doesn't lie in human -nature. Was it cheese you said he had a fancy for?" - -"Yes, sir, cheese," I answered. - -"Well, Jim," says he, "just see the good that comes of being dainty in -your food. You've seen my snuff-box, haven't you? And you never saw me -take snuff, the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of -Parmesan cheese--a cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, that's -for Ben Gunn!" - -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round -him for a while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had -been got in, but not enough for the captain's fancy, and he shook his -head over it and told us we "must get back to this tomorrow rather -livelier." Then, when we had eaten our pork and each had a good stiff -glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got together in a corner to -discuss our prospects. - -It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the stores being so -low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. -But our best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until -they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the HISPANIOLA. From -nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, -and one at least--the man shot beside the gun--severely wounded, if he -were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we were to take it, -saving our own lives, with the extremest care. And besides that, we had -two able allies--rum and the climate. - -As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear -them roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, -the doctor staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh -and unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on their backs -before a week. - -"So," he added, "if we are not all shot down first they'll be glad to -be packing in the schooner. It's always a ship, and they can get to -buccaneering again, I suppose." - -"First ship that ever I lost," said Captain Smollett. - -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was -not till after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the -pile of firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a -bustle and the sound of voices. - -"Flag of truce!" I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with -a cry of surprise, "Silver himself!" - -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the -wall. - - - - -20 - -Silver's Embassy - -SURE enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them -waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, -standing placidly by. - -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever -was abroad in--a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright -and cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in -the sun. But where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in -shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled -during the night out of the morass. The chill and the vapour taken -together told a poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, -feverish, unhealthy spot. - -"Keep indoors, men," said the captain. "Ten to one this is a trick." - -Then he hailed the buccaneer. - -"Who goes? Stand, or we fire." - -"Flag of truce," cried Silver. - -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way -of a treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to -us, "Doctor's watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, -if you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to -load muskets. Lively, men, and careful." - -And then he turned again to the mutineers. - -"And what do you want with your flag of truce?" he cried. - -This time it was the other man who replied. - -"Cap'n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms," he shouted. - -"Cap'n Silver! Don't know him. Who's he?" cried the captain. And we -could hear him adding to himself, "Cap'n, is it? My heart, and here's -promotion!" - -Long John answered for himself. "Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me -cap'n, after your desertion, sir"--laying a particular emphasis upon the -word "desertion." "We're willing to submit, if we can come to terms, -and no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap'n Smollett, to let me -safe and sound out of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o' -shot before a gun is fired." - -"My man," said Captain Smollett, "I have not the slightest desire to -talk to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that's all. If -there's any treachery, it'll be on your side, and the Lord help you." - -"That's enough, cap'n," shouted Long John cheerily. "A word from you's -enough. I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that." - -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold -Silver back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the -captain's answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the -back as if the idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the -stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour -and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the -other side. - -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on -to be of the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted -my eastern loophole and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated -himself on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his head in his -hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as it bubbled out of the old iron -kettle in the sand. He was whistling "Come, Lasses and Lads." - -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the -steepness of the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he -and his crutch were as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it -like a man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, whom -he saluted in the handsomest style. He was tricked out in his best; -an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, hung as low as to his -knees, and a fine laced hat was set on the back of his head. - -"Here you are, my man," said the captain, raising his head. "You had -better sit down." - -"You ain't a-going to let me inside, cap'n?" complained Long John. "It's -a main cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand." - -"Why, Silver," said the captain, "if you had pleased to be an honest -man, you might have been sitting in your galley. It's your own doing. -You're either my ship's cook--and then you were treated handsome--or -Cap'n Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!" - -"Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was -bidden on the sand, "you'll have to give me a hand up again, that's all. -A sweet pretty place you have of it here. Ah, there's Jim! The top of -the morning to you, Jim. Doctor, here's my service. Why, there you all -are together like a happy family, in a manner of speaking." - -"If you have anything to say, my man, better say it," said the captain. - -"Right you were, Cap'n Smollett," replied Silver. "Dooty is dooty, to be -sure. Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last -night. I don't deny it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a -handspike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some of my people was -shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I was shook myself; maybe that's -why I'm here for terms. But you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by -thunder! We'll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so on the -rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind's eye. But I'll -tell you I was sober; I was on'y dog tired; and if I'd awoke a second -sooner, I'd 'a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I got -round to him, not he." - -"Well?" says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have -guessed it from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben -Gunn's last words came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had -paid the buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk together round -their fire, and I reckoned up with glee that we had only fourteen -enemies to deal with. - -"Well, here it is," said Silver. "We want that treasure, and we'll have -it--that's our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; -and that's yours. You have a chart, haven't you?" - -"That's as may be," replied the captain. - -"Oh, well, you have, I know that," returned Long John. "You needn't be -so husky with a man; there ain't a particle of service in that, and you -may lay to it. What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant -you no harm, myself." - -"That won't do with me, my man," interrupted the captain. "We know -exactly what you meant to do, and we don't care, for now, you see, you -can't do it." - -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. - -"If Abe Gray--" Silver broke out. - -"Avast there!" cried Mr. Smollett. "Gray told me nothing, and I asked -him nothing; and what's more, I would see you and him and this whole -island blown clean out of the water into blazes first. So there's my -mind for you, my man, on that." - -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been -growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. - -"Like enough," said he. "I would set no limits to what gentlemen might -consider shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein' as how -you are about to take a pipe, cap'n, I'll make so free as do likewise." - -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently -smoking for quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now -stopping their tobacco, now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as -the play to see them. - -"Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the chart to get the -treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in -while asleep. You do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come -aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I'll give you my -affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or -if that ain't to your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having -old scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, you can. We'll -divide stores with you, man for man; and I'll give my affy-davy, as -before to speak the first ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you -up. Now, you'll own that's talking. Handsomer you couldn't look to get, -now you. And I hope"--raising his voice--"that all hands in this here -block house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to -all." - -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his -pipe in the palm of his left hand. - -"Is that all?" he asked. - -"Every last word, by thunder!" answered John. "Refuse that, and you've -seen the last of me but musket-balls." - -"Very good," said the captain. "Now you'll hear me. If you'll come up -one by one, unarmed, I'll engage to clap you all in irons and take you -home to a fair trial in England. If you won't, my name is Alexander -Smollett, I've flown my sovereign's colours, and I'll see you all -to Davy Jones. You can't find the treasure. You can't sail the -ship--there's not a man among you fit to sail the ship. You can't fight -us--Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship's in irons, Master -Silver; you're on a lee shore, and so you'll find. I stand here and tell -you so; and they're the last good words you'll get from me, for in the -name of heaven, I'll put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. -Tramp, my lad. Bundle out of this, please, hand over hand, and double -quick." - -Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He -shook the fire out of his pipe. - -"Give me a hand up!" he cried. - -"Not I," returned the captain. - -"Who'll give me a hand up?" he roared. - -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled -along the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself -again upon his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - -"There!" he cried. "That's what I think of ye. Before an hour's out, -I'll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by -thunder, laugh! Before an hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. -Them that die'll be the lucky ones." - -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was -helped across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with -the flag of truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the -trees. - - - - -21 - -The Attack - -AS soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely -watching him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a -man of us at his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen -him angry. - -"Quarters!" he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, -"Gray," he said, "I'll put your name in the log; you've stood by your -duty like a seaman. Mr. Trelawney, I'm surprised at you, sir. Doctor, -I thought you had worn the king's coat! If that was how you served at -Fontenoy, sir, you'd have been better in your berth." - -The doctor's watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy -loading the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be -certain, and a flea in his ear, as the saying is. - -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. - -"My lads," said he, "I've given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in -red-hot on purpose; and before the hour's out, as he said, we shall be -boarded. We're outnumbered, I needn't tell you that, but we fight in -shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought with discipline. -I've no manner of doubt that we can drub them, if you choose." - -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. - -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two -loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the -north side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven -of us; the firewood had been built into four piles--tables, you might -say--one about the middle of each side, and on each of these tables some -ammunition and four loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the -defenders. In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - -"Toss out the fire," said the captain; "the chill is past, and we -mustn't have smoke in our eyes." - -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the -embers smothered among sand. - -"Hawkins hasn't had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to -your post to eat it," continued Captain Smollett. "Lively, now, my lad; -you'll want it before you've done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy -to all hands." - -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the -plan of the defence. - -"Doctor, you will take the door," he resumed. "See, and don't expose -yourself; keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east -side, there. Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you -are the best shot--you and Gray will take this long north side, with the -five loopholes; it's there the danger is. If they can get up to it and -fire in upon us through our own ports, things would begin to look dirty. -Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at the shooting; we'll stand -by to load and bear a hand." - -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had -climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the -clearing and drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking -and the resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats -were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the -shoulders; and we stood there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and -anxiety. - -An hour passed away. - -"Hang them!" said the captain. "This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, -whistle for a wind." - -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - -"If you please, sir," said Joyce, "if I see anyone, am I to fire?" - -"I told you so!" cried the captain. - -"Thank you, sir," returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, -straining ears and eyes--the musketeers with their pieces balanced in -their hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his -mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket -and fired. The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and -repeated from without in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like -a string of geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several bullets -struck the log-house, but not one entered; and as the smoke cleared away -and vanished, the stockade and the woods around it looked as quiet and -empty as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket-barrel -betrayed the presence of our foes. - -"Did you hit your man?" asked the captain. - -"No, sir," replied Joyce. "I believe not, sir." - -"Next best thing to tell the truth," muttered Captain Smollett. "Load -his gun, Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?" - -"I know precisely," said Dr. Livesey. "Three shots were fired on this -side. I saw the three flashes--two close together--one farther to the -west." - -"Three!" repeated the captain. "And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?" - -But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the -north--seven by the squire's computation, eight or nine according to -Gray. From the east and west only a single shot had been fired. It was -plain, therefore, that the attack would be developed from the north and -that on the other three sides we were only to be annoyed by a show of -hostilities. But Captain Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If -the mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, they would -take possession of any unprotected loophole and shoot us down like rats -in our own stronghold. - -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud -huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side -and ran straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once -more opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway -and knocked the doctor's musket into bits. - -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired -again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, -two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened -than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly -disappeared among the trees. - -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing -inside our defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight -men, each evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though -useless fire on the log-house. - -The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, -shouting as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to -encourage them. Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the -marksmen that not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the -four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle -loophole. - -"At 'em, all hands--all hands!" he roared in a voice of thunder. - -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter's musket by the -muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, -and with one stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. -Meanwhile a third, running unharmed all around the house, appeared -suddenly in the doorway and fell with his cutlass on the doctor. - -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under -cover, at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could -not return a blow. - -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative -safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, -and one loud groan rang in my ears. - -"Out, lads, out, and fight 'em in the open! Cutlasses!" cried the -captain. - -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time -snatching another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly -felt. I dashed out of the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was -close behind, I knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing -his assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell upon him, beat -down his guard and sent him sprawling on his back with a great slash -across the face. - -"Round the house, lads! Round the house!" cried the captain; and even in -the hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. - -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, -ran round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face -with Anderson. He roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, -flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow -still hung impending, leaped in a trice upon one side, and missing my -foot in the soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. - -When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been -already swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red -night-cap, with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and -thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I -found my feet again all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red -night-cap still half-way over, another still just showing his head above -the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath of time, the fight was -over and the victory was ours. - -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere -he had time to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a -loophole in the very act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, -the pistol still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor -had disposed of at a blow. Of the four who had scaled the palisade, one -only remained unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the -field, was now clambering out again with the fear of death upon him. - -"Fire--fire from the house!" cried the doctor. "And you, lads, back into -cover." - -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder -made good his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In -three seconds nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who -had fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. - -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors -would soon be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment -the fire might recommence. - -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at -a glance the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his -loophole, stunned; Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move -again; while right in the centre, the squire was supporting the captain, -one as pale as the other. - -"The captain's wounded," said Mr. Trelawney. - -"Have they run?" asked Mr. Smollett. - -"All that could, you may be bound," returned the doctor; "but there's -five of them will never run again." - -"Five!" cried the captain. "Come, that's better. Five against three -leaves us four to nine. That's better odds than we had at starting. We -were seven to nineteen then, or thought we were, and that's as bad to -bear."* - -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. -Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But -this was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. - - - - - - -PART FIVE--My Sea Adventure - - - - -22 - -How My Sea Adventure Began - -THERE was no return of the mutineers--not so much as another shot out of -the woods. They had "got their rations for that day," as the captain put -it, and we had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the -wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the -danger, and even outside we could hardly tell what we were at, for -horror of the loud groans that reached us from the doctor's patients. - -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still -breathed--that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, -Hunter, and Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good -as dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor's knife, and Hunter, -do what we could, never recovered consciousness in this world. He -lingered all day, breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his -apoplectic fit, but the bones of his chest had been crushed by the -blow and his skull fractured in falling, and some time in the following -night, without sign or sound, he went to his Maker. - -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. -No organ was fatally injured. Anderson's ball--for it was Job that -shot him first--had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not -badly; the second had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. -He was sure to recover, the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for -weeks to come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as speak -when he could help it. - -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor -Livesey patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the -bargain. - -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain's side awhile -in consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts' content, it -being then a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, -girt on a cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over -his shoulder crossed the palisade on the north side and set off briskly -through the trees. - -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to -be out of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out -of his mouth and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck -he was at this occurrence. - -"Why, in the name of Davy Jones," said he, "is Dr. Livesey mad?" - -"Why no," says I. "He's about the last of this crew for that, I take -it." - -"Well, shipmate," said Gray, "mad he may not be; but if HE'S not, you -mark my words, I am." - -"I take it," replied I, "the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, -he's going now to see Ben Gunn." - -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being -stifling hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze -with midday sun, I began to get another thought into my head, which was -not by any means so right. What I began to do was to envy the doctor -walking in the cool shadow of the woods with the birds about him and the -pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes -stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many poor -dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the place that was -almost as strong as fear. - -All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up -the things from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger -and stronger, till at last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then -observing me, I took the first step towards my escapade and filled both -pockets of my coat with biscuit. - -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, -over-bold act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in -my power. These biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at -least, from starving till far on in the next day. - -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already -had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. - -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I -was to go down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east -from the open sea, find the white rock I had observed last evening, and -ascertain whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, -a thing quite worth doing, as I still believe. But as I was certain I -should not be allowed to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take -French leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that was so bad -a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong. But I was only a boy, -and I had made my mind up. - -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The -squire and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the -coast was clear, I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the -thickest of the trees, and before my absence was observed I was out of -cry of my companions. - -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two -sound men to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards -saving all of us. - -I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was -determined to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of -observation from the anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, -although still warm and sunny. As I continued to thread the tall woods, -I could hear from far before me not only the continuous thunder of the -surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which -showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. Soon cool -draughts of air began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came forth -into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny -to the horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the -beach. - -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might -blaze overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and -blue, but still these great rollers would be running along all the -external coast, thundering and thundering by day and night; and I scarce -believe there is one spot in the island where a man would be out of -earshot of their noise. - -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking -I was now got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick -bushes and crept warily up to the ridge of the spit. - -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though -it had the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already -at an end; it had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south -and south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under -lee of Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when first we entered -it. The HISPANIOLA, in that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from -the truck to the waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets--him I could -always recognize--while a couple of men were leaning over the stern -bulwarks, one of them with a red cap--the very rogue that I had seen -some hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were -talking and laughing, though at that distance--upwards of a mile--I -could, of course, hear no word of what was said. All at once there began -the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, -though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought -I could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon -her master's wrist. - -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man -with the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. - -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, -and as the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. -I saw I must lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. - -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of -a mile further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up -with it, crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost -come when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was -an exceedingly small hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick -underwood about knee-deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the -centre of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat-skins, like what -the gipsies carry about with them in England. - -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was -Ben Gunn's boat--home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, -lop-sided framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of -goat-skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even -for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a -full-sized man. There was one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of -stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but -I have seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn's -boat than by saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever -made by man. But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly -possessed, for it was exceedingly light and portable. - -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had -enough of truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another -notion and become so obstinately fond of it that I would have carried -it out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was -to slip out under cover of the night, cut the HISPANIOLA adrift, and let -her go ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the -mutineers, after their repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer their -hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; this, I thought, it would be -a fine thing to prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their -watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be done with little -risk. - -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It -was a night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried -all heaven. As the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, -absolute blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, -I shouldered the coracle and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow -where I had supped, there were but two points visible on the whole -anchorage. - -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay -carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the -darkness, indicated the position of the anchored ship. She had swung -round to the ebb--her bow was now towards me--the only lights on board -were in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a reflection on the fog of -the strong rays that flowed from the stern window. - -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt -of swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I -came to the edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, -with some strength and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the -surface. - - - - -23 - -The Ebb-tide Runs - -THE coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was done with -her--was a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both -buoyant and clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, -lop-sided craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made more -leeway than anything else, and turning round and round was the manoeuvre -she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was "queer -to handle till you knew her way." - -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the -one I was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, -and I am very sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the -tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping -me down; and there lay the HISPANIOLA right in the fairway, hardly to be -missed. - -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than -darkness, then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next -moment, as it seemed (for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the -current of the ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she -pulled upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the -rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. -One cut with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go humming down the -tide. - -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut -hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to -one, if I were so foolhardy as to cut the HISPANIOLA from her anchor, I -and the coracle would be knocked clean out of the water. - -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again -particularly favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But -the light airs which had begun blowing from the south-east and south -had hauled round after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was -meditating, a puff came, caught the HISPANIOLA, and forced her up into -the current; and to my great joy, I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, -and the hand by which I held it dip for a second under water. - -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, -and cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. -Then I lay quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be -once more lightened by a breath of wind. - -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but -to say truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts -that I had scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to -do, I began to pay more heed. - -One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands, that had been Flint's -gunner in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red -night-cap. Both men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still -drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken -cry, opened the stern window and threw out something, which I divined to -be an empty bottle. But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they -were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and every now and -then there came forth such an explosion as I thought was sure to end -in blows. But each time the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled -lower for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn passed -away without result. - -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly -through the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning -sailor's song, with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, -and seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the singer. I had -heard it on the voyage more than once and remembered these words: - - "But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five." - -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a -company that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from -what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed -on. - -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the -dark; I felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough -effort, cut the last fibres through. - -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost -instantly swept against the bows of the HISPANIOLA. At the same time, -the schooner began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, -across the current. - -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and -since I found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved -straight astern. At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and -just as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light cord -that was trailing overboard across the stern bulwarks. Instantly I -grasped it. - -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere -instinct, but once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity -began to get the upper hand, and I determined I should have one look -through the cabin window. - -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near -enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded -the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin. - -By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty -swiftly through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with -the camp-fire. The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading -the innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I -got my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen -had taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; and it was -only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me -Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a -hand upon the other's throat. - -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near -overboard. I could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, -encrimsoned faces swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my -eyes to let them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished -company about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so -often: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very -moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, when I was surprised by a sudden -lurch of the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed -to change her course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. - -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing -over with a sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The -HISPANIOLA herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled -along, seemed to stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a -little against the blackness of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I -made sure she also was wheeling to the southward. - -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, -right behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned -at right angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and -the little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever -muttering louder, it went spinning through the narrows for the open sea. - -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, -perhaps, through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one -shout followed another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on -the companion ladder and I knew that the two drunkards had at last been -interrupted in their quarrel and awakened to a sense of their disaster. - -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly -recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I -made sure we must fall into some bar of raging breakers, where all my -troubles would be ended speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to -die, I could not bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the -billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to -expect death at the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a -numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of -my terrors, until sleep at last supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle -I lay and dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - - - - -24 - -The Cruise of the Coracle - -IT was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west -end of Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind -the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to -the sea in formidable cliffs. - -Haulbowline Head and Mizzen-mast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare -and dark, the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and -fringed with great masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a -mile to seaward, and it was my first thought to paddle in and land. - -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers -spouted and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and -falling, succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw myself, -if I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending -my strength in vain to scale the beetling crags. - -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or -letting themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge -slimy monsters--soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness--two -or three score of them together, making the rocks to echo with their -barkings. - -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. -But the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the -high running of the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that -landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to confront -such perils. - -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North -of Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide -a long stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes -another cape--Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart--buried -in tall green pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. - -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward -along the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my -position that I was already under its influence, I preferred to leave -Haulbowline Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to -land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady -and gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the -current, and the billows rose and fell unbroken. - -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, -it is surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could -ride. Often, as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye -above the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; -yet the coracle would but bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and -subside on the other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at -paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will -produce violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly -moved before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, -ran straight down a slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and -struck her nose, with a spout of spray, deep into the side of the next -wave. - -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old -position, whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led -me as softly as before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be -interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no way influence her -course, what hope had I left of reaching land? - -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. -First, moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my -sea-cap; then, getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself -to study how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks -from shore or from a vessel's deck, was for all the world like any range -of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The -coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to -speak, her way through these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes -and higher, toppling summits of the wave. - -"Well, now," thought I to myself, "it is plain I must lie where I am and -not disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle -over the side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove -or two towards land." No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on -my elbows in the most trying attitude, and every now and again gave a -weak stroke or two to turn her head to shore. - -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as -we drew near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly -miss that point, I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, -indeed, close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops swaying together -in the breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without -fail. - -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow -of the sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the -sea-water that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, -combined to make my throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the -trees so near at hand had almost made me sick with longing, but the -current had soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach of sea -opened out, I beheld a sight that changed the nature of my thoughts. - -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the HISPANIOLA -under sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was -so distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad -or sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, -surprise had taken entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing -but stare and wonder. - -The HISPANIOLA was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful -white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first -sighted her, all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about -north-west, and I presumed the men on board were going round the island -on their way back to the anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more -and more to the westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and were -going about in chase. At last, however, she fell right into the wind's -eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there awhile helpless, with her -sails shivering. - -"Clumsy fellows," said I; "they must still be drunk as owls." And I -thought how Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. - -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another -tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead -in the wind's eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and -down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA sailed by swoops -and dashes, and at each repetition ended as she had begun, with idly -flapping canvas. It became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if -so, where were the men? Either they were dead drunk or had deserted her, -I thought, and perhaps if I could get on board I might return the vessel -to her captain. - -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. -As for the latter's sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she -hung each time so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if -she did not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made -sure that I could overhaul her. The scheme had an air of adventure -that inspired me, and the thought of the water breaker beside the fore -companion doubled my growing courage. - -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but -this time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and -caution, to paddle after the unsteered HISPANIOLA. Once I shipped a sea -so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like -a bird, but gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my -coracle among the waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and -a dash of foam in my face. - -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten -on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her -decks. I could not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men -were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do -what I chose with the ship. - -For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for -me--standing still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all -the time. Each time she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these -brought her in a moment right to the wind again. I have said this was -the worst thing possible for me, for helpless as she looked in this -situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon and the blocks trundling -and banging on the deck, she still continued to run away from me, not -only with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount of her -leeway, which was naturally great. - -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, -very low, and the current gradually turning her, the HISPANIOLA revolved -slowly round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the -cabin window still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning -on into the day. The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was -stock-still but for the current. - -For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my -efforts, I began once more to overhaul the chase. - -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; -she filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming -like a swallow. - -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. -Round she came, till she was broadside on to me--round still till she -had covered a half and then two thirds and then three quarters of the -distance that separated us. I could see the waves boiling white under -her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me from my low station in the -coracle. - -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to -think--scarce time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one -swell when the schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was -over my head. I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping the coracle under -water. With one hand I caught the jib-boom, while my foot was lodged -between the stay and the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a -dull blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon and struck the -coracle and that I was left without retreat on the HISPANIOLA. - - - - -25 - -I Strike the Jolly Roger - -I HAD scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib -flapped and filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The -schooner trembled to her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the -other sails still drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, -crawled back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. - -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was -still drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. -Not a soul was to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since -the mutiny, bore the print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by -the neck, tumbled to and fro like a live thing in the scuppers. - -Suddenly the HISPANIOLA came right into the wind. The jibs behind me -cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening -heave and shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, -the sheet groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff -as a handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and -his teeth showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against -the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on -the deck, his face as white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. - -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the -sails filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to -and fro till the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too -there would come a cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy -blow of the ship's bows against the swell; so much heavier weather was -made of it by this great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided -coracle, now gone to the bottom of the sea. - -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but--what was -ghastly to behold--neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing -grin was anyway disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, Hands -appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down upon the -deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body canting -towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid -from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed -ringlet of one whisker. - -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark -blood upon the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each -other in their drunken wrath. - -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship -was still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed -himself back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, -which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw -hung open went right to my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had -overheard from the apple barrel, all pity left me. - -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - -"Come aboard, Mr. Hands," I said ironically. - -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express -surprise. All he could do was to utter one word, "Brandy." - -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it -once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion -stairs into the cabin. - -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the -lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor -was thick with mud where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after -wading in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in -clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. -Dozens of empty bottles clinked together in corners to the rolling of -the ship. One of the doctor's medical books lay open on the table, half -of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for pipelights. In the midst of all -this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles -a most surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, -since the mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and -for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch -of raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down -my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain's -reach, went forward to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of -water, and then, and not till then, gave Hands the brandy. - -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. - -"Aye," said he, "by thunder, but I wanted some o' that!" - -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - -"Much hurt?" I asked him. - -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - -"If that doctor was aboard," he said, "I'd be right enough in a couple -of turns, but I don't have no manner of luck, you see, and that's what's -the matter with me. As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is," he -added, indicating the man with the red cap. "He warn't no seaman anyhow. -And where mought you have come from?" - -"Well," said I, "I've come aboard to take possession of this ship, -Mr. Hands; and you'll please regard me as your captain until further -notice." - -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had -come back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still -continued to slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. - -"By the by," I continued, "I can't have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by -your leave, I'll strike 'em. Better none than these." - -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their -cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - -"God save the king!" said I, waving my cap. "And there's an end to -Captain Silver!" - -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. - -"I reckon," he said at last, "I reckon, Cap'n Hawkins, you'll kind of -want to get ashore now. S'pose we talks." - -"Why, yes," says I, "with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on." And I went -back to my meal with a good appetite. - -"This man," he began, nodding feebly at the corpse "--O'Brien were his -name, a rank Irelander--this man and me got the canvas on her, meaning -for to sail her back. Well, HE'S dead now, he is--as dead as bilge; and -who's to sail this ship, I don't see. Without I gives you a hint, you -ain't that man, as far's I can tell. Now, look here, you gives me food -and drink and a old scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and -I'll tell you how to sail her, and that's about square all round, I take -it." - -"I'll tell you one thing," says I: "I'm not going back to Captain Kidd's -anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there." - -"To be sure you did," he cried. "Why, I ain't sich an infernal lubber -after all. I can see, can't I? I've tried my fling, I have, and I've -lost, and it's you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven't no -ch'ice, not I! I'd help you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! -So I would." - -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our -bargain on the spot. In three minutes I had the HISPANIOLA sailing -easily before the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good -hopes of turning the northern point ere noon and beating down again as -far as North Inlet before high water, when we might beach her safely and -wait till the subsiding tide permitted us to land. - -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a -soft silk handkerchief of my mother's. With this, and with my aid, Hands -bound up the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after -he had eaten a little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he -began to pick up visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, -and looked in every way another man. - -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the -coast of the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. -Soon we were past the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, -sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again -and had turned the corner of the rocky hill that ends the island on the -north. - -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, -sunshiny weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now -plenty of water and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had -smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I -had made. I should, I think, have had nothing left me to desire but for -the eyes of the coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck -and the odd smile that appeared continually on his face. It was a smile -that had in it something both of pain and weakness--a haggard old man's -smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of -treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and watched, and -watched me at my work. - - - - -26 - -Israel Hands - -THE wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run -so much the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth -of the North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not -beach her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our -hands. The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good many -trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another meal. - -"Cap'n," said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, "here's -my old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain't -partic'lar as a rule, and I don't take no blame for settling his hash, -but I don't reckon him ornamental now, do you?" - -"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and there he lies, for -me," said I. - -"This here's an unlucky ship, this HISPANIOLA, Jim," he went on, -blinking. "There's a power of men been killed in this HISPANIOLA--a -sight o' poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to -Bristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here -O'Brien now--he's dead, ain't he? Well now, I'm no scholar, and you're a -lad as can read and figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a -dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?" - -"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know -that already," I replied. "O'Brien there is in another world, and may be -watching us." - -"Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate--appears as if killing parties -was a waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don't reckon for much, by what -I've seen. I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you've spoke -up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down into that there cabin -and get me a--well, a--shiver my timbers! I can't hit the name on 't; -well, you get me a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy's too strong -for my head." - -Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the -notion of his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The -whole story was a pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much was -plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never -met mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a look -to the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the -time he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most guilty, -embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he was bent on -some deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw where -my advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily -conceal my suspicions to the end. - -"Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you have white or red?" - -"Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, shipmate," he -replied; "so it's strong, and plenty of it, what's the odds?" - -"All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I'll have -to dig for it." - -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, -slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the -forecastle ladder, and popped my head out of the fore companion. I -knew he would not expect to see me there, yet I took every precaution -possible, and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved too true. - -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his -leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved--for I could hear -him stifle a groan--yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed -himself across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the port -scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a -short dirk, discoloured to the hilt with blood. He looked upon it for -a moment, thrusting forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, -and then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled -back again into his old place against the bulwark. - -This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was -now armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, -it was plain that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do -afterwards--whether he would try to crawl right across the island from -North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or whether he would fire Long -Tom, trusting that his own comrades might come first to help him--was, -of course, more than I could say. - -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that -our interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of -the schooner. We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a -sheltered place, and so that, when the time came, she could be got off -again with as little labour and danger as might be; and until that was -done I considered that my life would certainly be spared. - -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been -idle with my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more -into my shoes, and laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, -with this for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with -his eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He -looked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like -a man who had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his -favourite toast of "Here's luck!" Then he lay quiet for a little, and -then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - -"Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't no knife and hardly -strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed -stays! Cut me a quid, as'll likely be the last, lad, for I'm for my long -home, and no mistake." - -"Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought -myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man." - -"Why?" said he. "Now, you tell me why." - -"Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about the dead. You've -broken your trust; you've lived in sin and lies and blood; there's a man -you killed lying at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God's -mercy, Mr. Hands, that's why." - -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden -in his pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, -for his part, took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most -unusual solemnity. - -"For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas and seen good and -bad, better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, -knives going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come -o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; -them's my views--amen, so be it. And now, you look here," he added, -suddenly changing his tone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. The -tide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders, Cap'n Hawkins, -and we'll sail slap in and be done with it." - -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was -delicate, the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow -and shoal, but lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicely -handled to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am -very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, for we went about and about -and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a certainty and a neatness that -were a pleasure to behold. - -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The -shores of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern -anchorage, but the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in -truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern -end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It -had been a great vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to -the injuries of the weather that it was hung about with great webs of -dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes had taken root and -now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us -that the anchorage was calm. - -"Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit for to beach a ship -in. Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw, trees all around of it, and -flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship." - -"And once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get her off again?" - -"Why, so," he replied: "you take a line ashore there on the other side -at low water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, -take a turn around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high -water, all hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet -as natur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We're near the bit now, and she's -too much way on her. Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard -a little--steady--steady!" - -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a -sudden, he cried, "Now, my hearty, luff!" And I put the helm hard up, -and the HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, -wooded shore. - -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the -watch I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then -I was still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I -had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and stood craning over -the starboard bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading wide before -the bows. I might have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a -sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head. Perhaps I -had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye; -perhaps it was an instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I looked -round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, with the dirk in -his right hand. - -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine -was the shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging -bully's. At the same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt -sideways towards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which -sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck -Hands across the chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead. - -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me -trapped, with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast -I stopped, drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had -already turned and was once more coming directly after me, and drew the -trigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither flash nor sound; -the priming was useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my neglect. -Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons? Then -I should not have been as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled -hair tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign -with his haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor -indeed much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I -saw plainly: I must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily -hold me boxed into the bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed -me in the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of the -blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this side of eternity. -I placed my palms against the main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, -and waited, every nerve upon the stretch. - -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed -in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such -a game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, -but never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as -now. Still, as I say, it was a boy's game, and I thought I could hold -my own at it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my -courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few darting -thoughts on what would be the end of the affair, and while I saw -certainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw no hope of any -ultimate escape. - -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA struck, -staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a -blow, canted over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle -of forty-five degrees and about a puncheon of water splashed into the -scupper holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. - -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost -together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still -spread out, tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my -head came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that made my teeth -rattle. Blow and all, I was the first afoot again, for Hands had got -involved with the dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the -deck no place for running on; I had to find some new way of escape, -and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost touching me. Quick as -thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, -and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot -below me as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands -with his mouth open and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of -surprise and disappointment. - -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the -priming of my pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to -make assurance doubly sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other -and recharge it afresh from the beginning. - -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice -going against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled -himself heavily into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began -slowly and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and groans -to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had quietly finished my -arrangements before he was much more than a third of the way up. Then, -with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him. - -"One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your brains out! Dead -men don't bite, you know," I added with a chuckle. - -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was -trying to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my -new-found security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he -spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. -In order to speak he had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all -else he remained unmoved. - -"Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and we'll have to -sign articles. I'd have had you but for that there lurch, but I don't -have no luck, not I; and I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, -you see, for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." - -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock -upon a wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his -shoulder. Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow -and then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the -mast. In the horrid pain and surprise of the moment--I scarce can say -it was by my own volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious -aim--both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They -did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain loosed his grasp -upon the shrouds and plunged head first into the water. - - - - -27 - -"Pieces of Eight" - -OWING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, -and from my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the -surface of the bay. Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence -nearer to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to -the surface in a lather of foam and blood and then sank again for good. -As the water settled, I could see him lying huddled together on the -clean, bright sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two -whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the water, he -appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was dead -enough, for all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish -in the very place where he had designed my slaughter. - -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and -terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, -where it had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot -iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, -for these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the -horror I had upon my mind of falling from the cross-trees into that -still green water, beside the body of the coxswain. - -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to -cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted -down to a more natural time, and I was once more in possession of -myself. - -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too -hard or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly -enough, that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come -the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere -pinch of skin, and this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the -faster, to be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked to the -mast by my coat and shirt. - -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the -deck by the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have -again ventured, shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from -which Israel had so lately fallen. - -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal -and still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it -greatly gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the -ship was now, in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from -its last passenger--the dead man, O'Brien. - -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay -like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how -different from life's colour or life's comeliness! In that position -I could easily have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical -adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the dead, I took him -by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran and with one good heave, -tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap -came off and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the splash -subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side, both wavering -with the tremulous movement of the water. O'Brien, though still quite a -young man, was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the -knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and -fro over both. - -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was -within so few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines -upon the western shore began to reach right across the anchorage and -fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and -though it was well warded off by the hill with the two peaks upon the -east, the cordage had begun to sing a little softly to itself and the -idle sails to rattle to and fro. - -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and -brought tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of -course, when the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and -the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought -this made it still more dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I -half feared to meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The -peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon -the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, -that was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the -HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. - -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow--the last rays, -I remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright as -jewels on the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the -tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more -on her beam-ends. - -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and -holding the cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself -drop softly overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was -firm and covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, -leaving the HISPANIOLA on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide -upon the surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly -down and the breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence -empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers -and ready for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing -nearer my fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my -achievements. Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the -recapture of the HISPANIOLA was a clenching answer, and I hoped that -even Captain Smollett would confess I had not lost my time. - -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for -the block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly -of the rivers which drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage ran from the -two-peaked hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction -that I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood was pretty -open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner -of that hill, and not long after waded to the mid-calf across the -watercourse. - -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; -and I walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk -had come nigh hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the -two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as -I judged, the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring -fire. And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show himself so -careless. For if I could see this radiance, might it not reach the eyes -of Silver himself where he camped upon the shore among the marshes? - -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself -even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the -Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few -and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among -bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer -of moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after -I saw something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and -knew the moon had risen. - -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my -journey, and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near -to the stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before -it, I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a -trifle warily. It would have been a poor end of my adventures to get -shot down by my own party in mistake. - -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here -and there in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and -right in front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among -the trees. It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little -darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - -At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western -end was already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house -itself, still lay in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks -of light. On the other side of the house an immense fire had burned -itself into clear embers and shed a steady, red reverberation, -contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of the moon. There was not -a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror -also. It had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, -by the captain's orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to -fear that something had gone wrong while I was absent. - -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a -convenient place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. - -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, -without a sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my -heart was suddenly and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in -itself, and I have often complained of it at other times, but just -then it was like music to hear my friends snoring together so loud and -peaceful in their sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful "All's -well," never fell more reassuringly on my ear. - -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous -bad watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping -in on them, not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it -was, thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself -sharply for leaving them in that danger with so few to mount guard. - -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, -so that I could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there -was the steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a -flickering or pecking that I could in no way account for. - -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own -place (I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they -found me in the morning. - -My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper's leg; and he turned -and groaned, but without awaking. - -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the -darkness: - -"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! -Pieces of eight!" and so forth, without pause or change, like the -clacking of a tiny mill. - -Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard -pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any -human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the -parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the -voice of Silver cried, "Who goes?" - -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran -full into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me -tight. - -"Bring a torch, Dick," said Silver when my capture was thus assured. - -And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a -lighted brand. - - - - - - -PART SIX--Captain Silver - - - - -28 - -In the Enemy's Camp - -THE red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, -showed me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in -possession of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, -there were the pork and bread, as before, and what tenfold increased -my horror, not a sign of any prisoner. I could only judge that all had -perished, and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there to -perish with them. - -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left -alive. Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly -called out of the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen -upon his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round -his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently -dressed. I remembered the man who had been shot and had run back among -the woods in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's shoulder. He -himself, I thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used -to. He still wore the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his -mission, but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and -torn with the sharp briers of the wood. - -"So," said he, "here's Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, -eh? Well, come, I take that friendly." - -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a -pipe. - -"Give me a loan of the link, Dick," said he; and then, when he had a -good light, "That'll do, lad," he added; "stick the glim in the wood -heap; and you, gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn't stand up -for Mr. Hawkins; HE'LL excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, -Jim"--stopping the tobacco--"here you were, and quite a pleasant -surprise for poor old John. I see you were smart when first I set my -eyes on you, but this here gets away from me clean, it do." - -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me -with my back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the -face, pluckily enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black -despair in my heart. - -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran -on again. - -"Now, you see, Jim, so be as you ARE here," says he, "I'll give you a -piece of my mind. I've always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, -and the picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always -wanted you to jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my -cock, you've got to. Cap'n Smollett's a fine seaman, as I'll own up to -any day, but stiff on discipline. 'Dooty is dooty,' says he, and right -he is. Just you keep clear of the cap'n. The doctor himself is gone dead -again you--'ungrateful scamp' was what he said; and the short and the -long of the whole story is about here: you can't go back to your own -lot, for they won't have you; and without you start a third ship's -company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you'll have to jine with -Cap'n Silver." - -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly -believed the truth of Silver's statement, that the cabin party were -incensed at me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by -what I heard. - -"I don't say nothing as to your being in our hands," continued Silver, -"though there you are, and you may lay to it. I'm all for argyment; I -never seen good come out o' threatening. If you like the service, well, -you'll jine; and if you don't, Jim, why, you're free to answer no--free -and welcome, shipmate; and if fairer can be said by mortal seaman, -shiver my sides!" - -"Am I to answer, then?" I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all -this sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung -me, and my cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - -"Lad," said Silver, "no one's a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. -None of us won't hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, -you see." - -"Well," says I, growing a bit bolder, "if I'm to choose, I declare I -have a right to know what's what, and why you're here, and where my -friends are." - -"Wot's wot?" repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. "Ah, he'd -be a lucky one as knowed that!" - -"You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're spoke to, my -friend," cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in -his first gracious tones, he replied to me, "Yesterday morning, Mr. -Hawkins," said he, "in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a -flag of truce. Says he, 'Cap'n Silver, you're sold out. Ship's gone.' -Well, maybe we'd been taking a glass, and a song to help it round. I -won't say no. Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, and -by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack o' fools look -fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the -fishiest. 'Well,' says the doctor, 'let's bargain.' We bargained, him -and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you -was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole -blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they've tramped; -I don't know where's they are." - -He drew again quietly at his pipe. - -"And lest you should take it into that head of yours," he went on, "that -you was included in the treaty, here's the last word that was said: 'How -many are you,' says I, 'to leave?' 'Four,' says he; 'four, and one of us -wounded. As for that boy, I don't know where he is, confound him,' says -he, 'nor I don't much care. We're about sick of him.' These was his -words. - -"Is that all?" I asked. - -"Well, it's all that you're to hear, my son," returned Silver. - -"And now I am to choose?" - -"And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that," said Silver. - -"Well," said I, "I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have -to look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it's little I care. I've -seen too many die since I fell in with you. But there's a thing or two -I have to tell you," I said, and by this time I was quite excited; "and -the first is this: here you are, in a bad way--ship lost, treasure lost, -men lost, your whole business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who -did it--it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we sighted land, -and I heard you, John, and you, Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now at -the bottom of the sea, and told every word you said before the hour was -out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable, and it was I -that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it was I who brought her -where you'll never see her more, not one of you. The laugh's on my side; -I've had the top of this business from the first; I no more fear you -than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing -I'll say, and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when -you fellows are in court for piracy, I'll save you all I can. It is for -you to choose. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and -keep a witness to save you from the gallows." - -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not -a man of them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And -while they were still staring, I broke out again, "And now, Mr. Silver," -I said, "I believe you're the best man here, and if things go to the -worst, I'll take it kind of you to let the doctor know the way I took -it." - -"I'll bear it in mind," said Silver with an accent so curious that I -could not, for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my -request or had been favourably affected by my courage. - -"I'll put one to that," cried the old mahogany-faced seaman--Morgan -by name--whom I had seen in Long John's public-house upon the quays of -Bristol. "It was him that knowed Black Dog." - -"Well, and see here," added the sea-cook. "I'll put another again to -that, by thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from -Billy Bones. First and last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!" - -"Then here goes!" said Morgan with an oath. - -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. - -"Avast, there!" cried Silver. "Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you -thought you was cap'n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I'll teach you -better! Cross me, and you'll go where many a good man's gone before you, -first and last, these thirty year back--some to the yard-arm, shiver -my timbers, and some by the board, and all to feed the fishes. There's -never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a'terwards, -Tom Morgan, you may lay to that." - -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - -"Tom's right," said one. - -"I stood hazing long enough from one," added another. "I'll be hanged if -I'll be hazed by you, John Silver." - -"Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with ME?" roared Silver, -bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still -glowing in his right hand. "Put a name on what you're at; you ain't -dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many -years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the -latter end of it? You know the way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by -your account. Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll -see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe's empty." - -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - -"That's your sort, is it?" he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. -"Well, you're a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you -ain't. P'r'aps you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n here -by 'lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best man by a long sea-mile. -You won't fight, as gentlemen o' fortune should; then, by thunder, -you'll obey, and you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen -a better boy than that. He's more a man than any pair of rats of you in -this here house, and what I say is this: let me see him that'll lay a -hand on him--that's what I say, and you may lay to it." - -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, -my heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope -now shining in my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms -crossed, his pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had -been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and he kept the -tail of it on his unruly followers. They, on their part, drew gradually -together towards the far end of the block house, and the low hiss of -their whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a stream. One -after another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch would -fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it -was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. - -"You seem to have a lot to say," remarked Silver, spitting far into the -air. "Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to." - -"Ax your pardon, sir," returned one of the men; "you're pretty free with -some of the rules; maybe you'll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This -crew's dissatisfied; this crew don't vally bullying a marlin-spike; this -crew has its rights like other crews, I'll make so free as that; and by -your own rules, I take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, -acknowledging you for to be captaing at this present; but I claim my -right, and steps outside for a council." - -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, -yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and -disappeared out of the house. One after another the rest followed his -example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding some apology. -"According to rules," said one. "Forecastle council," said Morgan. And -so with one remark or another all marched out and left Silver and me -alone with the torch. - -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - -"Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins," he said in a steady whisper that was -no more than audible, "you're within half a plank of death, and what's -a long sight worse, of torture. They're going to throw me off. But, you -mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn't mean to; no, not -till you spoke up. I was about desperate to lose that much blunt, and -be hanged into the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says to -myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins'll stand by you. You're -his last card, and by the living thunder, John, he's yours! Back to -back, says I. You save your witness, and he'll save your neck!" - -I began dimly to understand. - -"You mean all's lost?" I asked. - -"Aye, by gum, I do!" he answered. "Ship gone, neck gone--that's the -size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no -schooner--well, I'm tough, but I gave out. As for that lot and their -council, mark me, they're outright fools and cowards. I'll save your -life--if so be as I can--from them. But, see here, Jim--tit for tat--you -save Long John from swinging." - -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking--he, the -old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - -"What I can do, that I'll do," I said. - -"It's a bargain!" cried Long John. "You speak up plucky, and by thunder, -I've a chance!" - -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and -took a fresh light to his pipe. - -"Understand me, Jim," he said, returning. "I've a head on my shoulders, -I have. I'm on squire's side now. I know you've got that ship safe -somewheres. How you done it, I don't know, but safe it is. I guess Hands -and O'Brien turned soft. I never much believed in neither of THEM. Now -you mark me. I ask no questions, nor I won't let others. I know when -a game's up, I do; and I know a lad that's staunch. Ah, you that's -young--you and me might have done a power of good together!" - -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - -"Will you taste, messmate?" he asked; and when I had refused: "Well, -I'll take a drain myself, Jim," said he. "I need a caulker, for there's -trouble on hand. And talking o' trouble, why did that doctor give me the -chart, Jim?" - -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of -further questions. - -"Ah, well, he did, though," said he. "And there's something under that, -no doubt--something, surely, under that, Jim--bad or good." - -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head -like a man who looks forward to the worst. - - - - -29 - -The Black Spot Again - -THE council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them -re-entered the house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which -had in my eyes an ironical air, begged for a moment's loan of the torch. -Silver briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, leaving us -together in the dark. - -"There's a breeze coming, Jim," said Silver, who had by this time -adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone. - -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the -great fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and -duskily that I understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About -half-way down the slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; -one held the light, another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw -the blade of an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in -the moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat stooping, as though -watching the manoeuvres of this last. I could just make out that he -had a book as well as a knife in his hand, and was still wondering how -anything so incongruous had come in their possession when the kneeling -figure rose once more to his feet and the whole party began to move -together towards the house. - -"Here they come," said I; and I returned to my former position, for it -seemed beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. - -"Well, let 'em come, lad--let 'em come," said Silver cheerily. "I've -still a shot in my locker." - -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just -inside, pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances -it would have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set -down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him. - -"Step up, lad," cried Silver. "I won't eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I -know the rules, I do; I won't hurt a depytation." - -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having -passed something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly -back again to his companions. - -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - -"The black spot! I thought so," he observed. "Where might you have got -the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and -cut this out of a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" - -"Ah, there!" said Morgan. "There! Wot did I say? No good'll come o' -that, I said." - -"Well, you've about fixed it now, among you," continued Silver. "You'll -all swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?" - -"It was Dick," said one. - -"Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers," said Silver. "He's seen -his slice of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that." - -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - -"Belay that talk, John Silver," he said. "This crew has tipped you the -black spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as -in dooty bound, and see what's wrote there. Then you can talk." - -"Thanky, George," replied the sea-cook. "You always was brisk for -business, and has the rules by heart, George, as I'm pleased to see. -Well, what is it, anyway? Ah! 'Deposed'--that's it, is it? Very pretty -wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o' write, George? Why, -you was gettin' quite a leadin' man in this here crew. You'll be cap'n -next, I shouldn't wonder. Just oblige me with that torch again, will -you? This pipe don't draw." - -"Come, now," said George, "you don't fool this crew no more. You're a -funny man, by your account; but you're over now, and you'll maybe step -down off that barrel and help vote." - -"I thought you said you knowed the rules," returned Silver -contemptuously. "Leastways, if you don't, I do; and I wait here--and I'm -still your cap'n, mind--till you outs with your grievances and I reply; -in the meantime, your black spot ain't worth a biscuit. After that, -we'll see." - -"Oh," replied George, "you don't be under no kind of apprehension; WE'RE -all square, we are. First, you've made a hash of this cruise--you'll be -a bold man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o' this here -trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it's pretty plain -they wanted it. Third, you wouldn't let us go at them upon the march. -Oh, we see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, that's -what's wrong with you. And then, fourth, there's this here boy." - -"Is that all?" asked Silver quietly. - -"Enough, too," retorted George. "We'll all swing and sun-dry for your -bungling." - -"Well now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints; one after another -I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' this cruise, did I? Well now, you all -know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we'd -'a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as ever was, every man of us -alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold -of her, by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the -lawful cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed and began -this dance? Ah, it's a fine dance--I'm with you there--and looks mighty -like a hornpipe in a rope's end at Execution Dock by London town, it -does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and you, George -Merry! And you're the last above board of that same meddling crew; -and you have the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n over -me--you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the -stiffest yarn to nothing." - -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late -comrades that these words had not been said in vain. - -"That's for number one," cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his -brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. -"Why, I give you my word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense -nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you -come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade." - -"Go on, John," said Morgan. "Speak up to the others." - -"Ah, the others!" returned John. "They're a nice lot, ain't they? You -say this cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad -it's bungled, you would see! We're that near the gibbet that my neck's -stiff with thinking on it. You've seen 'em, maybe, hanged in chains, -birds about 'em, seamen p'inting 'em out as they go down with the tide. -'Who's that?' says one. 'That! Why, that's John Silver. I knowed him -well,' says another. And you can hear the chains a-jangle as you go -about and reach for the other buoy. Now, that's about where we are, -every mother's son of us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and -other ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about number four, -and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, isn't he a hostage? Are we a-going -to waste a hostage? No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I -shouldn't wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, -well, there's a deal to say to number three. Maybe you don't count it -nothing to have a real college doctor to see you every day--you, John, -with your head broke--or you, George Merry, that had the ague shakes -upon you not six hours agone, and has your eyes the colour of lemon peel -to this same moment on the clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn't know -there was a consort coming either? But there is, and not so long till -then; and we'll see who'll be glad to have a hostage when it comes to -that. And as for number two, and why I made a bargain--well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it--on your knees you came, you was -that downhearted--and you'd have starved too if I hadn't--but that's a -trifle! You look there--that's why!" - -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly -recognized--none other than the chart on yellow paper, with the three -red crosses, that I had found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the -captain's chest. Why the doctor had given it to him was more than I -could fancy. - -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was -incredible to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats -upon a mouse. It went from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; -and by the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with which they -accompanied their examination, you would have thought, not only they -were fingering the very gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in -safety. - -"Yes," said one, "that's Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, -with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever." - -"Mighty pretty," said George. "But how are we to get away with it, and -us no ship." - -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against -the wall: "Now I give you warning, George," he cried. "One more word -of your sauce, and I'll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I -know? You had ought to tell me that--you and the rest, that lost me my -schooner, with your interference, burn you! But not you, you can't; you -hain't got the invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and -shall, George Merry, you may lay to that." - -"That's fair enow," said the old man Morgan. - -"Fair! I reckon so," said the sea-cook. "You lost the ship; I found the -treasure. Who's the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! -Elect whom you please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it." - -"Silver!" they cried. "Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap'n!" - -"So that's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. "George, I reckon you'll -have to wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I'm not a -revengeful man. But that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this -black spot? 'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck and -spoiled his Bible, and that's about all." - -"It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?" growled Dick, who was -evidently uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. - -"A Bible with a bit cut out!" returned Silver derisively. "Not it. It -don't bind no more'n a ballad-book." - -"Don't it, though?" cried Dick with a sort of joy. "Well, I reckon -that's worth having too." - -"Here, Jim--here's a cur'osity for you," said Silver, and he tossed me -the paper. - -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, -for it had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of -Revelation--these words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon -my mind: "Without are dogs and murderers." The printed side had been -blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my -fingers; on the blank side had been written with the same material the -one word "Depposed." I have that curiosity beside me at this moment, but -not a trace of writing now remains beyond a single scratch, such as a -man might make with his thumb-nail. - -That was the end of the night's business. Soon after, with a drink all -round, we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver's vengeance was -to put George Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he -should prove unfaithful. - -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter -enough for thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own -most perilous position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw -Silver now engaged upon--keeping the mutineers together with one hand -and grasping with the other after every means, possible and impossible, -to make his peace and save his miserable life. He himself slept -peacefully and snored aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he -was, to think on the dark perils that environed and the shameful gibbet -that awaited him. - - - - -30 - -On Parole - -I WAS wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the -sentinel shake himself together from where he had fallen against the -door-post--by a clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the -wood: - -"Block house, ahoy!" it cried. "Here's the doctor." - -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my -gladness was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my -insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought -me--among what companions and surrounded by what dangers--I felt ashamed -to look him in the face. - -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I -ran to a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once -before, up to the mid-leg in creeping vapour. - -"You, doctor! Top o' the morning to you, sir!" cried Silver, broad awake -and beaming with good nature in a moment. "Bright and early, to be sure; -and it's the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. -George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship's -side. All a-doin' well, your patients was--all well and merry." - -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his -elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house--quite the old John in -voice, manner, and expression. - -"We've quite a surprise for you too, sir," he continued. "We've a little -stranger here--he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit -and taut as a fiddle; slep' like a supercargo, he did, right alongside -of John--stem to stem we was, all night." - -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the -cook, and I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, "Not -Jim?" - -"The very same Jim as ever was," says Silver. - -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some -seconds before he seemed able to move on. - -"Well, well," he said at last, "duty first and pleasure afterwards, as -you might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of -yours." - -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim -nod to me proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no -apprehension, though he must have known that his life, among these -treacherous demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his -patients as if he were paying an ordinary professional visit in a quiet -English family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on the men, for they -behaved to him as if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship's -doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. - -"You're doing well, my friend," he said to the fellow with the bandaged -head, "and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head -must be as hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You're a pretty -colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take -that medicine? Did he take that medicine, men?" - -"Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough," returned Morgan. - -"Because, you see, since I am mutineers' doctor, or prison doctor as I -prefer to call it," says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, "I make -it a point of honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) -and the gallows." - -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in -silence. - -"Dick don't feel well, sir," said one. - -"Don't he?" replied the doctor. "Well, step up here, Dick, and let me -see your tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man's tongue -is fit to frighten the French. Another fever." - -"Ah, there," said Morgan, "that comed of sp'iling Bibles." - -"That comes--as you call it--of being arrant asses," retorted the -doctor, "and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, -and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most -probable--though of course it's only an opinion--that you'll all have -the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out of your systems. Camp -in a bog, would you? Silver, I'm surprised at you. You're less of a fool -than many, take you all round; but you don't appear to me to have the -rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. - -"Well," he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken -his prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity -schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates--"well, that's -done for today. And now I should wish to have a talk with that boy, -please." - -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some -bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of the doctor's proposal he -swung round with a deep flush and cried "No!" and swore. - -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - -"Si-lence!" he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. -"Doctor," he went on in his usual tones, "I was a-thinking of that, -knowing as how you had a fancy for the boy. We're all humbly grateful -for your kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes the drugs -down like that much grog. And I take it I've found a way as'll suit all. -Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour as a young gentleman--for -a young gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of honour not -to slip your cable?" - -I readily gave the pledge required. - -"Then, doctor," said Silver, "you just step outside o' that stockade, -and once you're there I'll bring the boy down on the inside, and I -reckon you can yarn through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our -dooties to the squire and Cap'n Smollett." - -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver's black looks had -restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver -was roundly accused of playing double--of trying to make a separate -peace for himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and -victims, and, in one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was -doing. It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could not -imagine how he was to turn their anger. But he was twice the man -the rest were, and his last night's victory had given him a huge -preponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools and dolts -you can imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the doctor, -fluttered the chart in their faces, asked them if they could afford to -break the treaty the very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting. - -"No, by thunder!" he cried. "It's us must break the treaty when the time -comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots -with brandy." - -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, -with his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced -by his volubility rather than convinced. - -"Slow, lad, slow," he said. "They might round upon us in a twinkle of an -eye if we was seen to hurry." - -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the -doctor awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we -were within easy speaking distance Silver stopped. - -"You'll make a note of this here also, doctor," says he, "and the boy'll -tell you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you -may lay to that. Doctor, when a man's steering as near the wind as -me--playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like--you -wouldn't think it too much, mayhap, to give him one good word? You'll -please bear in mind it's not my life only now--it's that boy's into the -bargain; and you'll speak me fair, doctor, and give me a bit o' hope to -go on, for the sake of mercy." - -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his -friends and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his -voice trembled; never was a soul more dead in earnest. - -"Why, John, you're not afraid?" asked Dr. Livesey. - -"Doctor, I'm no coward; no, not I--not SO much!" and he snapped his -fingers. "If I was I wouldn't say it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the -shakes upon me for the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never -seen a better man! And you'll not forget what I done good, not any more -than you'll forget the bad, I know. And I step aside--see here--and -leave you and Jim alone. And you'll put that down for me too, for it's a -long stretch, is that!" - -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and -there sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round -now and again upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me -and the doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and -fro in the sand between the fire--which they were busy rekindling--and -the house, from which they brought forth pork and bread to make the -breakfast. - -"So, Jim," said the doctor sadly, "here you are. As you have brewed, so -shall you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to -blame you, but this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain -Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and -couldn't help it, by George, it was downright cowardly!" - -I will own that I here began to weep. "Doctor," I said, "you might spare -me. I have blamed myself enough; my life's forfeit anyway, and I should -have been dead by now if Silver hadn't stood for me; and doctor, -believe this, I can die--and I dare say I deserve it--but what I fear is -torture. If they come to torture me--" - -"Jim," the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, "Jim, I -can't have this. Whip over, and we'll run for it." - -"Doctor," said I, "I passed my word." - -"I know, I know," he cried. "We can't help that, Jim, now. I'll take it -on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, -I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it -like antelopes." - -"No," I replied; "you know right well you wouldn't do the thing -yourself--neither you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver -trusted me; I passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not -let me finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of -where the ship is, for I got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, -and she lies in North Inlet, on the southern beach, and just below high -water. At half tide she must be high and dry." - -"The ship!" exclaimed the doctor. - -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in -silence. - -"There is a kind of fate in this," he observed when I had done. "Every -step, it's you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance -that we are going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my -boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn--the best deed that -ever you did, or will do, though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and -talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!" he -cried. "Silver! I'll give you a piece of advice," he continued as -the cook drew near again; "don't you be in any great hurry after that -treasure." - -"Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain't," said Silver. "I can -only, asking your pardon, save my life and the boy's by seeking for that -treasure; and you may lay to that." - -"Well, Silver," replied the doctor, "if that is so, I'll go one step -further: look out for squalls when you find it." - -"Sir," said Silver, "as between man and man, that's too much and too -little. What you're after, why you left the block house, why you given -me that there chart, I don't know, now, do I? And yet I done your -bidding with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, this here's -too much. If you won't tell me what you mean plain out, just say so and -I'll leave the helm." - -"No," said the doctor musingly; "I've no right to say more; it's not my -secret, you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I'd tell it you. But -I'll go as far with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I'll have -my wig sorted by the captain or I'm mistaken! And first, I'll give you a -bit of hope; Silver, if we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do -my best to save you, short of perjury." - -Silver's face was radiant. "You couldn't say more, I'm sure, sir, not if -you was my mother," he cried. - -"Well, that's my first concession," added the doctor. "My second is a -piece of advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, -halloo. I'm off to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I -speak at random. Good-bye, Jim." - -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to -Silver, and set off at a brisk pace into the wood. - - - - -31 - -The Treasure-hunt--Flint's Pointer - -"JIM," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved your life, you saved -mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for -it--with the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as -hearing. Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hope I had -since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, Jim, we're to go in -for this here treasure-hunting, with sealed orders too, and I don't like -it; and you and me must stick close, back to back like, and we'll save -our necks in spite o' fate and fortune." - -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and -we were soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried -junk. They had lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so -hot that they could only approach it from the windward, and even there -not without precaution. In the same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, -I suppose, three times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an -empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed and roared -again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life saw men so careless of -the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their way -of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, though they -were bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their -entire unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. - -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not -a word of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, -for I thought he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - -"Aye, mates," said he, "it's lucky you have Barbecue to think for you -with this here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have -the ship. Where they have it, I don't know yet; but once we hit the -treasure, we'll have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us -that has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand." - -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he -restored their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired -his own at the same time. - -"As for hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk, I guess, with -them he loves so dear. I've got my piece o' news, and thanky to him -for that; but it's over and done. I'll take him in a line when we go -treasure-hunting, for we'll keep him like so much gold, in case of -accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we got the ship and -treasure both and off to sea like jolly companions, why then we'll talk -Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we'll give him his share, to be sure, for -all his kindness." - -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I -was horribly cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove -feasible, Silver, already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt -it. He had still a foot in either camp, and there was no doubt he -would prefer wealth and freedom with the pirates to a bare escape from -hanging, which was the best he had to hope on our side. - -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith -with Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment -that would be when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty -and he and I should have to fight for dear life--he a cripple and I a -boy--against five strong and active seamen! - -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the -behaviour of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, -their inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, -the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Look out for squalls when you -find it," and you will readily believe how little taste I found in my -breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors on -the quest for treasure. - -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us--all in soiled -sailor clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns -slung about him--one before and one behind--besides the great cutlass -at his waist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed coat. -To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his -shoulder and gabbling odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a -line about my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook, who -held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hand, now between his -powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a dancing bear. - -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and -shovels--for that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore -from the HISPANIOLA--others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the -midday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I -could see the truth of Silver's words the night before. Had he not -struck a bargain with the doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the -ship, must have been driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds -of their hunting. Water would have been little to their taste; a sailor -is not usually a good shot; and besides all that, when they were so -short of eatables, it was not likely they would be very flush of powder. - -Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellow with the broken -head, who should certainly have kept in shadow--and straggled, one after -another, to the beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore -trace of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, and -both in their muddy and unbailed condition. Both were to be carried -along with us for the sake of safety; and so, with our numbers divided -between them, we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross -was, of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note -on the back, as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the -reader may remember, thus: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - Ten feet. - -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the -anchorage was bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, -adjoining on the north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass -and rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy eminence -called the Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of the plateau was dotted thickly -with pine-trees of varying height. Every here and there, one of a -different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, -and which of these was the particular "tall tree" of Captain Flint could -only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. - -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had -picked a favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone -shrugging his shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. - -We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to weary the hands -prematurely, and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of -the second river--that which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. -Thence, bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope towards the -plateau. - -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation -greatly delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began -to steepen and become stony under foot, and the wood to change its -character and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a most -pleasant portion of the island that we were now approaching. A -heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs had almost taken the place -of grass. Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with -the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the first mingled -their spice with the aroma of the others. The air, besides, was fresh -and stirring, and this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. - -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to -and fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and -I followed--I tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among -the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, -or he must have missed his footing and fallen backward down the hill. - -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the -brow of the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry -aloud, as if in terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others -began to run in his direction. - -"He can't 'a found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurrying past us from -the right, "for that's clean a-top." - -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something -very different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green -creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human -skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a -chill struck for a moment to every heart. - -"He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had -gone up close and was examining the rags of clothing. "Leastways, this -is good sea-cloth." - -"Aye, aye," said Silver; "like enough; you wouldn't look to find a -bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? -'Tain't in natur'." - -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body -was in a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of -the birds that had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had -gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly straight--his -feet pointing in one direction, his hands, raised above his head like a -diver's, pointing directly in the opposite. - -"I've taken a notion into my old numbskull," observed Silver. "Here's -the compass; there's the tip-top p'int o' Skeleton Island, stickin' -out like a tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them -bones." - -It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, -and the compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. - -"I thought so," cried the cook; "this here is a p'inter. Right up there -is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! -If it don't make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of HIS -jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed 'em, -every man; and this one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver -my timbers! They're long bones, and the hair's been yellow. Aye, that -would be Allardyce. You mind Allardyce, Tom Morgan?" - -"Aye, aye," returned Morgan; "I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and -took my knife ashore with him." - -"Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'n lying -round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; and the birds, I -guess, would leave it be." - -"By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver. - -"There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, still feeling round among -the bones; "not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don't look nat'ral to -me." - -"No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; "not nat'ral, nor not nice, says -you. Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot -spot for you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what -they are now." - -"I saw him dead with these here deadlights," said Morgan. "Billy took me -in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes." - -"Dead--aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said the fellow with -the bandage; "but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint's. Dear -heart, but he died bad, did Flint!" - -"Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged, and now he hollered -for the rum, and now he sang. 'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; -and I tell you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was -main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin' out as -clear as clear--and the death-haul on the man already." - -"Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead, and he don't -walk, that I know; leastways, he won't walk by day, and you may lay to -that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons." - -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring -daylight, the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the -wood, but kept side by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of -the dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - - - - -32 - -The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees - -PARTLY from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver -and the sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained -the brow of the ascent. - -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which -we had paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, -over the tree-tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; -behind, we not only looked down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, -but saw--clear across the spit and the eastern lowlands--a great field -of open sea upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spyglass, here dotted -with single pines, there black with precipices. There was no sound but -that of the distant breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of -countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon the sea; the -very largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. - -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - -"There are three 'tall trees'" said he, "about in the right line from -Skeleton Island. 'Spy-glass shoulder,' I take it, means that lower p'int -there. It's child's play to find the stuff now. I've half a mind to dine -first." - -"I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. "Thinkin' o' Flint--I think it -were--as done me." - -"Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead," said Silver. - -"He were an ugly devil," cried a third pirate with a shudder; "that blue -in the face too!" - -"That was how the rum took him," added Merry. "Blue! Well, I reckon he -was blue. That's a true word." - -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of -thought, they had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to -whispering by now, so that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted -the silence of the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees -in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice struck up the well-known -air and words: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The -colour went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their -feet, some clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - -"It's Flint, by ----!" cried Merry. - -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began--broken off, you would have -said, in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon -the singer's mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the -green tree-tops, I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the -effect on my companions was the stranger. - -"Come," said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; -"this won't do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can't -name the voice, but it's someone skylarking--someone that's flesh and -blood, and you may lay to that." - -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his -face along with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this -encouragement and were coming a little to themselves, when the same -voice broke out again--not this time singing, but in a faint distant -hail that echoed yet fainter among the clefts of the Spy-glass. - -"Darby M'Graw," it wailed--for that is the word that best describes the -sound--"Darby M'Graw! Darby M'Graw!" again and again and again; and then -rising a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: "Fetch aft -the rum, Darby!" - -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from -their heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in -silence, dreadfully, before them. - -"That fixes it!" gasped one. "Let's go." - -"They was his last words," moaned Morgan, "his last words above board." - -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought -up, had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. - -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, -but he had not yet surrendered. - -"Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby," he muttered; "not one -but us that's here." And then, making a great effort: "Shipmates," -he cried, "I'm here to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man or -devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I'll -face him dead. There's seven hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a -mile from here. When did ever a gentleman o' fortune show his stern to -that much dollars for a boozy old seaman with a blue mug--and him dead -too?" - -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, -indeed, of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. - -"Belay there, John!" said Merry. "Don't you cross a sperrit." - -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away -severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them -close by John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty -well fought his weakness down. - -"Sperrit? Well, maybe," he said. "But there's one thing not clear to me. -There was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well -then, what's he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That -ain't in natur', surely?" - -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will -affect the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly -relieved. - -"Well, that's so," he said. "You've a head upon your shoulders, John, -and no mistake. 'Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I -do believe. And come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I -grant you, but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker -somebody else's voice now--it was liker--" - -"By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared Silver. - -"Aye, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his knees. "Ben Gunn -it were!" - -"It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asked Dick. "Ben Gunn's not here -in the body any more'n Flint." - -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - -"Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn," cried Merry; "dead or alive, nobody minds -him." - -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural -colour had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, -with intervals of listening; and not long after, hearing no further -sound, they shouldered the tools and set forth again, Merry walking -first with Silver's compass to keep them on the right line with Skeleton -Island. He had said the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with -fearful glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on -his precautions. - -"I told you," said he--"I told you you had sp'iled your Bible. If it -ain't no good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for -it? Not that!" and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his -crutch. - -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that -the lad was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock -of his alarm, the fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing -swiftly higher. - -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little -downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The -pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of -nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, -as we did, pretty near north-west across the island, we drew, on the -one hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the -other, looked ever wider over that western bay where I had once tossed -and trembled in the coracle. - -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the -wrong one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet -into the air above a clump of underwood--a giant of a vegetable, with -a red column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a -company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous far to sea both on -the east and west and might have been entered as a sailing mark upon the -chart. - -But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the -knowledge that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere -buried below its spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they -drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in -their heads; their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul -was bound up in that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and -pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. - -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and -quivered; he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and -shiny countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to -him and from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. -Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read -them like print. In the immediate nearness of the gold, all else had -been forgotten: his promise and the doctor's warning were both things -of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize upon the -treasure, find and board the HISPANIOLA under cover of night, cut -every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at first -intended, laden with crimes and riches. - -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with -the rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it -was then that Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me -his murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought -up the rear, was babbling to himself both prayers and curses as his -fever kept rising. This also added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, -I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted -on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face--he who -died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink--had there, with his -own hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so -peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the -thought I could believe I heard it ringing still. - -We were now at the margin of the thicket. - -"Huzza, mates, all together!" shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into -a run. - -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry -arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch -like one possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead -halt. - -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had -fallen in and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft -of a pick broken in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn -around. On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name -WALRUS--the name of Flint's ship. - -All was clear to probation. The CACHE had been found and rifled; the -seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! - - - - -33 - -The Fall of a Chieftain - -THERE never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men -was as though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost -instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a -racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; -and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the -others had had time to realize the disappointment. - -"Jim," he whispered, "take that, and stand by for trouble." - -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps -had put the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at -me and nodded, as much as to say, "Here is a narrow corner," as, indeed, -I thought it was. His looks were not quite friendly, and I was so -revolted at these constant changes that I could not forbear whispering, -"So you've changed sides again." - -There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths -and cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig -with their fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan -found a piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It -was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand among them for a -quarter of a minute. - -"Two guineas!" roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. "That's your seven -hundred thousand pounds, is it? You're the man for bargains, ain't you? -You're him that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!" - -"Dig away, boys," said Silver with the coolest insolence; "you'll find -some pig-nuts and I shouldn't wonder." - -"Pig-nuts!" repeated Merry, in a scream. "Mates, do you hear that? I -tell you now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him -and you'll see it wrote there." - -"Ah, Merry," remarked Silver, "standing for cap'n again? You're a -pushing lad, to be sure." - -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry's favour. They began to -scramble out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One -thing I observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the -opposite side from Silver. - -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit -between us, and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. -Silver never moved; he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and -looked as cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - -"Mates," says he, "there's two of them alone there; one's the old -cripple that brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the -other's that cub that I mean to have the heart of. Now, mates--" - -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a -charge. But just then--crack! crack! crack!--three musket-shots flashed -out of the thicket. Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the -man with the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his length -upon his side, where he lay dead, but still twitching; and the other -three turned and ran for it with all their might. - -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into -the struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the -last agony, "George," said he, "I reckon I settled you." - -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with -smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - -"Forward!" cried the doctor. "Double quick, my lads. We must head 'em -off the boats." - -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to -the chest. - -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man -went through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were -fit to burst, was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the -doctor. As it was, he was already thirty yards behind us and on the -verge of strangling when we reached the brow of the slope. - -"Doctor," he hailed, "see there! No hurry!" - -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we -could see the three survivors still running in the same direction as -they had started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between -them and the boats; and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, -mopping his face, came slowly up with us. - -"Thank ye kindly, doctor," says he. "You came in in about the nick, I -guess, for me and Hawkins. And so it's you, Ben Gunn!" he added. "Well, -you're a nice one, to be sure." - -"I'm Ben Gunn, I am," replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his -embarrassment. "And," he added, after a long pause, "how do, Mr. Silver? -Pretty well, I thank ye, says you." - -"Ben, Ben," murmured Silver, "to think as you've done me!" - -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their -flight, by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to -where the boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. -It was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the -half-idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end. - -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the -skeleton--it was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he -had dug it up (it was the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the -excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many weary journeys, from -the foot of the tall pine to a cave he had on the two-pointed hill at -the north-east angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in -safety since two months before the arrival of the HISPANIOLA. - -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the -attack, and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone -to Silver, given him the chart, which was now useless--given him the -stores, for Ben Gunn's cave was well supplied with goats' meat salted -by himself--given anything and everything to get a chance of moving in -safety from the stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of -malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - -"As for you, Jim," he said, "it went against my heart, but I did what I -thought best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not -one of these, whose fault was it?" - -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid -disappointment he had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way -to the cave, and leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray -and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across the island to be -at hand beside the pine. Soon, however, he saw that our party had the -start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in -front to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to him to work upon the -superstitions of his former shipmates, and he was so far successful that -Gray and the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before the -arrival of the treasure-hunters. - -"Ah," said Silver, "it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. -You would have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a -thought, doctor." - -"Not a thought," replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, -demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out -to go round by sea for North Inlet. - -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost -killed already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and -we were soon skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out -of the straits and doubled the south-east corner of the island, round -which, four days ago, we had towed the HISPANIOLA. - -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben -Gunn's cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the -squire, and we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which -the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should -we meet but the HISPANIOLA, cruising by herself? The last flood had -lifted her, and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as -in the southern anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found -her stranded beyond help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the -wreck of the main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a -fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, -the nearest point for Ben Gunn's treasure-house; and then Gray, -single-handed, returned with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to -pass the night on guard. - -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the -top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing -of my escapade either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite -salute he somewhat flushed. - -"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain and imposter--a -monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, -then, I will not. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like -mill-stones." - -"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting. - -"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "It is a gross dereliction -of my duty. Stand back." - -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with -a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The -floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far -corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps -of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint's -treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the -lives of seventeen men from the HISPANIOLA. How many it had cost in the -amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, -what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what -shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there -were still three upon that island--Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben -Gunn--who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in -vain to share in the reward. - -"Come in, Jim," said the captain. "You're a good boy in your line, Jim, -but I don't think you and me'll go to sea again. You're too much of the -born favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, -man?" - -"Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver. - -"Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said. - -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and -what a meal it was, with Ben Gunn's salted goat and some delicacies and -a bottle of old wine from the HISPANIOLA. Never, I am sure, were people -gayer or happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the -firelight, but eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything -was wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter--the same bland, -polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - - - - -34 - -And Last - -THE next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this -great mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three -miles by boat to the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small -a number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did -not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was -sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, -besides, they had had more than enough of fighting. - -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and -went with the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure -on the beach. Two of the bars, slung in a rope's end, made a good load -for a grown man--one that he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, -as I was not much use at carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave -packing the minted money into bread-bags. - -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard for the diversity -of coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I -never had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, -Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and -moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the -last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked -like wisps of string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square -pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round -your neck--nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, -have found a place in that collection; and for number, I am sure they -were like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping and my -fingers with sorting them out. - -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been -stowed aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and -all this time we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - -At last--I think it was on the third night--the doctor and I were -strolling on the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of -the isle, when, from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us -a noise between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached -our ears, followed by the former silence. - -"Heaven forgive them," said the doctor; "'tis the mutineers!" - -"All drunk, sir," struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. - -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of -daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged -and friendly dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore -these slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to -ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, none treated him better than -a dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old -quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to thank him for; -although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason to think even worse of -him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery -upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the doctor -answered him. - -"Drunk or raving," said he. - -"Right you were, sir," replied Silver; "and precious little odds which, -to you and me." - -"I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man," returned -the doctor with a sneer, "and so my feelings may surprise you, Master -Silver. But if I were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain -one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should leave this camp, -and at whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my -skill." - -"Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong," quoth Silver. "You -would lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I'm on your side -now, hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, -let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down -there, they couldn't keep their word--no, not supposing they wished to; -and what's more, they couldn't believe as you could." - -"No," said the doctor. "You're the man to keep your word, we know that." - -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only -once we heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. -A council was held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the -island--to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong -approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk -of the salt goat, a few medicines, and some other necessaries, tools, -clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and by the particular -desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - -That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the -treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the -goat meat in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we -weighed anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood out -of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain had flown and -fought under at the palisade. - -The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, -as we soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to -lie very near the southern point, and there we saw all three of -them kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in -supplication. It went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them in that -wretched state; but we could not risk another mutiny; and to take them -home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor -hailed them and told them of the stores we had left, and where they were -to find them. But they continued to call us by name and appeal to us, -for God's sake, to be merciful and not leave them to die in such a -place. - -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly -drawing out of earshot, one of them--I know not which it was--leapt to -his feet with a hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent -a shot whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail. - -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked -out they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost -melted out of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end -of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of -Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round of sea. - -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand--only -the captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for -though greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her -head for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the -voyage home without fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds -and a couple of fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful -land-locked gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full -of Negroes and Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and -vegetables and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of so many -good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), the taste of the tropical -fruits, and above all the lights that began to shine in the town made a -most charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island; -and the doctor and the squire, taking me along with them, went ashore -to pass the early part of the night. Here they met the captain of an -English man-of-war, fell in talk with him, went on board his ship, and, -in short, had so agreeable a time that day was breaking when we came -alongside the HISPANIOLA. - -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, -with wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. -The maroon had connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, -and he now assured us he had only done so to preserve our lives, which -would certainly have been forfeit if "that man with the one leg -had stayed aboard." But this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone -empty-handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and had removed -one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas, -to help him on his further wanderings. - -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a -good cruise home, and the HISPANIOLA reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly -was beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of -those who had sailed returned with her. "Drink and the devil had done -for the rest," with a vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite -in so bad a case as that other ship they sang about: - - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. - -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or -foolishly, according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired -from the sea. Gray not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit -with the desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is now -mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship, married besides, and the -father of a family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he -spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen days, for -he was back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a lodge to keep, -exactly as he had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a great -favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys, and a -notable singer in church on Sundays and saints' days. - -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one -leg has at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old -Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. -It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another -world are very small. - -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where -Flint buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and -wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and -the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about -its coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint -still ringing in my ears: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE ISLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 120.txt or 120.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/120/ - -Produced by Judy Boss, John Hamm and David Widger - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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{display:inline; font-size: 100%; font-style:normal; - margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; - text-align: right;} - .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 25%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} - span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } - pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 100%; margin-left: 10%;} - --> -</style> - </head> - <body> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Treasure Island - -Author: Robert Louis Stevenson - -Illustrator: Louis Rhead - -Release Date: March 13, 1994 [EBook #120] -Last Updated: July 14, 2014 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE ISLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Judy Boss, John Hamm, Arthur DiBianca and David Widger - - - - - -</pre> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <h1> - TREASURE ISLAND - </h1> - <h2> - by Robert Louis Stevenson - </h2> -<h3>Illustrated by Louis Rhead</h3> - -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0010m.jpg" alt="0010m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0010.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0017m.jpg" alt="0017m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0017.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <blockquote> - <p> - <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>TREASURE ISLAND</b></big> </a> - <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_PART1"> <big><b>PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer</b></big> </a><br /><a - href="#link2H_4_0004"> 1. The Old Sea-dog at the "Admiral Benbow" </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> 2. Black Dog Appears and Disappears </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> 3. The Black Spot </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> 4. The Sea-chest </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> 5. The Last of the Blind Man </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> 6. The Captain's Papers </a><br /><br /> - <a href="#link2H_PART2"> <big><b>PART TWO—The Sea-cook</b></big> </a><br /> <a - href="#link2H_4_0011"> 7. I Go to Bristol </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> 8. At the Sign of the Spy-glass </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> 9. Powder and Arms </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> 10. The Voyage </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> 11. What I Heard in the Apple Barrel </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> 12. Council of War </a><br /><br /> - <a href="#link2H_PART3"> <big><b>PART THREE—My Shore Adventure</b></big> </a><br /> <a - href="#link2H_4_0018"> 13. How My Shore Adventure Began </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> 14. The First Blow </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> 15. The Man of the Island </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_PART4"> - <big><b>PART FOUR—The Stockade</b></big> </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> 16. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> 17. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's Last Trip </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> 18. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day's Fighting </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> 19. Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> 20. Silver's Embassy </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> 21. The Attack </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_PART5"> - <big><b>PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure</b></big> </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> 22. How My Sea Adventure Began </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> 23. The Ebb-tide Runs </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> 24. The Cruise of the Coracle </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> 25. I Strike the Jolly Roger </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> 26. Israel Hands </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> 27. "Pieces of Eight" </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_PART6"> - <big><b>PART SIX—Captain Silver</b></big> </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> 28. In the Enemy's Camp </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> 29. The Black Spot Again </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> 30. On Parole </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> 31. The Treasure-hunt—Flint's Pointer </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> 32. The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees </a><br /> - <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> 33. The Fall of a Chieftain </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> 34. And Last </a><br /> - </p> - </blockquote> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0021m.jpg" alt="0021m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0021.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0022m.jpg" alt="0022m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0022.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <h2> - TREASURE ISLAND - </h2> - <blockquote> - <p> - To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste - the following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for - numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his - affectionate friend, the author. - </p> - </blockquote> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - —So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! -</pre> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0028m.jpg" alt="0028m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0028.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> - </p> - <h1> - TREASURE ISLAND - </h1> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> - </p> - <h1> - PART ONE—The Old Buccaneer - </h1> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 1 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0029m.jpg" alt="0029m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0029.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Old Sea-dog at the "Admiral Benbow" - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9029m.jpg" alt="9029m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9029.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - QUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having - asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from - the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the - island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I - take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when my - father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre - cut first took up his lodging under our roof. - </p> - <p> - I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn - door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, - strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder - of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken - nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I - remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did - so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often - afterwards: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" -</pre> - <p> - in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken - at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a - handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for - a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a - connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the - cliffs and up at our signboard. - </p> - <p> - "This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a pleasant sittyated - grog-shop. Much company, mate?" - </p> - <p> - My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity. - </p> - <p> - "Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. Here you, matey," he - cried to the man who trundled the barrow; "bring up alongside and help up - my chest. I'll stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum and - bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships - off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what - you're at—there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on the - threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked through that," says he, - looking as fierce as a commander. - </p> - <p> - And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none - of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like a - mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came - with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at - the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the - coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as - lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And that - was all we could learn of our guest. - </p> - <p> - He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or upon - the cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the - parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would - not speak when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and blow through - his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came about our house - soon learned to let him be. Every day when he came back from his stroll he - would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we - thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him ask this - question, but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When - a seaman did put up at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, - making by the coast road for Bristol) he would look in at him through the - curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be - as silent as a mouse when any such was present. For me, at least, there - was no secret about the matter, for I was, in a way, a sharer in his - alarms. He had taken me aside one day and promised me a silver fourpenny - on the first of every month if I would only keep my "weather-eye open for - a seafaring man with one leg" and let him know the moment he appeared. - Often enough when the first of the month came round and I applied to him - for my wage, he would only blow through his nose at me and stare me down, - but before the week was out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my - four-penny piece, and repeat his orders to look out for "the seafaring man - with one leg." - </p> - <p> - How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy - nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house and the surf - roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand - forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg would be - cut off at the knee, now at the hip; now he was a monstrous kind of a - creature who had never had but the one leg, and that in the middle of his - body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and ditch was the - worst of nightmares. And altogether I paid pretty dear for my monthly - fourpenny piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies. - </p> - <p> - But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one - leg, I was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who - knew him. There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water than - his head would carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his wicked, - old, wild sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for - glasses round and force all the trembling company to listen to his stories - or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have heard the house shaking with - "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum," all the neighbours joining in for dear - life, with the fear of death upon them, and each singing louder than the - other to avoid remark. For in these fits he was the most overriding - companion ever known; he would slap his hand on the table for silence all - round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, or sometimes - because none was put, and so he judged the company was not following his - story. Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had drunk - himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - </p> - <p> - His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories - they were—about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, - and the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By - his own account he must have lived his life among some of the wickedest - men that God ever allowed upon the sea, and the language in which he told - these stories shocked our plain country people almost as much as the - crimes that he described. My father was always saying the inn would be - ruined, for people would soon cease coming there to be tyrannized over and - put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I really believe his - presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on looking - back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet country - life, and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to - admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog" and a "real old salt" and such - like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England - terrible at sea. - </p> - <p> - In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept on staying week - after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been - long exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to insist - on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through his nose - so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared my poor father out of - the room. I have seen him wringing his hands after such a rebuff, and I am - sure the annoyance and the terror he lived in must have greatly hastened - his early and unhappy death. - </p> - <p> - All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his - dress but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his hat - having fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a - great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his coat, which - he patched himself upstairs in his room, and which, before the end, was - nothing but patches. He never wrote or received a letter, and he never - spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, only - when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us had ever seen open. - </p> - <p> - He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor - father was far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came late - one afternoon to see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and - went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse should come down - from the hamlet, for we had no stabling at the old Benbow. I followed him - in, and I remember observing the contrast the neat, bright doctor, with - his powder as white as snow and his bright, black eyes and pleasant - manners, made with the coltish country folk, and above all, with that - filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, far gone in - rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he—the captain, that is—began - to pipe up his eternal song: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" -</pre> - <p> - At first I had supposed "the dead man's chest" to be that identical big - box of his upstairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled in - my nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this time - we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it was - new, that night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did - not produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite - angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on a - new cure for the rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually - brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his hand upon the - table before him in a way we all knew to mean silence. The voices stopped - at once, all but Dr. Livesey's; he went on as before speaking clear and - kind and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or two. The - captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, glared still - harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, "Silence, - there, between decks!" - </p> - <p> - "Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and when the ruffian had - told him, with another oath, that this was so, "I have only one thing to - say to you, sir," replies the doctor, "that if you keep on drinking rum, - the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!" - </p> - <p> - The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened a - sailor's clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, - threatened to pin the doctor to the wall. - </p> - <p> - The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as before, over his - shoulder and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the room - might hear, but perfectly calm and steady: "If you do not put that knife - this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at - the next assizes." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0033m.jpg" alt="0033m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0033.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon - knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a - beaten dog. - </p> - <p> - "And now, sir," continued the doctor, "since I now know there's such a - fellow in my district, you may count I'll have an eye upon you day and - night. I'm not a doctor only; I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of - complaint against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like - tonight's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted down and routed - out of this. Let that suffice." - </p> - <p> - Soon after, Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door and he rode away, but the - captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 2 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0037m.jpg" alt="0037m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0037.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Black Dog Appears and Disappears - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9037m.jpg" alt="9037m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9037.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - T was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the - mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you - will see, of his affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard - frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor - father was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my mother - and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without - paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - </p> - <p> - It was one January morning, very early—a pinching, frosty morning—the - cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, - the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to - seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and set out down the - beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat, - his brass telescope under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I - remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and - the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort - of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - </p> - <p> - Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the breakfast-table - against the captain's return when the parlour door opened and a man - stepped in on whom I had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy - creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and though he wore a - cutlass, he did not look much like a fighter. I had always my eye open for - seafaring men, with one leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled me. He - was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the sea about him too. - </p> - <p> - I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but - as I was going out of the room to fetch it, he sat down upon a table and - motioned me to draw near. I paused where I was, with my napkin in my hand. - </p> - <p> - "Come here, sonny," says he. "Come nearer here." - </p> - <p> - I took a step nearer. - </p> - <p> - "Is this here table for my mate Bill?" he asked with a kind of leer. - </p> - <p> - I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for a person who - stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Well," said he, "my mate Bill would be called the captain, as like as - not. He has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him, - particularly in drink, has my mate Bill. We'll put it, for argument like, - that your captain has a cut on one cheek—and we'll put it, if you - like, that that cheek's the right one. Ah, well! I told you. Now, is my - mate Bill in this here house?" - </p> - <p> - I told him he was out walking. - </p> - <p> - "Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?" - </p> - <p> - And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how the captain was - likely to return, and how soon, and answered a few other questions, "Ah," - said he, "this'll be as good as drink to my mate Bill." - </p> - <p> - The expression of his face as he said these words was not at all pleasant, - and I had my own reasons for thinking that the stranger was mistaken, even - supposing he meant what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I thought; - and besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The stranger kept - hanging about just inside the inn door, peering round the corner like a - cat waiting for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into the road, but he - immediately called me back, and as I did not obey quick enough for his - fancy, a most horrible change came over his tallowy face, and he ordered - me in with an oath that made me jump. As soon as I was back again he - returned to his former manner, half fawning, half sneering, patted me on - the shoulder, told me I was a good boy and he had taken quite a fancy to - me. "I have a son of my own," said he, "as like you as two blocks, and - he's all the pride of my 'art. But the great thing for boys is discipline, - sonny—discipline. Now, if you had sailed along of Bill, you wouldn't - have stood there to be spoke to twice—not you. That was never Bill's - way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. And here, sure enough, is my - mate Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, bless his old 'art, to be sure. - You and me'll just go back into the parlour, sonny, and get behind the - door, and we'll give Bill a little surprise—bless his 'art, I say - again." - </p> - <p> - So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the parlour and put me - behind him in the corner so that we were both hidden by the open door. I - was very uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to my - fears to observe that the stranger was certainly frightened himself. He - cleared the hilt of his cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; and - all the time we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt what - we used to call a lump in the throat. - </p> - <p> - At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, without - looking to the right or left, and marched straight across the room to - where his breakfast awaited him. - </p> - <p> - "Bill," said the stranger in a voice that I thought he had tried to make - bold and big. - </p> - <p> - The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all the brown had gone - out of his face, and even his nose was blue; he had the look of a man who - sees a ghost, or the evil one, or something worse, if anything can be; and - upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a moment turn so old and - sick. - </p> - <p> - "Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, Bill, surely," said - the stranger. - </p> - <p> - The captain made a sort of gasp. - </p> - <p> - "Black Dog!" said he. - </p> - <p> - "And who else?" returned the other, getting more at his ease. "Black Dog - as ever was, come for to see his old shipmate Billy, at the Admiral Benbow - inn. Ah, Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I lost - them two talons," holding up his mutilated hand. - </p> - <p> - "Now, look here," said the captain; "you've run me down; here I am; well, - then, speak up; what is it?" - </p> - <p> - "That's you, Bill," returned Black Dog, "you're in the right of it, Billy. - I'll have a glass of rum from this dear child here, as I've took such a - liking to; and we'll sit down, if you please, and talk square, like old - shipmates." - </p> - <p> - When I returned with the rum, they were already seated on either side of - the captain's breakfast-table—Black Dog next to the door and sitting - sideways so as to have one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I thought, - on his retreat. - </p> - <p> - He bade me go and leave the door wide open. "None of your keyholes for me, - sonny," he said; and I left them together and retired into the bar. - </p> - <p> - For a long time, though I certainly did my best to listen, I could hear - nothing but a low gattling; but at last the voices began to grow higher, - and I could pick up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - </p> - <p> - "No, no, no, no; and an end of it!" he cried once. And again, "If it comes - to swinging, swing all, say I." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0041m.jpg" alt="0041m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0041.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and other - noises—the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel - followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in - full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, - and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just at the door - the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous cut, which would - certainly have split him to the chine had it not been intercepted by our - big signboard of Admiral Benbow. You may see the notch on the lower side - of the frame to this day. - </p> - <p> - That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon the road, Black Dog, - in spite of his wound, showed a wonderful clean pair of heels and - disappeared over the edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for - his part, stood staring at the signboard like a bewildered man. Then he - passed his hand over his eyes several times and at last turned back into - the house. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," says he, "rum"; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, and caught - himself with one hand against the wall. - </p> - <p> - "Are you hurt?" cried I. - </p> - <p> - "Rum," he repeated. "I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!" - </p> - <p> - I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen out, - and I broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still getting in - my own way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld the - captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same instant my mother, - alarmed by the cries and fighting, came running downstairs to help me. - Between us we raised his head. He was breathing very loud and hard, but - his eyes were closed and his face a horrible colour. - </p> - <p> - "Dear, deary me," cried my mother, "what a disgrace upon the house! And - your poor father sick!" - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the captain, nor any - other thought but that he had got his death-hurt in the scuffle with the - stranger. I got the rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat, - but his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. It was a - happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor Livesey came in, on - his visit to my father. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, doctor," we cried, "what shall we do? Where is he wounded?" - </p> - <p> - "Wounded? A fiddle-stick's end!" said the doctor. "No more wounded than - you or I. The man has had a stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, - just you run upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, nothing - about it. For my part, I must do my best to save this fellow's trebly - worthless life; Jim, you get me a basin." - </p> - <p> - When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already ripped up the - captain's sleeve and exposed his great sinewy arm. It was tattooed in - several places. "Here's luck," "A fair wind," and "Billy Bones his fancy," - were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm; and up near the - shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows and a man hanging from it—done, - as I thought, with great spirit. - </p> - <p> - "Prophetic," said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. "And - now, Master Billy Bones, if that be your name, we'll have a look at the - colour of your blood. Jim," he said, "are you afraid of blood?" - </p> - <p> - "No, sir," said I. - </p> - <p> - "Well, then," said he, "you hold the basin"; and with that he took his - lancet and opened a vein. - </p> - <p> - A great deal of blood was taken before the captain opened his eyes and - looked mistily about him. First he recognized the doctor with an - unmistakable frown; then his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. - But suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise himself, crying, - "Where's Black Dog?" - </p> - <p> - "There is no Black Dog here," said the doctor, "except what you have on - your own back. You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, - precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, - dragged you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones—" - </p> - <p> - "That's not my name," he interrupted. - </p> - <p> - "Much I care," returned the doctor. "It's the name of a buccaneer of my - acquaintance; and I call you by it for the sake of shortness, and what I - have to say to you is this; one glass of rum won't kill you, but if you - take one you'll take another and another, and I stake my wig if you don't - break off short, you'll die—do you understand that?—die, and - go to your own place, like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an - effort. I'll help you to your bed for once." - </p> - <p> - Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid - him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he were - almost fainting. - </p> - <p> - "Now, mind you," said the doctor, "I clear my conscience—the name of - rum for you is death." - </p> - <p> - And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the arm. - </p> - <p> - "This is nothing," he said as soon as he had closed the door. "I have - drawn blood enough to keep him quiet awhile; he should lie for a week - where he is—that is the best thing for him and you; but another - stroke would settle him." - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 3 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0046m.jpg" alt="0046m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0046.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Black Spot - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9046m.jpg" alt="9046m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9046.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - BOUT noon I stopped at the captain's door with some cooling drinks and - medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little - higher, and he seemed both weak and excited. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," he said, "you're the only one here that's worth anything, and you - know I've been always good to you. Never a month but I've given you a - silver fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I'm pretty low, and - deserted by all; and Jim, you'll bring me one noggin of rum, now, won't - you, matey?" - </p> - <p> - "The doctor—" I began. - </p> - <p> - But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. - "Doctors is all swabs," he said; "and that doctor there, why, what do he - know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates - dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the - sea with earthquakes—what to the doctor know of lands like that?—and - I lived on rum, I tell you. It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, to - me; and if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a lee shore, - my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab"; and he ran on again for - a while with curses. "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges," he continued in - the pleading tone. "I can't keep 'em still, not I. I haven't had a drop - this blessed day. That doctor's a fool, I tell you. If I don't have a - drain o' rum, Jim, I'll have the horrors; I seen some on 'em already. I - seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I seen - him; and if I get the horrors, I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll - raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn't hurt me. I'll give - you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim." - </p> - <p> - He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, - who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by - the doctor's words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of - a bribe. - </p> - <p> - "I want none of your money," said I, "but what you owe my father. I'll get - you one glass, and no more." - </p> - <p> - When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye," said he, "that's some better, sure enough. And now, matey, did - that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?" - </p> - <p> - "A week at least," said I. - </p> - <p> - "Thunder!" he cried. "A week! I can't do that; they'd have the black spot - on me by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me this - blessed moment; lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to nail - what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? But - I'm a saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; - and I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll shake out another - reef, matey, and daddle 'em again." - </p> - <p> - As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, - holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and moving - his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were in - meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in which they - were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting position on the - edge. - </p> - <p> - "That doctor's done me," he murmured. "My ears is singing. Lay me back." - </p> - <p> - Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his former - place, where he lay for a while silent. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," he said at length, "you saw that seafaring man today?" - </p> - <p> - "Black Dog?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Ah! Black Dog," says he. "<i>He's</i> a bad un; but there's worse that put him - on. Now, if I can't get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind - you, it's my old sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse—you - can, can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to—well, yes, - I will!—to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates - and sich—and he'll lay 'em aboard at the Admiral Benbow—all - old Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I was first mate, I - was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows the place. He - gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, you - see. But you won't peach unless they get the black spot on me, or unless - you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man with one leg, Jim—him - above all." - </p> - <p> - "But what is the black spot, captain?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "That's a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get that. But you keep your - weather-eye open, Jim, and I'll share with you equals, upon my honour." - </p> - <p> - He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I - had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, - "If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it's me," he fell at last into a heavy, - swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all - gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to - the doctor, for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his - confessions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my poor father - died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters on one side. - Our natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the arranging of the - funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on in the meanwhile - kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of the captain, far less - to be afraid of him. - </p> - <p> - He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, - though he ate little and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of - rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through - his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral - he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, - to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, we - were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken - up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after my - father's death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he seemed - rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up and down - stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes - put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to the walls as he - went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man on a steep - mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had - as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and - allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an - alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it - bare before him on the table. But with all that, he minded people less and - seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for - instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a different air, a kind of - country love-song that he must have learned in his youth before he had - begun to follow the sea. - </p> - <p> - So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three o'clock - of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a - moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing - slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him - with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he - was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered - sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively deformed. I never - saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. He stopped a little from - the inn, and raising his voice in an odd sing-song, addressed the air in - front of him, "Will any kind friend inform a poor blind man, who has lost - the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native - country, England—and God bless King George!—where or in what - part of this country he may now be?" - </p> - <p> - "You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my good man," said I. - </p> - <p> - "I hear a voice," said he, "a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my - kind young friend, and lead me in?" - </p> - <p> - I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature - gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I - struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a - single action of his arm. - </p> - <p> - "Now, boy," he said, "take me in to the captain." - </p> - <p> - "Sir," said I, "upon my word I dare not." - </p> - <p> - "Oh," he sneered, "that's it! Take me in straight or I'll break your arm." - </p> - <p> - And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - </p> - <p> - "Sir," said I, "it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he used - to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman—" - </p> - <p> - "Come, now, march," interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, - and cold, and ugly as that blind man's. It cowed me more than the pain, - and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and - towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed with - rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist and - leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. "Lead me - straight up to him, and when I'm in view, cry out, 'Here's a friend for - you, Bill.' If you don't, I'll do this," and with that he gave me a twitch - that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I was so - utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of the - captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he had - ordered in a trembling voice. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0051m.jpg" alt="0051m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0051.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of him - and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so much of - terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do not - believe he had enough force left in his body. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Bill, sit where you are," said the beggar. "If I can't see, I can - hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. - Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right." - </p> - <p> - We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the - hollow of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain's, - which closed upon it instantly. - </p> - <p> - "And now that's done," said the blind man; and at the words he suddenly - left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, skipped out - of the parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood motionless, I - could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - </p> - <p> - It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our - senses, but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his wrist, - which I was still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply into - the palm. - </p> - <p> - "Ten o'clock!" he cried. "Six hours. We'll do them yet," and he sprang to - his feet. - </p> - <p> - Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying - for a moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole height - face foremost to the floor. - </p> - <p> - I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. The - captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing - to understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of late I - had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I burst into - a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of - the first was still fresh in my heart. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 4 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0054m.jpg" alt="0054m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0054.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Sea-chest - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9054m.jpg" alt="9054m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9054.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - LOST no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and - perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once in - a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man's money—if he - had any—was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our - captain's shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black Dog and - the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in payment of - the dead man's debts. The captain's order to mount at once and ride for - Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone and unprotected, which was - not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for either of us to - remain much longer in the house; the fall of coals in the kitchen grate, - the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms. The neighbourhood, - to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what between the - dead body of the captain on the parlour floor and the thought of that - detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there - were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. - Something must speedily be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to - go forth together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said - than done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering - evening and the frosty fog. - </p> - <p> - The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the - other side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was in an - opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance - and whither he had presumably returned. We were not many minutes on the - road, though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken. - But there was no unusual sound—nothing but the low wash of the - ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - </p> - <p> - It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall never - forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and - windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely - to get in that quarter. For—you would have thought men would have - been ashamed of themselves—no soul would consent to return with us - to the Admiral Benbow. The more we told of our troubles, the more—man, - woman, and child—they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name - of Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well enough known to - some there and carried a great weight of terror. Some of the men who had - been to field-work on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, - besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and taking them to be - smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a little lugger - in what we called Kitt's Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a comrade - of the captain's was enough to frighten them to death. And the short and - the long of the matter was, that while we could get several who were - willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey's, which lay in another direction, - not one would help us to defend the inn. - </p> - <p> - They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, - a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother made them - a speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to her - fatherless boy; "If none of the rest of you dare," she said, "Jim and I - dare. Back we will go, the way we came, and small thanks to you big, - hulking, chicken-hearted men. We'll have that chest open, if we die for - it. And I'll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, to bring back our - lawful money in." - </p> - <p> - Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course they all cried - out at our foolhardiness, but even then not a man would go along with us. - All they would do was to give me a loaded pistol lest we were attacked, - and to promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were pursued on our - return, while one lad was to ride forward to the doctor's in search of - armed assistance. - </p> - <p> - My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon - this dangerous venture. A full moon was beginning to rise and peered redly - through the upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, for it - was plain, before we came forth again, that all would be as bright as day, - and our departure exposed to the eyes of any watchers. We slipped along - the hedges, noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to - increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of the Admiral Benbow - had closed behind us. - </p> - <p> - I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for a moment in the - dark, alone in the house with the dead captain's body. Then my mother got - a candle in the bar, and holding each other's hands, we advanced into the - parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, with his eyes open and - one arm stretched out. - </p> - <p> - "Draw down the blind, Jim," whispered my mother; "they might come and - watch outside. And now," said she when I had done so, "we have to get the - key off <i>that</i>; and who's to touch it, I should like to know!" and she gave - a kind of sob as she said the words. - </p> - <p> - I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there was - a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not doubt that - this was the <i>black spot</i>; and taking it up, I found written on the other - side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: "You have till ten - tonight." - </p> - <p> - "He had till ten, Mother," said I; and just as I said it, our old clock - began striking. This sudden noise startled us shockingly; but the news was - good, for it was only six. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Jim," she said, "that key." - </p> - <p> - I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, a thimble, - and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away at - the end, his gully with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder - box were all that they contained, and I began to despair. - </p> - <p> - "Perhaps it's round his neck," suggested my mother. - </p> - <p> - Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt at the neck, and - there, sure enough, hanging to a bit of tarry string, which I cut with his - own gully, we found the key. At this triumph we were filled with hope and - hurried upstairs without delay to the little room where he had slept so - long and where his box had stood since the day of his arrival. - </p> - <p> - It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside, the initial "B" - burned on the top of it with a hot iron, and the corners somewhat smashed - and broken as by long, rough usage. - </p> - <p> - "Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she - had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling. - </p> - <p> - A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior, but nothing was - to be seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully - brushed and folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under that, - the miscellany began—a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of - tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old - Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of - foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six - curious West Indian shells. I have often wondered since why he should have - carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and hunted - life. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and the - trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there was an - old boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My mother - pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last things in - the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a - canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold. - </p> - <p> - "I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman," said my mother. "I'll - have my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley's bag." And she - began to count over the amount of the captain's score from the sailor's - bag into the one that I was holding. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0059m.jpg" alt="0059m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0059.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries and - sizes—doubloons, and louis d'ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, - and I know not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, - too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother - knew how to make her count. - </p> - <p> - When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her arm, - for I had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my heart - into my mouth—the tap-tapping of the blind man's stick upon the - frozen road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. - Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then we could hear the handle - being turned and the bolt rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; - and then there was a long time of silence both within and without. At last - the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable joy and gratitude, died - slowly away again until it ceased to be heard. - </p> - <p> - "Mother," said I, "take the whole and let's be going," for I was sure the - bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole hornet's - nest about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had bolted it, none - could tell who had never met that terrible blind man. - </p> - <p> - But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction - more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be content with - less. It was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her rights - and she would have them; and she was still arguing with me when a little - low whistle sounded a good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and - more than enough, for both of us. - </p> - <p> - "I'll take what I have," she said, jumping to her feet. - </p> - <p> - "And I'll take this to square the count," said I, picking up the oilskin - packet. - </p> - <p> - Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by the - empty chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full retreat. - We had not started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly dispersing; - already the moon shone quite clear on the high ground on either side; and - it was only in the exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that - a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the first steps of our escape. - Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the - hill, we must come forth into the moonlight. Nor was this all, for the - sound of several footsteps running came already to our ears, and as we - looked back in their direction, a light tossing to and fro and still - rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern. - </p> - <p> - "My dear," said my mother suddenly, "take the money and run on. I am going - to faint." - </p> - <p> - This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the - cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty - and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were - just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering as - she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and - fell on my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to do it at - all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but I managed to drag her down - the bank and a little way under the arch. Farther I could not move her, - for the bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. So there - we had to stay—my mother almost entirely exposed and both of us - within earshot of the inn. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 5 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0062m.jpg" alt="0062m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0062.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Last of the Blind Man - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9062m.jpg" alt="9062m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9062.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - Y curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not - remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering - my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our door. - I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven or eight - of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along the road and - the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran together, hand - in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the middle man of - this trio was the blind beggar. The next moment his voice showed me that I - was right. - </p> - <p> - "Down with the door!" he cried. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the - Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see them - pause, and hear speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were surprised - to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the blind man again - issued his commands. His voice sounded louder and higher, as if he were - afire with eagerness and rage. - </p> - <p> - "In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - </p> - <p> - Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the - formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a - voice shouting from the house, "Bill's dead." - </p> - <p> - But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - </p> - <p> - "Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and - get the chest," he cried. - </p> - <p> - I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the house must - have shook with it. Promptly afterwards, fresh sounds of astonishment - arose; the window of the captain's room was thrown open with a slam and a - jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out into the moonlight, head and - shoulders, and addressed the blind beggar on the road below him. - </p> - <p> - "Pew," he cried, "they've been before us. Someone's turned the chest out - alow and aloft." - </p> - <p> - "Is it there?" roared Pew. - </p> - <p> - "The money's there." - </p> - <p> - The blind man cursed the money. - </p> - <p> - "Flint's fist, I mean," he cried. - </p> - <p> - "We don't see it here nohow," returned the man. - </p> - <p> - "Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind man again. - </p> - <p> - At that another fellow, probably him who had remained below to search the - captain's body, came to the door of the inn. "Bill's been overhauled - a'ready," said he; "nothin' left." - </p> - <p> - "It's these people of the inn—it's that boy. I wish I had put his - eyes out!" cried the blind man, Pew. "There were no time ago—they - had the door bolted when I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em." - </p> - <p> - "Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the fellow from the window. - </p> - <p> - "Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated Pew, striking with - his stick upon the road. - </p> - <p> - Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet - pounding to and fro, furniture thrown over, doors kicked in, until the - very rocks re-echoed and the men came out again, one after another, on the - road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just the same - whistle that had alarmed my mother and myself over the dead captain's - money was once more clearly audible through the night, but this time twice - repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's trumpet, so to speak, - summoning his crew to the assault, but I now found that it was a signal - from the hillside towards the hamlet, and from its effect upon the - buccaneers, a signal to warn them of approaching danger. - </p> - <p> - "There's Dirk again," said one. "Twice! We'll have to budge, mates." - </p> - <p> - "Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. "Dirk was a fool and a coward from the - first—you wouldn't mind him. They must be close by; they can't be - far; you have your hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, - shiver my soul," he cried, "if I had eyes!" - </p> - <p> - This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began to - look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and - with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest stood - irresolute on the road. - </p> - <p> - "You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You'd be - as rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it's here, and you - stand there skulking. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill, and I did - it—a blind man! And I'm to lose my chance for you! I'm to be a poor, - crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach! If - you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit you would catch them still." - </p> - <p> - "Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloons!" grumbled one. - </p> - <p> - "They might have hid the blessed thing," said another. "Take the Georges, - Pew, and don't stand here squalling." - </p> - <p> - Squalling was the word for it; Pew's anger rose so high at these - objections till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand, he - struck at them right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded - heavily on more than one. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0065m.jpg" alt="0065m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0065.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him - in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from - his grasp. - </p> - <p> - This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was still raging, another - sound came from the top of the hill on the side of the hamlet—the - tramp of horses galloping. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, flash - and report, came from the hedge side. And that was plainly the last signal - of danger, for the buccaneers turned at once and ran, separating in every - direction, one seaward along the cove, one slant across the hill, and so - on, so that in half a minute not a sign of them remained but Pew. Him they - had deserted, whether in sheer panic or out of revenge for his ill words - and blows I know not; but there he remained behind, tapping up and down - the road in a frenzy, and groping and calling for his comrades. Finally he - took a wrong turn and ran a few steps past me, towards the hamlet, crying, - "Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," and other names, "you won't leave old Pew, - mates—not old Pew!" - </p> - <p> - Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders - came in sight in the moonlight and swept at full gallop down the slope. - </p> - <p> - At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for the - ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a second and - made another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest of the - coming horses. - </p> - <p> - The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that - rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him and - passed by. He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face and - moved no more. - </p> - <p> - I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any - rate, horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were. One, - tailing out behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to - Dr. Livesey's; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the way, - and with whom he had had the intelligence to return at once. Some news of - the lugger in Kitt's Hole had found its way to Supervisor Dance and set - him forth that night in our direction, and to that circumstance my mother - and I owed our preservation from death. - </p> - <p> - Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up to - the hamlet, a little cold water and salts and that soon brought her back - again, and she was none the worse for her terror, though she still - continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the meantime the - supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt's Hole; but his men had - to dismount and grope down the dingle, leading, and sometimes supporting, - their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it was no great matter - for surprise that when they got down to the Hole the lugger was already - under way, though still close in. He hailed her. A voice replied, telling - him to keep out of the moonlight or he would get some lead in him, and at - the same time a bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon after, the lugger - doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance stood there, as he said, - "like a fish out of water," and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B—— - to warn the cutter. "And that," said he, "is just about as good as - nothing. They've got off clean, and there's an end. Only," he added, "I'm - glad I trod on Master Pew's corns," for by this time he had heard my - story. - </p> - <p> - I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a house - in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down by these - fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and though - nothing had actually been taken away except the captain's money-bag and a - little silver from the till, I could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. - Dance could make nothing of the scene. - </p> - <p> - "They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were - they after? More money, I suppose?" - </p> - <p> - "No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. "In fact, sir, I believe I have - the thing in my breast pocket; and to tell you the truth, I should like to - get it put in safety." - </p> - <p> - "To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. "I'll take it, if you like." - </p> - <p> - "I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey—" I began. - </p> - <p> - "Perfectly right," he interrupted very cheerily, "perfectly right—a - gentleman and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as - well ride round there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's - dead, when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's dead, you see, and - people will make it out against an officer of his Majesty's revenue, if - make it out they can. Now, I'll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I'll take - you along." - </p> - <p> - I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet - where the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they - were all in the saddle. - </p> - <p> - "Dogger," said Mr. Dance, "you have a good horse; take up this lad behind - you." - </p> - <p> - As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt, the supervisor gave - the word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. - Livesey's house. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 6 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0070m.jpg" alt="0070m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0070.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Captain's Papers - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9070m.jpg" alt="9070m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9070.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - E rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey's door. The - house was all dark to the front. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup to - descend by. The door was opened almost at once by the maid. - </p> - <p> - "Is Dr. Livesey in?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone up to the - hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - </p> - <p> - "So there we go, boys," said Mr. Dance. - </p> - <p> - This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, but ran with - Dogger's stirrup-leather to the lodge gates and up the long, leafless, - moonlit avenue to where the white line of the hall buildings looked on - either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and taking me - along with him, was admitted at a word into the house. - </p> - <p> - The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a - great library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, - where the squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a - bright fire. - </p> - <p> - I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a tall man, over six - feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready - face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His - eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of - some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high. - </p> - <p> - "Come in, Mr. Dance," says he, very stately and condescending. - </p> - <p> - "Good evening, Dance," says the doctor with a nod. "And good evening to - you, friend Jim. What good wind brings you here?" - </p> - <p> - The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his story like a - lesson; and you should have seen how the two gentlemen leaned forward and - looked at each other, and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. - When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. Livesey fairly - slapped his thigh, and the squire cried "Bravo!" and broke his long pipe - against the grate. Long before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will - remember, was the squire's name) had got up from his seat and was striding - about the room, and the doctor, as if to hear the better, had taken off - his powdered wig and sat there looking very strange indeed with his own - close-cropped black poll. - </p> - <p> - At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Dance," said the squire, "you are a very noble fellow. And as for - riding down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of - virtue, sir, like stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, I - perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. Dance must have some ale." - </p> - <p> - "And so, Jim," said the doctor, "you have the thing that they were after, - have you?" - </p> - <p> - "Here it is, sir," said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - </p> - <p> - The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were itching to open it; - but instead of doing that, he put it quietly in the pocket of his coat. - </p> - <p> - "Squire," said he, "when Dance has had his ale he must, of course, be off - on his Majesty's service; but I mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at - my house, and with your permission, I propose we should have up the cold - pie and let him sup." - </p> - <p> - "As you will, Livesey," said the squire; "Hawkins has earned better than - cold pie." - </p> - <p> - So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a sidetable, and I made a - hearty supper, for I was as hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further - complimented and at last dismissed. - </p> - <p> - "And now, squire," said the doctor. - </p> - <p> - "And now, Livesey," said the squire in the same breath. - </p> - <p> - "One at a time, one at a time," laughed Dr. Livesey. "You have heard of - this Flint, I suppose?" - </p> - <p> - "Heard of him!" cried the squire. "Heard of him, you say! He was the - bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. - The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I - was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his top-sails with - these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I - sailed with put back—put back, sir, into Port of Spain." - </p> - <p> - "Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said the doctor. "But the - point is, had he money?" - </p> - <p> - "Money!" cried the squire. "Have you heard the story? What were these - villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would - they risk their rascal carcasses but money?" - </p> - <p> - "That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. "But you are so - confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. What - I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue - to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount to much?" - </p> - <p> - "Amount, sir!" cried the squire. "It will amount to this: If we have the - clue you talk about, I fit out a ship in Bristol dock, and take you and - Hawkins here along, and I'll have that treasure if I search a year." - </p> - <p> - "Very well," said the doctor. "Now, then, if Jim is agreeable, we'll open - the packet"; and he laid it before him on the table. - </p> - <p> - The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his instrument - case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors. It contained two - things—a book and a sealed paper. - </p> - <p> - "First of all we'll try the book," observed the doctor. - </p> - <p> - The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as he opened it, for - Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to come round from the side-table, - where I had been eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first - page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a man with a pen in - his hand might make for idleness or practice. One was the same as the - tattoo mark, "Billy Bones his fancy"; then there was "Mr. W. Bones, mate," - "No more rum," "Off Palm Key he got itt," and some other snatches, mostly - single words and unintelligible. I could not help wondering who it was - that had "got itt," and what "itt" was that he got. A knife in his back as - like as not. - </p> - <p> - "Not much instruction there," said Dr. Livesey as he passed on. - </p> - <p> - The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious series of entries. - There was a date at one end of the line and at the other a sum of money, - as in common account-books, but instead of explanatory writing, only a - varying number of crosses between the two. On the 12th of June, 1745, for - instance, a sum of seventy pounds had plainly become due to someone, and - there was nothing but six crosses to explain the cause. In a few cases, to - be sure, the name of a place would be added, as "Offe Caraccas," or a mere - entry of latitude and longitude, as "62o 17' 20", 19o 2' 40"." - </p> - <p> - The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount of the separate - entries growing larger as time went on, and at the end a grand total had - been made out after five or six wrong additions, and these words appended, - "Bones, his pile." - </p> - <p> - "I can't make head or tail of this," said Dr. Livesey. - </p> - <p> - "The thing is as clear as noonday," cried the squire. "This is the - black-hearted hound's account-book. These crosses stand for the names of - ships or towns that they sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel's - share, and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something - clearer. 'Offe Caraccas,' now; you see, here was some unhappy vessel - boarded off that coast. God help the poor souls that manned her—coral - long ago." - </p> - <p> - "Right!" said the doctor. "See what it is to be a traveller. Right! And - the amounts increase, you see, as he rose in rank." - </p> - <p> - There was little else in the volume but a few bearings of places noted in - the blank leaves towards the end and a table for reducing French, English, - and Spanish moneys to a common value. - </p> - <p> - "Thrifty man!" cried the doctor. "He wasn't the one to be cheated." - </p> - <p> - "And now," said the squire, "for the other." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0075m.jpg" alt="0075m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0075.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of seal; - the very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain's pocket. The - doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an - island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills and bays - and inlets, and every particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a - safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine miles long and five - across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two - fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked "The - Spy-glass." There were several additions of a later date, but above all, - three crosses of red ink—two on the north part of the island, one in - the southwest—and beside this last, in the same red ink, and in a - small, neat hand, very different from the captain's tottery characters, - these words: "Bulk of treasure here." - </p> - <p> - Over on the back the same hand had written this further information: - </p> -<blockquote> - <p> - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - </p> - <p> - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - </p> - <p> - Ten feet. - </p> - <p> - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - </p> - <p> - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - </p> - <p> - J.F. - </p> -</blockquote> - <p> - That was all; but brief as it was, and to me incomprehensible, it filled - the squire and Dr. Livesey with delight. - </p> - <p> - "Livesey," said the squire, "you will give up this wretched practice at - once. Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks' time—three - weeks!—two weeks—ten days—we'll have the best ship, sir, - and the choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You'll - make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are ship's doctor; I am - admiral. We'll take Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We'll have favourable - winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in finding the spot, - and money to eat, to roll in, to play duck and drake with ever after." - </p> - <p> - "Trelawney," said the doctor, "I'll go with you; and I'll go bail for it, - so will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking. There's only one man I'm - afraid of." - </p> - <p> - "And who's that?" cried the squire. "Name the dog, sir!" - </p> - <p> - "You," replied the doctor; "for you cannot hold your tongue. We are not - the only men who know of this paper. These fellows who attacked the inn - tonight—bold, desperate blades, for sure—and the rest who - stayed aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not far off, are, one and - all, through thick and thin, bound that they'll get that money. We must - none of us go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in - the meanwhile; you'll take Joyce and Hunter when you ride to Bristol, and - from first to last, not one of us must breathe a word of what we've - found." - </p> - <p> - "Livesey," returned the squire, "you are always in the right of it. I'll - be as silent as the grave." - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0081m.jpg" alt="0081m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0081.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - PART TWO—The Sea-cook - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 7 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0083m.jpg" alt="0083m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0083.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - I Go to Bristol - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9083m.jpg" alt="9083m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9083.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - T was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, and - none of our first plans—not even Dr. Livesey's, of keeping me beside - him—could be carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to - London for a physician to take charge of his practice; the squire was hard - at work at Bristol; and I lived on at the hall under the charge of old - Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams and the - most charming anticipations of strange islands and adventures. I brooded - by the hour together over the map, all the details of which I well - remembered. Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper's room, I approached - that island in my fancy from every possible direction; I explored every - acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand times to that tall hill they - call the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most wonderful and - changing prospects. Sometimes the isle was thick with savages, with whom - we fought, sometimes full of dangerous animals that hunted us, but in all - my fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and tragic as our actual - adventures. - </p> - <p> - So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a letter addressed to - Dr. Livesey, with this addition, "To be opened, in the case of his - absence, by Tom Redruth or young Hawkins." Obeying this order, we found, - or rather I found—for the gamekeeper was a poor hand at reading - anything but print—the following important news: - </p> -<blockquote> - <p> - Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17— - </p> - <p> - Dear Livesey—As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - </p> - <p> - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner—a child might sail her—two - hundred tons; name, <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for—treasure, I mean. - </p> -</blockquote> - <p> - "Redruth," said I, interrupting the letter, "Dr. Livesey will not like - that. The squire has been talking, after all." - </p> - <p> - "Well, who's a better right?" growled the gamekeeper. "A pretty rum go if - squire ain't to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think." - </p> - <p> - At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read straight on: - </p> -<blockquote> - <p> - Blandly himself found the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the <i>Hispaniola</i> - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high—the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - </p> - <p> - So far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure—riggers and what not—were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - </p> - <p> - I wished a round score of men—in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French—and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - </p> - <p> - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - </p> - <p> - I was monstrously touched—so would you have - been—and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship's cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country's service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - </p> - <p> - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable—not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - </p> - <p> - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - </p> - <p> - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It's the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - </p> - <p> - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - </p> - <p> - John Trelawney - </p> - <p> - - </p> - <p> - Postscript—I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don't turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master—a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o'-war fashion on board the good ship - <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker's account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - </p> - <p> - J. T. - </p> - <p> - - </p> - <p> - P.P.S.—Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - </p> - <p> - J. T. - </p> -</blockquote> - <p> - You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put me. I was half - beside myself with glee; and if ever I despised a man, it was old Tom - Redruth, who could do nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the - under-gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; but such was - not the squire's pleasure, and the squire's pleasure was like law among - them all. Nobody but old Redruth would have dared so much as even to - grumble. - </p> - <p> - The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and - there I found my mother in good health and spirits. The captain, who had - so long been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked - cease from troubling. The squire had had everything repaired, and the - public rooms and the sign repainted, and had added some furniture—above - all a beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found her a boy as - an apprentice also so that she should not want help while I was gone. - </p> - <p> - It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the first time, my - situation. I had thought up to that moment of the adventures before me, - not at all of the home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this - clumsy stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my mother, I had - my first attack of tears. I am afraid I led that boy a dog's life, for as - he was new to the work, I had a hundred opportunities of setting him right - and putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0087m.jpg" alt="0087m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0087.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Redruth and I were afoot - again and on the road. I said good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had - lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow—since he was - repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last thoughts was of the - captain, who had so often strode along the beach with his cocked hat, his - sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope. Next moment we had turned - the corner and my home was out of sight. - </p> - <p> - The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on the heath. I was - wedged in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the - swift motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from - the very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down dale through - stage after stage, for when I was awakened at last it was by a punch in - the ribs, and I opened my eyes to find that we were standing still before - a large building in a city street and that the day had already broken a - long time. - </p> - <p> - "Where are we?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Bristol," said Tom. "Get down." - </p> - <p> - Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far down the docks to - superintend the work upon the schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and - our way, to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the great - multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations. In one, sailors were - singing at their work, in another there were men aloft, high over my head, - hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a spider's. Though I had - lived by the shore all my life, I seemed never to have been near the sea - till then. The smell of tar and salt was something new. I saw the most - wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over the ocean. I saw, - besides, many old sailors, with rings in their ears, and whiskers curled - in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, clumsy sea-walk; - and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I could not have been more - delighted. - </p> - <p> - And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping - boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown - island, and to seek for buried treasure! - </p> - <p> - While I was still in this delightful dream, we came suddenly in front of a - large inn and met Squire Trelawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in - stout blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his face and a - capital imitation of a sailor's walk. - </p> - <p> - "Here you are," he cried, "and the doctor came last night from London. - Bravo! The ship's company complete!" - </p> - <p> - "Oh, sir," cried I, "when do we sail?" - </p> - <p> - "Sail!" says he. "We sail tomorrow!" - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0090m.jpg" alt="0090m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0090.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - 8 - </h2> - <h3> - At the Sign of the Spy-glass - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9090m.jpg" alt="9090m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9090.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HEN I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John - Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily find the - place by following the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for - a little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set off, - overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the ships and seamen, - and picked my way among a great crowd of people and carts and bales, for - the dock was now at its busiest, until I found the tavern in question. - </p> - <p> - It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. The sign was newly - painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. - There was a street on each side and an open door on both, which made the - large, low room pretty clear to see in, in spite of clouds of tobacco - smoke. - </p> - <p> - The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked so loudly that I - hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - </p> - <p> - As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was - sure he must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and - under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with - wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall - and strong, with a face as big as a ham—plain and pale, but - intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, - whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap - on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests. - </p> - <p> - Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in - Squire Trelawney's letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might - prove to be the very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at - the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen - the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew - what a buccaneer was like—a very different creature, according to - me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - </p> - <p> - I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up - to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, my lad," said he; "such is my name, to be sure. And who may you be?" - And then as he saw the squire's letter, he seemed to me to give something - almost like a start. - </p> - <p> - "Oh!" said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. "I see. You are our new - cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you." - </p> - <p> - And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - </p> - <p> - Just then one of the customers at the far side rose suddenly and made for - the door. It was close by him, and he was out in the street in a moment. - But his hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at glance. It - was the tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who had come first to the - Admiral Benbow. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0093m.jpg" alt="0093m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0093.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - "Oh," I cried, "stop him! It's Black Dog!" - </p> - <p> - "I don't care two coppers who he is," cried Silver. "But he hasn't paid - his score. Harry, run and catch him." - </p> - <p> - One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up and started in - pursuit. - </p> - <p> - "If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score," cried Silver; and then, - relinquishing my hand, "Who did you say he was?" he asked. "Black what?" - </p> - <p> - "Dog, sir," said I. "Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of the buccaneers? He - was one of them." - </p> - <p> - "So?" cried Silver. "In my house! Ben, run and help Harry. One of those - swabs, was he? Was that you drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here." - </p> - <p> - The man whom he called Morgan—an old, grey-haired, mahogany-faced - sailor—came forward pretty sheepishly, rolling his quid. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Morgan," said Long John very sternly, "you never clapped your eyes - on that Black—Black Dog before, did you, now?" - </p> - <p> - "Not I, sir," said Morgan with a salute. - </p> - <p> - "You didn't know his name, did you?" - </p> - <p> - "No, sir." - </p> - <p> - "By the powers, Tom Morgan, it's as good for you!" exclaimed the landlord. - "If you had been mixed up with the like of that, you would never have put - another foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what was he saying to - you?" - </p> - <p> - "I don't rightly know, sir," answered Morgan. - </p> - <p> - "Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed dead-eye?" cried - Long John. "Don't rightly know, don't you! Perhaps you don't happen to - rightly know who you was speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what was he - jawing—v'yages, cap'ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?" - </p> - <p> - "We was a-talkin' of keel-hauling," answered Morgan. - </p> - <p> - "Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may lay - to that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom." - </p> - <p> - And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a - confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, "He's quite - an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y stupid. And now," he ran on again, aloud, - "let's see—Black Dog? No, I don't know the name, not I. Yet I kind - of think I've—yes, I've seen the swab. He used to come here with a - blind beggar, he used." - </p> - <p> - "That he did, you may be sure," said I. "I knew that blind man too. His - name was Pew." - </p> - <p> - "It was!" cried Silver, now quite excited. "Pew! That were his name for - certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he did! If we run down this Black Dog, - now, there'll be news for Cap'n Trelawney! Ben's a good runner; few seamen - run better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by the - powers! He talked o' keel-hauling, did he? <i>I'll</i> keel-haul him!" - </p> - <p> - All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was stumping up and down - the tavern on his crutch, slapping tables with his hand, and giving such a - show of excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge or a Bow - Street runner. My suspicions had been thoroughly reawakened on finding - Black Dog at the Spy-glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was - too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the time the two - men had come back out of breath and confessed that they had lost the track - in a crowd, and been scolded like thieves, I would have gone bail for the - innocence of Long John Silver. - </p> - <p> - "See here, now, Hawkins," said he, "here's a blessed hard thing on a man - like me, now, ain't it? There's Cap'n Trelawney—what's he to think? - Here I have this confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house - drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and here - I let him give us all the slip before my blessed deadlights! Now, Hawkins, - you do me justice with the cap'n. You're a lad, you are, but you're as - smart as paint. I see that when you first come in. Now, here it is: What - could I do, with this old timber I hobble on? When I was an A B master - mariner I'd have come up alongside of him, hand over hand, and broached - him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now—" - </p> - <p> - And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he - had remembered something. - </p> - <p> - "The score!" he burst out. "Three goes o' rum! Why, shiver my timbers, if - I hadn't forgotten my score!" - </p> - <p> - And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. I - could not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, until - the tavern rang again. - </p> - <p> - "Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!" he said at last, wiping his - cheeks. "You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I - should be rated ship's boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This won't - do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I'll put on my old cockerel hat, and step - along of you to Cap'n Trelawney, and report this here affair. For mind - you, it's serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me's come out of it - with what I should make so bold as to call credit. Nor you neither, says - you; not smart—none of the pair of us smart. But dash my buttons! - That was a good un about my score." - </p> - <p> - And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that though I did not - see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth. - </p> - <p> - On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the most interesting - companion, telling me about the different ships that we passed by, their - rig, tonnage, and nationality, explaining the work that was going forward—how - one was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a third making ready for - sea—and every now and then telling me some little anecdote of ships - or seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had learned it perfectly. - I began to see that here was one of the best of possible shipmates. - </p> - <p> - When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were seated together, - finishing a quart of ale with a toast in it, before they should go aboard - the schooner on a visit of inspection. - </p> - <p> - Long John told the story from first to last, with a great deal of spirit - and the most perfect truth. "That was how it were, now, weren't it, - Hawkins?" he would say, now and again, and I could always bear him - entirely out. - </p> - <p> - The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got away, but we all agreed - there was nothing to be done, and after he had been complimented, Long - John took up his crutch and departed. - </p> - <p> - "All hands aboard by four this afternoon," shouted the squire after him. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye, sir," cried the cook, in the passage. - </p> - <p> - "Well, squire," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't put much faith in your - discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits - me." - </p> - <p> - "The man's a perfect trump," declared the squire. - </p> - <p> - "And now," added the doctor, "Jim may come on board with us, may he not?" - </p> - <p> - "To be sure he may," says squire. "Take your hat, Hawkins, and we'll see - the ship." - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 9 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0098m.jpg" alt="0098m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0098.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Powder and Arms - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9098m.jpg" alt="9098m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9098.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE <i>Hispaniola</i> lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and - round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated - underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, we - got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the mate, - Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He - and the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon observed that - things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and the captain. - </p> - <p> - This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on - board and was soon to tell us why, for we had hardly got down into the - cabin when a sailor followed us. - </p> - <p> - "Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you," said he. - </p> - <p> - "I am always at the captain's orders. Show him in," said the squire. - </p> - <p> - The captain, who was close behind his messenger, entered at once and shut - the door behind him. - </p> - <p> - "Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all - shipshape and seaworthy?" - </p> - <p> - "Well, sir," said the captain, "better speak plain, I believe, even at the - risk of offence. I don't like this cruise; I don't like the men; and I - don't like my officer. That's short and sweet." - </p> - <p> - "Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" inquired the squire, very angry, - as I could see. - </p> - <p> - "I can't speak as to that, sir, not having seen her tried," said the - captain. "She seems a clever craft; more I can't say." - </p> - <p> - "Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?" says the squire. - </p> - <p> - But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - </p> - <p> - "Stay a bit," said he, "stay a bit. No use of such questions as that but - to produce ill feeling. The captain has said too much or he has said too - little, and I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his words. - You don't, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?" - </p> - <p> - "I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to sail this ship for - that gentleman where he should bid me," said the captain. "So far so good. - But now I find that every man before the mast knows more than I do. I - don't call that fair, now, do you?" - </p> - <p> - "No," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't." - </p> - <p> - "Next," said the captain, "I learn we are going after treasure—hear - it from my own hands, mind you. Now, treasure is ticklish work; I don't - like treasure voyages on any account, and I don't like them, above all, - when they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Trelawney) the - secret has been told to the parrot." - </p> - <p> - "Silver's parrot?" asked the squire. - </p> - <p> - "It's a way of speaking," said the captain. "Blabbed, I mean. It's my - belief neither of you gentlemen know what you are about, but I'll tell you - my way of it—life or death, and a close run." - </p> - <p> - "That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough," replied Dr. Livesey. - "We take the risk, but we are not so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you - say you don't like the crew. Are they not good seamen?" - </p> - <p> - "I don't like them, sir," returned Captain Smollett. "And I think I should - have had the choosing of my own hands, if you go to that." - </p> - <p> - "Perhaps you should," replied the doctor. "My friend should, perhaps, have - taken you along with him; but the slight, if there be one, was - unintentional. And you don't like Mr. Arrow?" - </p> - <p> - "I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman, but he's too free with the - crew to be a good officer. A mate should keep himself to himself—shouldn't - drink with the men before the mast!" - </p> - <p> - "Do you mean he drinks?" cried the squire. - </p> - <p> - "No, sir," replied the captain, "only that he's too familiar." - </p> - <p> - "Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?" asked the doctor. - "Tell us what you want." - </p> - <p> - "Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?" - </p> - <p> - "Like iron," answered the squire. - </p> - <p> - "Very good," said the captain. "Then, as you've heard me very patiently, - saying things that I could not prove, hear me a few words more. They are - putting the powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a good - place under the cabin; why not put them there?—first point. Then, - you are bringing four of your own people with you, and they tell me some - of them are to be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here - beside the cabin?—second point." - </p> - <p> - "Any more?" asked Mr. Trelawney. - </p> - <p> - "One more," said the captain. "There's been too much blabbing already." - </p> - <p> - "Far too much," agreed the doctor. - </p> - <p> - "I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued Captain Smollett: "that - you have a map of an island, that there's crosses on the map to show where - treasure is, and that the island lies—" And then he named the - latitude and longitude exactly. - </p> - <p> - "I never told that," cried the squire, "to a soul!" - </p> - <p> - "The hands know it, sir," returned the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins," cried the squire. - </p> - <p> - "It doesn't much matter who it was," replied the doctor. And I could see - that neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney's - protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet in - this case I believe he was really right and that nobody had told the - situation of the island. - </p> - <p> - "Well, gentlemen," continued the captain, "I don't know who has this map; - but I make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. - Otherwise I would ask you to let me resign." - </p> - <p> - "I see," said the doctor. "You wish us to keep this matter dark and to - make a garrison of the stern part of the ship, manned with my friend's own - people, and provided with all the arms and powder on board. In other - words, you fear a mutiny." - </p> - <p> - "Sir," said Captain Smollett, "with no intention to take offence, I deny - your right to put words into my mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified - in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for Mr. - Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the men are the same; all - may be for what I know. But I am responsible for the ship's safety and the - life of every man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, as I think, not - quite right. And I ask you to take certain precautions or let me resign my - berth. And that's all." - </p> - <p> - "Captain Smollett," began the doctor with a smile, "did ever you hear the - fable of the mountain and the mouse? You'll excuse me, I dare say, but you - remind me of that fable. When you came in here, I'll stake my wig, you - meant more than this." - </p> - <p> - "Doctor," said the captain, "you are smart. When I came in here I meant to - get discharged. I had no thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word." - </p> - <p> - "No more I would," cried the squire. "Had Livesey not been here I should - have seen you to the deuce. As it is, I have heard you. I will do as you - desire, but I think the worse of you." - </p> - <p> - "That's as you please, sir," said the captain. "You'll find I do my duty." - </p> - <p> - And with that he took his leave. - </p> - <p> - "Trelawney," said the doctor, "contrary to all my notions, I believed you - have managed to get two honest men on board with you—that man and - John Silver." - </p> - <p> - "Silver, if you like," cried the squire; "but as for that intolerable - humbug, I declare I think his conduct unmanly, unsailorly, and downright - un-English." - </p> - <p> - "Well," says the doctor, "we shall see." - </p> - <p> - When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take out the arms and - powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by - superintending. - </p> - <p> - The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole schooner had been - overhauled; six berths had been made astern out of what had been the - after-part of the main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to the - galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port side. It had been - originally meant that the captain, Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, - and the squire were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and I were to - get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain were to sleep on deck in the - companion, which had been enlarged on each side till you might almost have - called it a round-house. Very low it was still, of course; but there was - room to swing two hammocks, and even the mate seemed pleased with the - arrangement. Even he, perhaps, had been doubtful as to the crew, but that - is only guess, for as you shall hear, we had not long the benefit of his - opinion. - </p> - <p> - We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the berths, when the - last man or two, and Long John along with them, came off in a shore-boat. - </p> - <p> - The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, and as soon as he - saw what was doing, "So ho, mates!" says he. "What's this?" - </p> - <p> - "We're a-changing of the powder, Jack," answers one. - </p> - <p> - "Why, by the powers," cried Long John, "if we do, we'll miss the morning - tide!" - </p> - <p> - "My orders!" said the captain shortly. "You may go below, my man. Hands - will want supper." - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye, sir," answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he - disappeared at once in the direction of his galley. - </p> - <p> - "That's a good man, captain," said the doctor. - </p> - <p> - "Very likely, sir," replied Captain Smollett. "Easy with that, men—easy," - he ran on, to the fellows who were shifting the powder; and then suddenly - observing me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long brass nine, - "Here you, ship's boy," he cried, "out o' that! Off with you to the cook - and get some work." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0103m.jpg" alt="0103m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0103.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, to the - doctor, "I'll have no favourites on my ship." - </p> - <p> - I assure you I was quite of the squire's way of thinking, and hated the - captain deeply. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 10 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0106m.jpg" alt="0106m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0106.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Voyage - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9106m.jpg" alt="9106m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9106.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - LL that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their - place, and boatfuls of the squire's friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, - coming off to wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a - night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; and I was dog-tired - when, a little before dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew - began to man the capstan-bars. I might have been twice as weary, yet I - would not have left the deck, all was so new and interesting to me—the - brief commands, the shrill note of the whistle, the men bustling to their - places in the glimmer of the ship's lanterns. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave," cried one voice. - </p> - <p> - "The old one," cried another. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye, mates," said Long John, who was standing by, with his crutch - under his arm, and at once broke out in the air and words I knew so well: - </p> - <p> - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—" - </p> - <p> - And then the whole crew bore chorus:— - </p> - <p> - "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - </p> - <p> - And at the third "Ho!" drove the bars before them with a will. - </p> - <p> - Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old Admiral Benbow - in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice of the captain piping in the - chorus. But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at - the bows; soon the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping to flit - by on either side; and before I could lie down to snatch an hour of - slumber the <i>Hispaniola</i> had begun her voyage to the Isle of Treasure. - </p> - <p> - I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was fairly prosperous. - The ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable seamen, and the - captain thoroughly understood his business. But before we came the length - of Treasure Island, two or three things had happened which require to be - known. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the captain had - feared. He had no command among the men, and people did what they pleased - with him. But that was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two - at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, stuttering - tongue, and other marks of drunkenness. Time after time he was ordered - below in disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; sometimes he lay all - day long in his little bunk at one side of the companion; sometimes for a - day or two he would be almost sober and attend to his work at least - passably. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, we could never make out where he got the drink. That was - the ship's mystery. Watch him as we pleased, we could do nothing to solve - it; and when we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if he were - drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he ever tasted anything but - water. - </p> - <p> - He was not only useless as an officer and a bad influence amongst the men, - but it was plain that at this rate he must soon kill himself outright, so - nobody was much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with a - head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - </p> - <p> - "Overboard!" said the captain. "Well, gentlemen, that saves the trouble of - putting him in irons." - </p> - <p> - But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary, of course, to - advance one of the men. The boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest man - aboard, and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as mate. Mr. - Trelawney had followed the sea, and his knowledge made him very useful, - for he often took a watch himself in easy weather. And the coxswain, - Israel Hands, was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who could be - trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - </p> - <p> - He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so the mention of his - name leads me on to speak of our ship's cook, Barbecue, as the men called - him. - </p> - <p> - Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have - both hands as free as possible. It was something to see him wedge the foot - of the crutch against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding to - every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking like someone safe - ashore. Still more strange was it to see him in the heaviest of weather - cross the deck. He had a line or two rigged up to help him across the - widest spaces—Long John's earrings, they were called; and he would - hand himself from one place to another, now using the crutch, now trailing - it alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet - some of the men who had sailed with him before expressed their pity to see - him so reduced. - </p> - <p> - "He's no common man, Barbecue," said the coxswain to me. "He had good - schooling in his young days and can speak like a book when so minded; and - brave—a lion's nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple - four and knock their heads together—him unarmed." - </p> - <p> - All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking to - each and doing everybody some particular service. To me he was unweariedly - kind, and always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as clean as a - new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and his parrot in a cage in one - corner. - </p> - <p> - "Come away, Hawkins," he would say; "come and have a yarn with John. - Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the news. - Here's Cap'n Flint—I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous - buccaneer—here's Cap'n Flint predicting success to our v'yage. - Wasn't you, cap'n?" - </p> - <p> - And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, "Pieces of eight! Pieces of - eight! Pieces of eight!" till you wondered that it was not out of breath, - or till John threw his handkerchief over the cage. - </p> - <p> - "Now, that bird," he would say, "is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins—they - live forever mostly; and if anybody's seen more wickedness, it must be the - devil himself. She's sailed with England, the great Cap'n England, the - pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and - Providence, and Portobello. She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate - ships. It's there she learned 'Pieces of eight,' and little wonder; three - hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the - viceroy of the Indies out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you would - think she was a babby. But you smelt powder—didn't you, cap'n?" - </p> - <p> - "Stand by to go about," the parrot would scream. - </p> - <p> - "Ah, she's a handsome craft, she is," the cook would say, and give her - sugar from his pocket, and then the bird would peck at the bars and swear - straight on, passing belief for wickedness. "There," John would add, "you - can't touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here's this poor old innocent - bird o' mine swearing blue fire, and none the wiser, you may lay to that. - She would swear the same, in a manner of speaking, before chaplain." And - John would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had that made me think - he was the best of men. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were still on pretty - distant terms with one another. The squire made no bones about the matter; - he despised the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when he - was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a word wasted. He - owned, when driven into a corner, that he seemed to have been wrong about - the crew, that some of them were as brisk as he wanted to see and all had - behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken a downright fancy to - her. "She'll lie a point nearer the wind than a man has a right to expect - of his own married wife, sir. But," he would add, "all I say is, we're not - home again, and I don't like the cruise." - </p> - <p> - The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, chin - in air. - </p> - <p> - "A trifle more of that man," he would say, "and I shall explode." - </p> - <p> - We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the - <i>Hispaniola</i>. Every man on board seemed well content, and they must have - been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief there - was never a ship's company so spoiled since Noah put to sea. Double grog - was going on the least excuse; there was duff on odd days, as, for - instance, if the squire heard it was any man's birthday, and always a - barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for anyone to help himself - that had a fancy. - </p> - <p> - "Never knew good come of it yet," the captain said to Dr. Livesey. "Spoil - forecastle hands, make devils. That's my belief." - </p> - <p> - But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had - not been for that, we should have had no note of warning and might all - have perished by the hand of treachery. - </p> - <p> - This was how it came about. - </p> - <p> - We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island we were after—I - am not allowed to be more plain—and now we were running down for it - with a bright lookout day and night. It was about the last day of our - outward voyage by the largest computation; some time that night, or at - latest before noon of the morrow, we should sight the Treasure Island. We - were heading S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. The - <i>Hispaniola</i> rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with a whiff - of spray. All was drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the bravest - spirits because we were now so near an end of the first part of our - adventure. - </p> - <p> - Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and I was on my way to - my berth, it occurred to me that I should like an apple. I ran on deck. - The watch was all forward looking out for the island. The man at the helm - was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently to himself, - and that was the only sound excepting the swish of the sea against the - bows and around the sides of the ship. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0111m.jpg" alt="0111m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0111.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there was scarce an apple - left; but sitting down there in the dark, what with the sound of the - waters and the rocking movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep or - was on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with rather a clash - close by. The barrel shook as he leaned his shoulders against it, and I - was just about to jump up when the man began to speak. It was Silver's - voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself - for all the world, but lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme - of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen words I understood that the - lives of all the honest men aboard depended upon me alone. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 11 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0114m.jpg" alt="0114m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0114.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - What I Heard in the Apple Barrel - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9114m.jpg" alt="9114m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9114.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - O, not I," said Silver. "Flint was cap'n; I was quartermaster, along of - my timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his - deadlights. It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me—out of - college and all—Latin by the bucket, and what not; but he was hanged - like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was - Roberts' men, that was, and comed of changing names to their ships—<i>Royal - Fortune</i> and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, so let her stay, I - says. So it was with the <i>Cassandra</i>, as brought us all safe home from - Malabar, after England took the viceroy of the Indies; so it was with the - old <i>Walrus</i>, Flint's old ship, as I've seen amuck with the red blood and - fit to sink with gold." - </p> - <p> - "Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and - evidently full of admiration. "He was the flower of the flock, was Flint!" - </p> - <p> - "Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. "I never sailed along - of him; first with England, then with Flint, that's my story; and now here - on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred safe, - from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain't bad for a man - before the mast—all safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's saving - does it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men now? I dunno. - Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em aboard here, and glad to get the duff—been - begging before that, some on 'em. Old Pew, as had lost his sight, and - might have thought shame, spends twelve hundred pound in a year, like a - lord in Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he's dead now and under - hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, the man was - starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut throats, and starved at - that, by the powers!" - </p> - <p> - "Well, it ain't much use, after all," said the young seaman. - </p> - <p> - "'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it—that, nor nothing," - cried Silver. "But now, you look here: you're young, you are, but you're - as smart as paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to - you like a man." - </p> - <p> - You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue - addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used to - myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed him through - the barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was overheard. - </p> - <p> - "Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk - swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is - done, why, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in - their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to sea - again in their shirts. But that's not the course I lay. I puts it all - away, some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by reason of - suspicion. I'm fifty, mark you; once back from this cruise, I set up - gentleman in earnest. Time enough too, says you. Ah, but I've lived easy - in the meantime, never denied myself o' nothing heart desires, and slep' - soft and ate dainty all my days but when at sea. And how did I begin? - Before the mast, like you!" - </p> - <p> - "Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, ain't it? You - daren't show face in Bristol after this." - </p> - <p> - "Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver derisively. - </p> - <p> - "At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his companion. - </p> - <p> - "It were," said the cook; "it were when we weighed anchor. But my old - missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill - and rigging; and the old girl's off to meet me. I would tell you where, - for I trust you, but it'd make jealousy among the mates." - </p> - <p> - "And can you trust your missis?" asked the other. - </p> - <p> - "Gentlemen of fortune," returned the cook, "usually trusts little among - themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it. But I have a way with - me, I have. When a mate brings a slip on his cable—one as knows me, - I mean—it won't be in the same world with old John. There was some - that was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his - own self was feared of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest - crew afloat, was Flint's; the devil himself would have been feared to go - to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, I'm not a boasting man, and you - seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, <i>lambs</i> - wasn't the word for Flint's old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of - yourself in old John's ship." - </p> - <p> - "Well, I tell you now," replied the lad, "I didn't half a quarter like the - job till I had this talk with you, John; but there's my hand on it now." - </p> - <p> - "And a brave lad you were, and smart too," answered Silver, shaking hands - so heartily that all the barrel shook, "and a finer figurehead for a - gentleman of fortune I never clapped my eyes on." - </p> - <p> - By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a - "gentleman of fortune" they plainly meant neither more nor less than a - common pirate, and the little scene that I had overheard was the last act - in the corruption of one of the honest hands—perhaps of the last one - left aboard. But on this point I was soon to be relieved, for Silver - giving a little whistle, a third man strolled up and sat down by the - party. - </p> - <p> - "Dick's square," said Silver. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, I know'd Dick was square," returned the voice of the coxswain, Israel - Hands. "He's no fool, is Dick." And he turned his quid and spat. "But look - here," he went on, "here's what I want to know, Barbecue: how long are we - a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I've had a'most enough - o' Cap'n Smollett; he's hazed me long enough, by thunder! I want to go - into that cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and that." - </p> - <p> - "Israel," said Silver, "your head ain't much account, nor ever was. But - you're able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, - here's what I say: you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and you'll - speak soft, and you'll keep sober till I give the word; and you may lay to - that, my son." - </p> - <p> - "Well, I don't say no, do I?" growled the coxswain. "What I say is, when? - That's what I say." - </p> - <p> - "When! By the powers!" cried Silver. "Well now, if you want to know, I'll - tell you when. The last moment I can manage, and that's when. Here's a - first-rate seaman, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. Here's - this squire and doctor with a map and such—I don't know where it is, - do I? No more do you, says you. Well then, I mean this squire and doctor - shall find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, by the powers. Then - we'll see. If I was sure of you all, sons of double Dutchmen, I'd have - Cap'n Smollett navigate us half-way back again before I struck." - </p> - <p> - "Why, we're all seamen aboard here, I should think," said the lad Dick. - </p> - <p> - "We're all forecastle hands, you mean," snapped Silver. "We can steer a - course, but who's to set one? That's what all you gentlemen split on, - first and last. If I had my way, I'd have Cap'n Smollett work us back into - the trades at least; then we'd have no blessed miscalculations and a - spoonful of water a day. But I know the sort you are. I'll finish with 'em - at the island, as soon's the blunt's on board, and a pity it is. But - you're never happy till you're drunk. Split my sides, I've a sick heart to - sail with the likes of you!" - </p> - <p> - "Easy all, Long John," cried Israel. "Who's a-crossin' of you?" - </p> - <p> - "Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And how - many brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?" cried Silver. "And - all for this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a thing - or two at sea, I have. If you would on'y lay your course, and a p'int to - windward, you would ride in carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. - You'll have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang." - </p> - <p> - "Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; but there's others - as could hand and steer as well as you," said Israel. "They liked a bit o' - fun, they did. They wasn't so high and dry, nohow, but took their fling, - like jolly companions every one." - </p> - <p> - "So?" says Silver. "Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, and - he died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they - was a sweet crew, they was! On'y, where are they?" - </p> - <p> - "But," asked Dick, "when we do lay 'em athwart, what are we to do with - 'em, anyhow?" - </p> - <p> - "There's the man for me!" cried the cook admiringly. "That's what I call - business. Well, what would you think? Put 'em ashore like maroons? That - would have been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much pork? That - would have been Flint's, or Billy Bones's." - </p> - <p> - "Billy was the man for that," said Israel. "'Dead men don't bite,' says - he. Well, he's dead now hisself; he knows the long and short on it now; - and if ever a rough hand come to port, it was Billy." - </p> - <p> - "Right you are," said Silver; "rough and ready. But mark you here, I'm an - easy man—I'm quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it's - serious. Dooty is dooty, mates. I give my vote—death. When I'm in - Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don't want none of these sea-lawyers - in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. Wait - is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let her rip!" - </p> - <p> - "John," cries the coxswain, "you're a man!" - </p> - <p> - "You'll say so, Israel when you see," said Silver. "Only one thing I claim—I - claim Trelawney. I'll wring his calf's head off his body with these hands, - Dick!" he added, breaking off. "You just jump up, like a sweet lad, and - get me an apple, to wet my pipe like." - </p> - <p> - You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leaped out and run for it - if I had found the strength, but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I - heard Dick begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, and the - voice of Hands exclaimed, "Oh, stow that! Don't you get sucking of that - bilge, John. Let's have a go of the rum." - </p> - <p> - "Dick," said Silver, "I trust you. I've a gauge on the keg, mind. There's - the key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up." - </p> - <p> - Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must - have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him. - </p> - <p> - Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke - straight on in the cook's ear. It was but a word or two that I could - catch, and yet I gathered some important news, for besides other scraps - that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: "Not - another man of them'll jine." Hence there were still faithful men on - board. - </p> - <p> - When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and - drank—one "To luck," another with a "Here's to old Flint," and - Silver himself saying, in a kind of song, "Here's to ourselves, and hold - your luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0117m.jpg" alt="0117m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0117.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and looking up, - I found the moon had risen and was silvering the mizzen-top and shining - white on the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time the voice - of the lookout shouted, "Land ho!" - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 12 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0122m.jpg" alt="0122m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0122.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Council of War - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9122m.jpg" alt="9122m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9122.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HERE was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people - tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an instant - outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double towards the - stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter and Dr. - Livesey in the rush for the weather bow. - </p> - <p> - There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted almost - simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of - us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind - one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was still buried in the - fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure. - </p> - <p> - So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my - horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of - Captain Smollett issuing orders. The <i>Hispaniola</i> was laid a couple of - points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the - island on the east. - </p> - <p> - "And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted home, "has any one - of you ever seen that land ahead?" - </p> - <p> - "I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a trader I was cook - in." - </p> - <p> - "The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?" asked the - captain. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for pirates - once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. That hill - to the nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three hills in a - row running south'ard—fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the main—that's - the big un, with the cloud on it—they usually calls the Spy-glass, - by reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the anchorage cleaning, - for it's there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking your pardon." - </p> - <p> - "I have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. "See if that's the place." - </p> - <p> - Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the fresh - look of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This was not the - map we found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy, complete in all - things—names and heights and soundings—with the single - exception of the red crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have - been his annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, sir," said he, "this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily - drawed out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too - ignorant, I reckon. Aye, here it is: 'Capt. Kidd's Anchorage'—just - the name my shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs along the - south, and then away nor'ard up the west coast. Right you was, sir," says - he, "to haul your wind and keep the weather of the island. Leastways, if - such was your intention as to enter and careen, and there ain't no better - place for that in these waters." - </p> - <p> - "Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. "I'll ask you later on to give - us a help. You may go." - </p> - <p> - I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge of - the island, and I own I was half-frightened when I saw him drawing nearer - to myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council - from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of - his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder - when he laid his hand upon my arm. - </p> - <p> - "Ah," says he, "this here is a sweet spot, this island—a sweet spot - for a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe, and you'll climb trees, and - you'll hunt goats, you will; and you'll get aloft on them hills like a - goat yourself. Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my - timber leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, - and you may lay to that. When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just - ask old John, and he'll put up a snack for you to take along." - </p> - <p> - And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off - forward and went below. - </p> - <p> - Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the - quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not - interrupt them openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts to - find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his side. He had left - his pipe below, and being a slave to tobacco, had meant that I should - fetch it; but as soon as I was near enough to speak and not to be - overheard, I broke immediately, "Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain and - squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence to send for me. I - have terrible news." - </p> - <p> - The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master of - himself. - </p> - <p> - "Thank you, Jim," said he quite loudly, "that was all I wanted to know," - as if he had asked me a question. - </p> - <p> - And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They spoke - together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised his - voice, or so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey had - communicated my request, for the next thing that I heard was the captain - giving an order to Job Anderson, and all hands were piped on deck. - </p> - <p> - "My lads," said Captain Smollett, "I've a word to say to you. This land - that we have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, - being a very open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked me a - word or two, and as I was able to tell him that every man on board had - done his duty, alow and aloft, as I never ask to see it done better, why, - he and I and the doctor are going below to the cabin to drink <i>your</i> health - and luck, and you'll have grog served out for you to drink <i>our</i> health and - luck. I'll tell you what I think of this: I think it handsome. And if you - think as I do, you'll give a good sea-cheer for the gentleman that does - it." - </p> - <p> - The cheer followed—that was a matter of course; but it rang out so - full and hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were - plotting for our blood. - </p> - <p> - "One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long John when the first had - subsided. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0125m.jpg" alt="0125m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0125.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - And this also was given with a will. - </p> - <p> - On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, - word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. - </p> - <p> - I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine - and some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig on - his lap, and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern - window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon - shining behind on the ship's wake. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Hawkins," said the squire, "you have something to say. Speak up." - </p> - <p> - I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole - details of Silver's conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, - nor did any one of the three of them make so much as a movement, but they - kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," said Dr. Livesey, "take a seat." - </p> - <p> - And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of - wine, filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, - and each with a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for my - luck and courage. - </p> - <p> - "Now, captain," said the squire, "you were right, and I was wrong. I own - myself an ass, and I await your orders." - </p> - <p> - "No more an ass than I, sir," returned the captain. "I never heard of a - crew that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that - had an eye in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But - this crew," he added, "beats me." - </p> - <p> - "Captain," said the doctor, "with your permission, that's Silver. A very - remarkable man." - </p> - <p> - "He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir," returned the captain. - "But this is talk; this don't lead to anything. I see three or four - points, and with Mr. Trelawney's permission, I'll name them." - </p> - <p> - "You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," says Mr. Trelawney - grandly. - </p> - <p> - "First point," began Mr. Smollett. "We must go on, because we can't turn - back. If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second - point, we have time before us—at least until this treasure's found. - Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's got to come to blows - sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the forelock, as - the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they least expect it. - We can count, I take it, on your own home servants, Mr. Trelawney?" - </p> - <p> - "As upon myself," declared the squire. - </p> - <p> - "Three," reckoned the captain; "ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins - here. Now, about the honest hands?" - </p> - <p> - "Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor; "those he had picked - up for himself before he lit on Silver." - </p> - <p> - "Nay," replied the squire. "Hands was one of mine." - </p> - <p> - "I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the captain. - </p> - <p> - "And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke out the squire. "Sir, I - could find it in my heart to blow the ship up." - </p> - <p> - "Well, gentlemen," said the captain, "the best that I can say is not much. - We must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It's trying on a - man, I know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But there's no help - for it till we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a wind, that's my - view." - </p> - <p> - "Jim here," said the doctor, "can help us more than anyone. The men are - not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad." - </p> - <p> - "Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the squire. - </p> - <p> - I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether helpless; - and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed through me that - safety came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only seven - out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and out of these - seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on our side were six to their - nineteen. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0131m.jpg" alt="0131m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0131.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - PART THREE—My Shore Adventure - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 13 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0133m.jpg" alt="0133m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0133.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - How My Shore Adventure Began - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9133m.jpg" alt="9133m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9133.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was - altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had - made a great deal of way during the night and were now lying becalmed - about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. - Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface. This even tint - was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, - and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others—some - singly, some in clumps; but the general colouring was uniform and sad. The - hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. All were - strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three or four hundred - feet the tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in - configuration, running up sheer from almost every side and then suddenly - cut off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - </p> - <p> - The <i>Hispaniola</i> was rolling scuppers under in the ocean swell. The booms - were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the - whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had to - cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my eyes, - for though I was a good enough sailor when there was way on, this standing - still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to - stand without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an empty - stomach. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps it was this—perhaps it was the look of the island, with its - grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could - both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach—at - least, although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were - fishing and crying all around us, and you would have thought anyone would - have been glad to get to land after being so long at sea, my heart sank, - as the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look onward, I hated - the very thought of Treasure Island. - </p> - <p> - We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was no sign of any - wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped - three or four miles round the corner of the island and up the narrow - passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I volunteered for one of the - boats, where I had, of course, no business. The heat was sweltering, and - the men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command of my - boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order, he grumbled as loud as the - worst. - </p> - <p> - "Well," he said with an oath, "it's not forever." - </p> - <p> - I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone - briskly and willingly about their business; but the very sight of the - island had relaxed the cords of discipline. - </p> - <p> - All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship. He - knew the passage like the palm of his hand, and though the man in the - chains got everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never - hesitated once. - </p> - <p> - "There's a strong scour with the ebb," he said, "and this here passage has - been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade." - </p> - <p> - We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, about a third of a - mile from each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on the - other. The bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent up clouds - of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, but in less than a minute - they were down again and all was once more silent. - </p> - <p> - The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, the trees coming - right down to high-water mark, the shores mostly flat, and the hilltops - standing round at a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one - there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this - pond, as you might call it; and the foliage round that part of the shore - had a kind of poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see nothing of - the house or stockade, for they were quite buried among trees; and if it - had not been for the chart on the companion, we might have been the first - that had ever anchored there since the island arose out of the seas. - </p> - <p> - There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the surf - booming half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks outside. - A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage—a smell of sodden - leaves and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and - sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg. - </p> - <p> - "I don't know about treasure," he said, "but I'll stake my wig there's - fever here." - </p> - <p> - If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly - threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling - together in talk. The slightest order was received with a black look and - grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught - the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, - it was plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - </p> - <p> - And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived the danger. Long - John was hard at work going from group to group, spending himself in good - advice, and as for example no man could have shown a better. He fairly - outstripped himself in willingness and civility; he was all smiles to - everyone. If an order were given, John would be on his crutch in an - instant, with the cheeriest "Aye, aye, sir!" in the world; and when there - was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after another, as if to - conceal the discontent of the rest. - </p> - <p> - Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety - on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - </p> - <p> - We held a council in the cabin. - </p> - <p> - "Sir," said the captain, "if I risk another order, the whole ship'll come - about our ears by the run. You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, - do I not? Well, if I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I - don't, Silver will see there's something under that, and the game's up. - Now, we've only one man to rely on." - </p> - <p> - "And who is that?" asked the squire. - </p> - <p> - "Silver, sir," returned the captain; "he's as anxious as you and I to - smother things up. This is a tiff; he'd soon talk 'em out of it if he had - the chance, and what I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let's - allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why we'll fight the - ship. If they none of them go, well then, we hold the cabin, and God - defend the right. If some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver'll bring 'em - aboard again as mild as lambs." - </p> - <p> - It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men; - Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received the - news with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, and - then the captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - </p> - <p> - "My lads," said he, "we've had a hot day and are all tired and out of - sorts. A turn ashore'll hurt nobody—the boats are still in the - water; you can take the gigs, and as many as please may go ashore for the - afternoon. I'll fire a gun half an hour before sundown." - </p> - <p> - I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their shins - over treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out of their - sulks in a moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a faraway hill - and sent the birds once more flying and squalling round the anchorage. - </p> - <p> - The captain was too bright to be in the way. He whipped out of sight in a - moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he - did so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as have pretended - not to understand the situation. It was as plain as day. Silver was the - captain, and a mighty rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands—and - I was soon to see it proved that there were such on board—must have - been very stupid fellows. Or rather, I suppose the truth was this, that - all hands were disaffected by the example of the ringleaders—only - some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in the main, could - neither be led nor driven any further. It is one thing to be idle and - skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a number of innocent - men. - </p> - <p> - At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay on - board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark. - </p> - <p> - Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions that - contributed so much to save our lives. If six men were left by Silver, it - was plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and since only six - were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party had no present need of - my assistance. It occurred to me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had - slipped over the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest - boat, and almost at the same moment she shoved off. - </p> - <p> - No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, "Is that you, Jim? Keep - your head down." But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply over and - called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I began to regret - what I had done. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0137m.jpg" alt="0137m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0137.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start - and being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of her - consort, and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had - caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into the nearest thicket - while Silver and the rest were still a hundred yards behind. - </p> - <p> - "Jim, Jim!" I heard him shouting. - </p> - <p> - But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking - through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 14 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0140m.jpg" alt="0140m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0140.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The First Blow - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9140m.jpg" alt="9140m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9140.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - WAS so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to - enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land - that I was in. - </p> - <p> - I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, - outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an - open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with a - few pines and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak in - growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the far side of the open - stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining vividly in - the sun. - </p> - <p> - I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was - uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front of - me but dumb brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the trees. - Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and there I saw - snakes, and one raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me with - a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did I suppose that he was - a deadly enemy and that the noise was the famous rattle. - </p> - <p> - Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees—live, or - evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should be called—which grew - low along the sand like brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the - foliage compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of - one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it went, until it - reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest of - the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh was - steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled - through the haze. - </p> - <p> - All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; a wild - duck flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the whole - surface of the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in - the air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be drawing near - along the borders of the fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon I heard the - very distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I continued to give - ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - </p> - <p> - This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest - live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse. - </p> - <p> - Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which I now recognized - to be Silver's, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while in - a stream, only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they - must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no distinct - word came to my hearing. - </p> - <p> - At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps to have sat down, - for not only did they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves - began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp. - </p> - <p> - And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, that since I - had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the least - I could do was to overhear them at their councils, and that my plain and - obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable - ambush of the crouching trees. - </p> - <p> - I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly, not only by the - sound of their voices but by the behaviour of the few birds that still - hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders. - </p> - <p> - Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly towards them, till at - last, raising my head to an aperture among the leaves, I could see clear - down into a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about with - trees, where Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to face - in conversation. - </p> - <p> - The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the - ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was - lifted to the other man's in a kind of appeal. - </p> - <p> - "Mate," he was saying, "it's because I thinks gold dust of you—gold - dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn't took to you like pitch, do you - think I'd have been here a-warning of you? All's up—you can't make - nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking, and if one of the - wild uns knew it, where'd I be, Tom—now, tell me, where'd I be?" - </p> - <p> - "Silver," said the other man—and I observed he was not only red in - the face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook too, like a - taut rope—"Silver," says he, "you're old, and you're honest, or has - the name for it; and you've money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't; - and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you tell me you'll let yourself - be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs? Not you! As sure as God - sees me, I'd sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty—" - </p> - <p> - And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. I had found one of - the honest hands—well, here, at that same moment, came news of - another. Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound - like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and then one - horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a score - of times; the whole troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, - with a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell was still - ringing in my brain, silence had re-established its empire, and only the - rustle of the redescending birds and the boom of the distant surges - disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - </p> - <p> - Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, but Silver had not - winked an eye. He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, - watching his companion like a snake about to spring. - </p> - <p> - "John!" said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - </p> - <p> - "Hands off!" cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed to me, with - the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - </p> - <p> - "Hands off, if you like, John Silver," said the other. "It's a black - conscience that can make you feared of me. But in heaven's name, tell me, - what was that?" - </p> - <p> - "That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye a - mere pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. "That? - Oh, I reckon that'll be Alan." - </p> - <p> - And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - </p> - <p> - "Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his soul for a true seaman! And as for you, - John Silver, long you've been a mate of mine, but you're mate of mine no - more. If I die like a dog, I'll die in my dooty. You've killed Alan, have - you? Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you." - </p> - <p> - And with that, this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook and - set off walking for the beach. But he was not destined to go far. With a - cry John seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of his - armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air. It struck - poor Tom, point foremost, and with stunning violence, right between the - shoulders in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he gave a sort of - gasp, and fell. - </p> - <p> - Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever tell. Like enough, - to judge from the sound, his back was broken on the spot. But he had no - time given him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without leg or - crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had twice buried his knife - up to the hilt in that defenceless body. From my place of ambush, I could - hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - </p> - <p> - I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the next - little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling mist; - Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and - round and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing and - distant voices shouting in my ear. - </p> - <p> - When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, his - crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head. Just before him Tom lay - motionless upon the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, - cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass. - Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining mercilessly on the - steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce - persuade myself that murder had been actually done and a human life - cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0141m.jpg" alt="0141m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0141.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0145m.jpg" alt="0145m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0145.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle, and blew - upon it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated air. I - could not tell, of course, the meaning of the signal, but it instantly - awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be discovered. They had - already slain two of the honest people; after Tom and Alan, might not I - come next? - </p> - <p> - Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back again, with what - speed and silence I could manage, to the more open portion of the wood. As - I did so, I could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer - and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings. As soon as I was - clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran before, scarce minding the - direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the murderers; and as I - ran, fear grew and grew upon me until it turned into a kind of frenzy. - </p> - <p> - Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? When the gun fired, how - should I dare to go down to the boats among those fiends, still smoking - from their crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring my neck - like a snipe's? Would not my absence itself be an evidence to them of my - alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? It was all over, I thought. - Good-bye to the <i>Hispaniola</i>; good-bye to the squire, the doctor, and the - captain! There was nothing left for me but death by starvation or death by - the hands of the mutineers. - </p> - <p> - All this while, as I say, I was still running, and without taking any - notice, I had drawn near to the foot of the little hill with the two peaks - and had got into a part of the island where the live-oaks grew more widely - apart and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and dimensions. - Mingled with these were a few scattered pines, some fifty, some nearer - seventy, feet high. The air too smelt more freshly than down beside the - marsh. - </p> - <p> - And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 15 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0150m.jpg" alt="0150m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0150.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Man of the Island - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9150m.jpg" alt="9150m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9150.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - ROM the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of - gravel was dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. My - eyes turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap with - great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether bear or - man or monkey, I could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more I - knew not. But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand. - </p> - <p> - I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind me the murderers, - before me this lurking nondescript. And immediately I began to prefer the - dangers that I knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less - terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, and I turned on my - heel, and looking sharply behind me over my shoulder, began to retrace my - steps in the direction of the boats. - </p> - <p> - Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide circuit, began to head - me off. I was tired, at any rate; but had I been as fresh as when I rose, - I could see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an - adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running - manlike on two legs, but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping - almost double as it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in doubt - about that. - </p> - <p> - I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was within an ace of - calling for help. But the mere fact that he was a man, however wild, had - somewhat reassured me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in - proportion. I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method of - escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of my pistol flashed - into my mind. As soon as I remembered I was not defenceless, courage - glowed again in my heart and I set my face resolutely for this man of the - island and walked briskly towards him. - </p> - <p> - He was concealed by this time behind another tree trunk; but he must have - been watching me closely, for as soon as I began to move in his direction - he reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, drew back, - came forward again, and at last, to my wonder and confusion, threw himself - on his knees and held out his clasped hands in supplication. - </p> - <p> - At that I once more stopped. - </p> - <p> - "Who are you?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Ben Gunn," he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and awkward, like a - rusty lock. "I'm poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven't spoke with a Christian - these three years." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0153m.jpg" alt="0153m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0153.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - I could now see that he was a white man like myself and that his features - were even pleasing. His skin, wherever it was exposed, was burnt by the - sun; even his lips were black, and his fair eyes looked quite startling in - so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen or fancied, he was - the chief for raggedness. He was clothed with tatters of old ship's canvas - and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary patchwork was all held together - by a system of the most various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, - bits of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. About his waist he wore an old - brass-buckled leather belt, which was the one thing solid in his whole - accoutrement. - </p> - <p> - "Three years!" I cried. "Were you shipwrecked?" - </p> - <p> - "Nay, mate," said he; "marooned." - </p> - <p> - I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of - punishment common enough among the buccaneers, in which the offender is - put ashore with a little powder and shot and left behind on some desolate - and distant island. - </p> - <p> - "Marooned three years agone," he continued, "and lived on goats since - then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever a man is, says I, a man can do - for himself. But, mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn't - happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, many's the long - night I've dreamed of cheese—toasted, mostly—and woke up - again, and here I were." - </p> - <p> - "If ever I can get aboard again," said I, "you shall have cheese by the - stone." - </p> - <p> - All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket, smoothing my - hands, looking at my boots, and generally, in the intervals of his speech, - showing a childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow creature. But at - my last words he perked up into a kind of startled slyness. - </p> - <p> - "If ever you can get aboard again, says you?" he repeated. "Why, now, - who's to hinder you?" - </p> - <p> - "Not you, I know," was my reply. - </p> - <p> - "And right you was," he cried. "Now you—what do you call yourself, - mate?" - </p> - <p> - "Jim," I told him. - </p> - <p> - "Jim, Jim," says he, quite pleased apparently. "Well, now, Jim, I've lived - that rough as you'd be ashamed to hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn't - think I had had a pious mother—to look at me?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "Why, no, not in particular," I answered. - </p> - <p> - "Ah, well," said he, "but I had—remarkable pious. And I was a civil, - pious boy, and could rattle off my catechism that fast, as you couldn't - tell one word from another. And here's what it come to, Jim, and it begun - with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That's what it begun with, - but it went further'n that; and so my mother told me, and predicked the - whole, she did, the pious woman! But it were Providence that put me here. - I've thought it all out in this here lonely island, and I'm back on piety. - You don't catch me tasting rum so much, but just a thimbleful for luck, of - course, the first chance I have. I'm bound I'll be good, and I see the way - to. And, Jim"—looking all round him and lowering his voice to a - whisper—"I'm rich." - </p> - <p> - I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in his solitude, and I - suppose I must have shown the feeling in my face, for he repeated the - statement hotly: "Rich! Rich! I says. And I'll tell you what: I'll make a - man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you'll bless your stars, you will, you was the - first that found me!" - </p> - <p> - And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he - tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly - before my eyes. - </p> - <p> - "Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found an - ally, and I answered him at once. - </p> - <p> - "It's not Flint's ship, and Flint is dead; but I'll tell you true, as you - ask me—there are some of Flint's hands aboard; worse luck for the - rest of us." - </p> - <p> - "Not a man—with one—leg?" he gasped. - </p> - <p> - "Silver?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Ah, Silver!" says he. "That were his name." - </p> - <p> - "He's the cook, and the ringleader too." - </p> - <p> - He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he give it quite a - wring. - </p> - <p> - "If you was sent by Long John," he said, "I'm as good as pork, and I know - it. But where was you, do you suppose?" - </p> - <p> - I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer told him the whole - story of our voyage and the predicament in which we found ourselves. He - heard me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he patted me on - the head. - </p> - <p> - "You're a good lad, Jim," he said; "and you're all in a clove hitch, ain't - you? Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunn—Ben Gunn's the man to - do it. Would you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a - liberal-minded one in case of help—him being in a clove hitch, as - you remark?" - </p> - <p> - I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, but you see," returned Ben Gunn, "I didn't mean giving me a gate to - keep, and a suit of livery clothes, and such; that's not my mark, Jim. - What I mean is, would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one - thousand pounds out of money that's as good as a man's own already?" - </p> - <p> - "I am sure he would," said I. "As it was, all hands were to share." - </p> - <p> - "<i>And</i> a passage home?" he added with a look of great shrewdness. - </p> - <p> - "Why," I cried, "the squire's a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of - the others, we should want you to help work the vessel home." - </p> - <p> - "Ah," said he, "so you would." And he seemed very much relieved. - </p> - <p> - "Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. "So much I'll tell you, and no - more. I were in Flint's ship when he buried the treasure; he and six along—six - strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us standing off and on - in the old <i>Walrus</i>. One fine day up went the signal, and here come Flint by - himself in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. The sun - was getting up, and mortal white he looked about the cutwater. But, there - he was, you mind, and the six all dead—dead and buried. How he done - it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden - death, leastways—him against six. Billy Bones was the mate; Long - John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him where the treasure was. - 'Ah,' says he, 'you can go ashore, if you like, and stay,' he says; 'but - as for the ship, she'll beat up for more, by thunder!' That's what he - said. - </p> - <p> - "Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this island. - 'Boys,' said I, 'here's Flint's treasure; let's land and find it.' The - cap'n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and - landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had the worse - word for me, until one fine morning all hands went aboard. 'As for you, - Benjamin Gunn,' says they, 'here's a musket,' they says, 'and a spade, and - pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flint's money for yourself,' they - says. - </p> - <p> - "Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite of Christian diet - from that day to this. But now, you look here; look at me. Do I look like - a man before the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren't, neither, I says." - </p> - <p> - And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - </p> - <p> - "Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim," he went on. "Nor he - weren't, neither—that's the words. Three years he were the man of - this island, light and dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would maybe - think upon a prayer (says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of his - old mother, so be as she's alive (you'll say); but the most part of Gunn's - time (this is what you'll say)—the most part of his time was took up - with another matter. And then you'll give him a nip, like I do." - </p> - <p> - And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - </p> - <p> - "Then," he continued, "then you'll up, and you'll say this: Gunn is a good - man (you'll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidence—a - precious sight, mind that—in a gen'leman born than in these - gen'leman of fortune, having been one hisself." - </p> - <p> - "Well," I said, "I don't understand one word that you've been saying. But - that's neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?" - </p> - <p> - "Ah," said he, "that's the hitch, for sure. Well, there's my boat, that I - made with my two hands. I keep her under the white rock. If the worst come - to the worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!" he broke out. "What's - that?" - </p> - <p> - For just then, although the sun had still an hour or two to run, all the - echoes of the island awoke and bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - </p> - <p> - "They have begun to fight!" I cried. "Follow me." - </p> - <p> - And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors all forgotten, while - close at my side the marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily and - lightly. - </p> - <p> - "Left, left," says he; "keep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the trees - with you! Theer's where I killed my first goat. They don't come down here - now; they're all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of Benjamin - Gunn. Ah! And there's the cetemery"—cemetery, he must have meant. - "You see the mounds? I come here and prayed, nows and thens, when I - thought maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren't quite a chapel, but - it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you, Ben Gunn was short-handed—no - chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, you says." - </p> - <p> - So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor receiving any answer. - </p> - <p> - The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable interval by a volley of - small arms. - </p> - <p> - Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I beheld - the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART4" id="link2H_PART4"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0159m.jpg" alt="0159m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0159.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - PART FOUR—The Stockade - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 16 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0161m.jpg" alt="0161m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0161.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9161m.jpg" alt="9161m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9161.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - T was about half past one—three bells in the sea phrase—that - the two boats went ashore from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. The captain, the squire, - and I were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of - wind, we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with - us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and to - complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that Jim Hawkins - had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest. - </p> - <p> - It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for his - safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even chance - if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was bubbling in - the seams; the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; if ever a man - smelt fever and dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The six - scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in the forecastle; ashore - we could see the gigs made fast and a man sitting in each, hard by where - the river runs in. One of them was whistling "Lillibullero." - </p> - <p> - Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter and I should go - ashore with the jolly-boat in quest of information. - </p> - <p> - The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I pulled straight in, - in the direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were left - guarding their boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; "Lillibullero" - stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what they ought to do. - Had they gone and told Silver, all might have turned out differently; but - they had their orders, I suppose, and decided to sit quietly where they - were and hark back again to "Lillibullero." - </p> - <p> - There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it - between us; even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. I - jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk - handkerchief under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols ready - primed for safety. - </p> - <p> - I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - </p> - <p> - This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost at the top of a - knoll. Well, on the knoll, and enclosing the spring, they had clapped a - stout loghouse fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and loopholed - for musketry on either side. All round this they had cleared a wide space, - and then the thing was completed by a paling six feet high, without door - or opening, too strong to pull down without time and labour and too open - to shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house had them in every - way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like partridges. All - they wanted was a good watch and food; for, short of a complete surprise, - they might have held the place against a regiment. - </p> - <p> - What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For though we had a good - enough place of it in the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, with plenty of arms and - ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been one - thing overlooked—we had no water. I was thinking this over when - there came ringing over the island the cry of a man at the point of death. - I was not new to violent death—I have served his Royal Highness the - Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy—but I know my - pulse went dot and carry one. "Jim Hawkins is gone," was my first thought. - </p> - <p> - It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been a - doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made up - my mind instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore and jumped - on board the jolly-boat. - </p> - <p> - By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the water fly, and the - boat was soon alongside and I aboard the schooner. - </p> - <p> - I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire was sitting down, as - white as a sheet, thinking of the harm he had led us to, the good soul! - And one of the six forecastle hands was little better. - </p> - <p> - "There's a man," says Captain Smollett, nodding towards him, "new to this - work. He came nigh-hand fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. Another - touch of the rudder and that man would join us." - </p> - <p> - I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled on the details of - its accomplishment. - </p> - <p> - We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and the forecastle, - with three or four loaded muskets and a mattress for protection. Hunter - brought the boat round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work - loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits, kegs of pork, a - cask of cognac, and my invaluable medicine chest. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on deck, and the latter - hailed the coxswain, who was the principal man aboard. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Hands," he said, "here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. If - any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man's dead." - </p> - <p> - They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little consultation one and - all tumbled down the fore companion, thinking no doubt to take us on the - rear. But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred galley, - they went about ship at once, and a head popped out again on deck. - </p> - <p> - "Down, dog!" cries the captain. - </p> - <p> - And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, for the time, of - these six very faint-hearted seamen. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0163m.jpg" alt="0163m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0163.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat - loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I got out through the stern-port, - and we made for shore again as fast as oars could take us. - </p> - <p> - This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along shore. "Lillibullero" - was dropped again; and just before we lost sight of them behind the little - point, one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a mind to - change my plan and destroy their boats, but I feared that Silver and the - others might be close at hand, and all might very well be lost by trying - for too much. - </p> - <p> - We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to provision - the block house. All three made the first journey, heavily laden, and - tossed our stores over the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them—one - man, to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets—Hunter and I returned - to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. So we proceeded without - pausing to take breath, till the whole cargo was bestowed, when the two - servants took up their position in the block house, and I, with all my - power, sculled back to the <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - That we should have risked a second boat load seems more daring than it - really was. They had the advantage of numbers, of course, but we had the - advantage of arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before they - could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves we - should be able to give a good account of a half-dozen at least. - </p> - <p> - The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness gone - from him. He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to loading - the boat for our very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo, with - only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire and me and Redruth and - the captain. The rest of the arms and powder we dropped overboard in two - fathoms and a half of water, so that we could see the bright steel shining - far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy bottom. - </p> - <p> - By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the ship was swinging - round to her anchor. Voices were heard faintly halloaing in the direction - of the two gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and Hunter, who - were well to the eastward, it warned our party to be off. - </p> - <p> - Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and dropped into the boat, - which we then brought round to the ship's counter, to be handier for - Captain Smollett. - </p> - <p> - "Now, men," said he, "do you hear me?" - </p> - <p> - There was no answer from the forecastle. - </p> - <p> - "It's to you, Abraham Gray—it's to you I am speaking." - </p> - <p> - Still no reply. - </p> - <p> - "Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, "I am leaving this ship, - and I order you to follow your captain. I know you are a good man at - bottom, and I dare say not one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes out. - I have my watch here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to join me in." - </p> - <p> - There was a pause. - </p> - <p> - "Come, my fine fellow," continued the captain; "don't hang so long in - stays. I'm risking my life and the lives of these good gentlemen every - second." - </p> - <p> - There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst Abraham Gray - with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and came running to the captain - like a dog to the whistle. - </p> - <p> - "I'm with you, sir," said he. - </p> - <p> - And the next moment he and the captain had dropped aboard of us, and we - had shoved off and given way. - </p> - <p> - We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our stockade. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 17 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0168m.jpg" alt="0168m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0168.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's Last Trip - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9168m.jpg" alt="9168m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9168.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the first - place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely - overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them—Trelawney, Redruth, - and the captain—over six feet high, was already more than she was - meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale - was lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my - breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone - a hundred yards. - </p> - <p> - The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more - evenly. All the same, we were afraid to breathe. - </p> - <p> - In the second place, the ebb was now making—a strong rippling - current running westward through the basin, and then south'ard and seaward - down the straits by which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples - were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of it was that we - were swept out of our true course and away from our proper landing-place - behind the point. If we let the current have its way we should come ashore - beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any moment. - </p> - <p> - "I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir," said I to the captain. I - was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. "The - tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?" - </p> - <p> - "Not without swamping the boat," said he. "You must bear up, sir, if you - please—bear up until you see you're gaining." - </p> - <p> - I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward - until I had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the way - we ought to go. - </p> - <p> - "We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I. - </p> - <p> - "If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it," - returned the captain. "We must keep upstream. You see, sir," he went on, - "if once we dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say - where we should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by the - gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, and then we can - dodge back along the shore." - </p> - <p> - "The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, who was sitting in - the fore-sheets; "you can ease her off a bit." - </p> - <p> - "Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had happened, for we had - all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a little - changed. - </p> - <p> - "The gun!" said he. - </p> - <p> - "I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a - bombardment of the fort. "They could never get the gun ashore, and if they - did, they could never haul it through the woods." - </p> - <p> - "Look astern, doctor," replied the captain. - </p> - <p> - We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were - the five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called the - stout tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but it - flashed into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the powder - for the gun had been left behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it - all into the possession of the evil ones abroad. - </p> - <p> - "Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely. - </p> - <p> - At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the landing-place. By this - time we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept steerage - way even at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could keep her - steady for the goal. But the worst of it was that with the course I now - held we turned our broadside instead of our stern to the <i>Hispaniola</i> and - offered a target like a barn door. - </p> - <p> - I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal Israel Hands plumping - down a round-shot on the deck. - </p> - <p> - "Who's the best shot?" asked the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? Hands, - if possible," said the captain. - </p> - <p> - Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun. - </p> - <p> - "Now," cried the captain, "easy with that gun, sir, or you'll swamp the - boat. All hands stand by to trim her when he aims." - </p> - <p> - The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the - other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we - did not ship a drop. - </p> - <p> - They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, - who was at the muzzle with the rammer, was in consequence the most - exposed. However, we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he - stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of the other four who - fell. - </p> - <p> - The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions on board but by a - great number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction I saw - the other pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling into - their places in the boats. - </p> - <p> - "Here come the gigs, sir," said I. - </p> - <p> - "Give way, then," cried the captain. "We mustn't mind if we swamp her now. - If we can't get ashore, all's up." - </p> - <p> - "Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added; "the crew of the - other most likely going round by shore to cut us off." - </p> - <p> - "They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain. "Jack ashore, you - know. It's not them I mind; it's the round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's - maid couldn't miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we'll - hold water." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0171m.jpg" alt="0171m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0171.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so - overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were - now close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for the ebb - had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering trees. - The gig was no longer to be feared; the little point had already concealed - it from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed us, was now - making reparation and delaying our assailants. The one source of danger - was the gun. - </p> - <p> - "If I durst," said the captain, "I'd stop and pick off another man." - </p> - <p> - But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They had - never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not dead, - and I could see him trying to crawl away. - </p> - <p> - "Ready!" cried the squire. - </p> - <p> - "Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo. - </p> - <p> - And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily - under water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was the - first that Jim heard, the sound of the squire's shot not having reached - him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but I fancy it - must have been over our heads and that the wind of it may have contributed - to our disaster. - </p> - <p> - At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of - water, leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. The - other three took complete headers, and came up again drenched and - bubbling. - </p> - <p> - So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade - ashore in safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and to make - things worse, only two guns out of five remained in a state for service. - Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my head, by a sort of - instinct. As for the captain, he had carried his over his shoulder by a - bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The other three had gone - down with the boat. - </p> - <p> - To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the - woods along shore, and we had not only the danger of being cut off from - the stockade in our half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, if - Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the sense - and conduct to stand firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a - doubtful case—a pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush one's - clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - </p> - <p> - With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving - behind us the poor jolly-boat and a good half of all our powder and - provisions. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 18 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0175m.jpg" alt="0175m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0175.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day's Fighting - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9175m.jpg" alt="9175m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9175.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - E made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from - the stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers rang - nearer. Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking of - the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - </p> - <p> - I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest and looked to my - priming. - </p> - <p> - "Captain," said I, "Trelawney is the dead shot. Give him your gun; his own - is useless." - </p> - <p> - They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since - the beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his heel to see that all was - fit for service. At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I handed - him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him spit in his hand, - knit his brows, and make the blade sing through the air. It was plain from - every line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - </p> - <p> - Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and saw the stockade - in front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle of the south - side, and almost at the same time, seven mutineers—Job Anderson, the - boatswain, at their head—appeared in full cry at the southwestern - corner. - </p> - <p> - They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, not only the - squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block house, had time to fire. - The four shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did the - business: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without - hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - </p> - <p> - After reloading, we walked down the outside of the palisade to see to the - fallen enemy. He was stone dead—shot through the heart. - </p> - <p> - We began to rejoice over our good success when just at that moment a - pistol cracked in the bush, a ball whistled close past my ear, and poor - Tom Redruth stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the squire - and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing to aim at, it is probable - we only wasted powder. Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor - Tom. - </p> - <p> - The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an - eye that all was over. - </p> - <p> - I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered the mutineers - once more, for we were suffered without further molestation to get the - poor old gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, groaning and - bleeding, into the log-house. - </p> - <p> - Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint, fear, - or even acquiescence from the very beginning of our troubles till now, - when we had laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a - Trojan behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every order - silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of our party by a score of - years; and now, sullen, old, serviceable servant, it was he that was to - die. - </p> - <p> - The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and kissed his hand, - crying like a child. - </p> - <p> - "Be I going, doctor?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "Tom, my man," said I, "you're going home." - </p> - <p> - "I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first," he replied. - </p> - <p> - "Tom," said the squire, "say you forgive me, won't you?" - </p> - <p> - "Would that be respectful like, from me to you, squire?" was the answer. - "Howsoever, so be it, amen!" - </p> - <p> - After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read a - prayer. "It's the custom, sir," he added apologetically. And not long - after, without another word, he passed away. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be wonderfully swollen - about the chest and pockets, had turned out a great many various stores—the - British colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, the log-book, - and pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish fir-tree lying felled and - trimmed in the enclosure, and with the help of Hunter he had set it up at - the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed and made an angle. - Then, climbing on the roof, he had with his own hand bent and run up the - colours. - </p> - <p> - This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the log-house and set - about counting up the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had an eye - on Tom's passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward - with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - </p> - <p> - "Don't you take on, sir," he said, shaking the squire's hand. "All's well - with him; no fear for a hand that's been shot down in his duty to captain - and owner. It mayn't be good divinity, but it's a fact." - </p> - <p> - Then he pulled me aside. - </p> - <p> - "Dr. Livesey," he said, "in how many weeks do you and squire expect the - consort?" - </p> - <p> - I told him it was a question not of weeks but of months, that if we were - not back by the end of August Blandly was to send to find us, but neither - sooner nor later. "You can calculate for yourself," I said. - </p> - <p> - "Why, yes," returned the captain, scratching his head; "and making a large - allowance, sir, for all the gifts of Providence, I should say we were - pretty close hauled." - </p> - <p> - "How do you mean?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "It's a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's what I mean," replied - the captain. "As for powder and shot, we'll do. But the rations are short, - very short—so short, Dr. Livesey, that we're perhaps as well without - that extra mouth." - </p> - <p> - And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - </p> - <p> - Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the - roof of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. - </p> - <p> - "Oho!" said the captain. "Blaze away! You've little enough powder already, - my lads." - </p> - <p> - At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball descended inside the - stockade, scattering a cloud of sand but doing no further damage. - </p> - <p> - "Captain," said the squire, "the house is quite invisible from the ship. - It must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it - in?" - </p> - <p> - "Strike my colours!" cried the captain. "No, sir, not I"; and as soon as - he had said the words, I think we all agreed with him. For it was not only - a piece of stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy besides and - showed our enemies that we despised their cannonade. - </p> - <p> - All through the evening they kept thundering away. Ball after ball flew - over or fell short or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they had to - fire so high that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft sand. - We had no ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the roof of - the log-house and out again through the floor, we soon got used to that - sort of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - </p> - <p> - "There is one good thing about all this," observed the captain; "the wood - in front of us is likely clear. The ebb has made a good while; our stores - should be uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork." - </p> - <p> - Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward. Well armed, they stole out - of the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers were - bolder than we fancied or they put more trust in Israel's gunnery. For - four or five of them were busy carrying off our stores and wading out with - them to one of the gigs that lay close by, pulling an oar or so to hold - her steady against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in command; - and every man of them was now provided with a musket from some secret - magazine of their own. - </p> - <p> - The captain sat down to his log, and here is the beginning of the entry: - </p> -<blockquote> - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship's - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner's servants, landsmen—being all that is left - faithful of the ship's company—with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner's servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy— -</blockquote> - <p> - And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim Hawkins' fate. - </p> - <p> - A hail on the land side. - </p> - <p> - "Somebody hailing us," said Hunter, who was on guard. - </p> - <p> - "Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that you?" came the cries. - </p> - <p> - And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come - climbing over the stockade. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0179m.jpg" alt="0179m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0179.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 19 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0182m.jpg" alt="0182m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0182.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9182m.jpg" alt="9182m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9182.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - S soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the - arm, and sat down. - </p> - <p> - "Now," said he, "there's your friends, sure enough." - </p> - <p> - "Far more likely it's the mutineers," I answered. - </p> - <p> - "That!" he cried. "Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but - gen'lemen of fortune, Silver would fly the Jolly Roger, you don't make no - doubt of that. No, that's your friends. There's been blows too, and I - reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here they are ashore in - the old stockade, as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the - man to have a headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were never - seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y Silver—Silver was that - genteel." - </p> - <p> - "Well," said I, "that may be so, and so be it; all the more reason that I - should hurry on and join my friends." - </p> - <p> - "Nay, mate," returned Ben, "not you. You're a good boy, or I'm mistook; - but you're on'y a boy, all told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn't bring - me there, where you're going—not rum wouldn't, till I see your born - gen'leman and gets it on his word of honour. And you won't forget my - words; 'A precious sight (that's what you'll say), a precious sight more - confidence'—and then nips him." - </p> - <p> - And he pinched me the third time with the same air of cleverness. - </p> - <p> - "And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find him, Jim. Just wheer - you found him today. And him that comes is to have a white thing in his - hand, and he's to come alone. Oh! And you'll say this: 'Ben Gunn,' says - you, 'has reasons of his own.'" - </p> - <p> - "Well," said I, "I believe I understand. You have something to propose, - and you wish to see the squire or the doctor, and you're to be found where - I found you. Is that all?" - </p> - <p> - "And when? says you," he added. "Why, from about noon observation to about - six bells." - </p> - <p> - "Good," said I, "and now may I go?" - </p> - <p> - "You won't forget?" he inquired anxiously. "Precious sight, and reasons of - his own, says you. Reasons of his own; that's the mainstay; as between man - and man. Well, then"—still holding me—"I reckon you can go, - Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn't go for to sell Ben - Gunn? Wild horses wouldn't draw it from you? No, says you. And if them - pirates camp ashore, Jim, what would you say but there'd be widders in the - morning?" - </p> - <p> - Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannonball came tearing - through the trees and pitched in the sand not a hundred yards from where - we two were talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his heels in - a different direction. - </p> - <p> - For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the island, and balls kept - crashing through the woods. I moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, - always pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying missiles. But - towards the end of the bombardment, though still I durst not venture in - the direction of the stockade, where the balls fell oftenest, I had begun, - in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and after a long detour to the - east, crept down among the shore-side trees. - </p> - <p> - The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the - woods and ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was - far out, and great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat - of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - </p> - <p> - The <i>Hispaniola</i> still lay where she had anchored; but, sure enough, there - was the Jolly Roger—the black flag of piracy—flying from her - peak. Even as I looked, there came another red flash and another report - that sent the echoes clattering, and one more round-shot whistled through - the air. It was the last of the cannonade. - </p> - <p> - I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded the attack. Men - were demolishing something with axes on the beach near the stockade—the - poor jolly-boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the - river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and between that point - and the ship one of the gigs kept coming and going, the men, whom I had - seen so gloomy, shouting at the oars like children. But there was a sound - in their voices which suggested rum. - </p> - <p> - At length I thought I might return towards the stockade. I was pretty far - down on the low, sandy spit that encloses the anchorage to the east, and - is joined at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my feet, - I saw, some distance further down the spit and rising from among low - bushes, an isolated rock, pretty high, and peculiarly white in colour. It - occurred to me that this might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn had - spoken and that some day or other a boat might be wanted and I should know - where to look for one. - </p> - <p> - Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or shoreward - side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the faithful party. - </p> - <p> - I had soon told my story and began to look about me. The log-house was - made of unsquared trunks of pine—roof, walls, and floor. The latter - stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the - surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, and under this porch - the little spring welled up into an artificial basin of a rather odd kind—no - other than a great ship's kettle of iron, with the bottom knocked out, and - sunk "to her bearings," as the captain said, among the sand. - </p> - <p> - Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one corner - there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron - basket to contain the fire. - </p> - <p> - The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade had been - cleared of timber to build the house, and we could see by the stumps what - a fine and lofty grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had been - washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the trees; only where - the streamlet ran down from the kettle a thick bed of moss and some ferns - and little creeping bushes were still green among the sand. Very close - around the stockade—too close for defence, they said—the wood - still flourished high and dense, all of fir on the land side, but towards - the sea with a large admixture of live-oaks. - </p> - <p> - The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every - chink of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain - of fine sand. There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our - suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle, for all - the world like porridge beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole - in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way out, - and the rest eddied about the house and kept us coughing and piping the - eye. - </p> - <p> - Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied up in a bandage for - a cut he had got in breaking away from the mutineers and that poor old Tom - Redruth, still unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, under the - Union Jack. - </p> - <p> - If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have fallen in the - blues, but Captain Smollett was never the man for that. All hands were - called up before him, and he divided us into watches. The doctor and Gray - and I for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. Tired though - we all were, two were sent out for firewood; two more were set to dig a - grave for Redruth; the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at the - door; and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping up our - spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - </p> - <p> - From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little air and to rest - his eyes, which were almost smoked out of his head, and whenever he did - so, he had a word for me. - </p> - <p> - "That man Smollett," he said once, "is a better man than I am. And when I - say that it means a deal, Jim." - </p> - <p> - Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then he put his head on - one side, and looked at me. - </p> - <p> - "Is this Ben Gunn a man?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "I do not know, sir," said I. "I am not very sure whether he's sane." - </p> - <p> - "If there's any doubt about the matter, he is," returned the doctor. "A - man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, - can't expect to appear as sane as you or me. It doesn't lie in human - nature. Was it cheese you said he had a fancy for?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes, sir, cheese," I answered. - </p> - <p> - "Well, Jim," says he, "just see the good that comes of being dainty in - your food. You've seen my snuff-box, haven't you? And you never saw me - take snuff, the reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of - Parmesan cheese—a cheese made in Italy, very nutritious. Well, - that's for Ben Gunn!" - </p> - <p> - Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand and stood round him - for a while bare-headed in the breeze. A good deal of firewood had been - got in, but not enough for the captain's fancy, and he shook his head over - it and told us we "must get back to this tomorrow rather livelier." Then, - when we had eaten our pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, - the three chiefs got together in a corner to discuss our prospects. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0187m.jpg" alt="0187m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0187.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the stores being so - low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. - But our best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until - they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the <i>Hispaniola</i>. From - nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, - and one at least—the man shot beside the gun—severely wounded, - if he were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we were to take - it, saving our own lives, with the extremest care. And besides that, we - had two able allies—rum and the climate. - </p> - <p> - As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear - them roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, the - doctor staked his wig that, camped where they were in the marsh and - unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on their backs before - a week. - </p> - <p> - "So," he added, "if we are not all shot down first they'll be glad to be - packing in the schooner. It's always a ship, and they can get to - buccaneering again, I suppose." - </p> - <p> - "First ship that ever I lost," said Captain Smollett. - </p> - <p> - I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to sleep, which was not - till after a great deal of tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - </p> - <p> - The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and increased the - pile of firewood by about half as much again when I was wakened by a - bustle and the sound of voices. - </p> - <p> - "Flag of truce!" I heard someone say; and then, immediately after, with a - cry of surprise, "Silver himself!" - </p> - <p> - And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the - wall. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 20 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0190m.jpg" alt="0190m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0190.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Silver's Embassy - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9190m.jpg" alt="9190m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9190.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - URE enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them - waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, - standing placidly by. - </p> - <p> - It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever was - abroad in—a chill that pierced into the marrow. The sky was bright - and cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. - But where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still in shadow, and - they waded knee-deep in a low white vapour that had crawled during the - night out of the morass. The chill and the vapour taken together told a - poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot. - </p> - <p> - "Keep indoors, men," said the captain. "Ten to one this is a trick." - </p> - <p> - Then he hailed the buccaneer. - </p> - <p> - "Who goes? Stand, or we fire." - </p> - <p> - "Flag of truce," cried Silver. - </p> - <p> - The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully out of the way of - a treacherous shot, should any be intended. He turned and spoke to us, - "Doctor's watch on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, if you - please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, all hands to load - muskets. Lively, men, and careful." - </p> - <p> - And then he turned again to the mutineers. - </p> - <p> - "And what do you want with your flag of truce?" he cried. - </p> - <p> - This time it was the other man who replied. - </p> - <p> - "Cap'n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms," he shouted. - </p> - <p> - "Cap'n Silver! Don't know him. Who's he?" cried the captain. And we could - hear him adding to himself, "Cap'n, is it? My heart, and here's - promotion!" - </p> - <p> - Long John answered for himself. "Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me - cap'n, after your desertion, sir"—laying a particular emphasis upon - the word "desertion." "We're willing to submit, if we can come to terms, - and no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap'n Smollett, to let me - safe and sound out of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o' - shot before a gun is fired." - </p> - <p> - "My man," said Captain Smollett, "I have not the slightest desire to talk - to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can come, that's all. If there's - any treachery, it'll be on your side, and the Lord help you." - </p> - <p> - "That's enough, cap'n," shouted Long John cheerily. "A word from you's - enough. I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - We could see the man who carried the flag of truce attempting to hold - Silver back. Nor was that wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the - captain's answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped him on the - back as if the idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he advanced to the - stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and - skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the other - side. - </p> - <p> - I will confess that I was far too much taken up with what was going on to - be of the slightest use as sentry; indeed, I had already deserted my - eastern loophole and crept up behind the captain, who had now seated - himself on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his head in his - hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as it bubbled out of the old iron - kettle in the sand. He was whistling "Come, Lasses and Lads." - </p> - <p> - Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. What with the - steepness of the incline, the thick tree stumps, and the soft sand, he and - his crutch were as helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a - man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, whom he saluted in - the handsomest style. He was tricked out in his best; an immense blue - coat, thick with brass buttons, hung as low as to his knees, and a fine - laced hat was set on the back of his head. - </p> - <p> - "Here you are, my man," said the captain, raising his head. "You had - better sit down." - </p> - <p> - "You ain't a-going to let me inside, cap'n?" complained Long John. "It's a - main cold morning, to be sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand." - </p> - <p> - "Why, Silver," said the captain, "if you had pleased to be an honest man, - you might have been sitting in your galley. It's your own doing. You're - either my ship's cook—and then you were treated handsome—or - Cap'n Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!" - </p> - <p> - "Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, sitting down as he was bidden - on the sand, "you'll have to give me a hand up again, that's all. A sweet - pretty place you have of it here. Ah, there's Jim! The top of the morning - to you, Jim. Doctor, here's my service. Why, there you all are together - like a happy family, in a manner of speaking." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0190m.jpg" alt="0190m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0190.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - "If you have anything to say, my man, better say it," said the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Right you were, Cap'n Smollett," replied Silver. "Dooty is dooty, to be - sure. Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last night. I - don't deny it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a - handspike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some of my people was - shook—maybe all was shook; maybe I was shook myself; maybe that's - why I'm here for terms. But you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by - thunder! We'll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so on the rum. - Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind's eye. But I'll tell you I - was sober; I was on'y dog tired; and if I'd awoke a second sooner, I'd 'a - caught you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I got round to him, - not he." - </p> - <p> - "Well?" says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - </p> - <p> - All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have guessed - it from his tone. As for me, I began to have an inkling. Ben Gunn's last - words came back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid the - buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk together round their fire, and - I reckoned up with glee that we had only fourteen enemies to deal with. - </p> - <p> - "Well, here it is," said Silver. "We want that treasure, and we'll have it—that's - our point! You would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; and that's - yours. You have a chart, haven't you?" - </p> - <p> - "That's as may be," replied the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, well, you have, I know that," returned Long John. "You needn't be so - husky with a man; there ain't a particle of service in that, and you may - lay to it. What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant you no - harm, myself." - </p> - <p> - "That won't do with me, my man," interrupted the captain. "We know exactly - what you meant to do, and we don't care, for now, you see, you can't do - it." - </p> - <p> - And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded to fill a pipe. - </p> - <p> - "If Abe Gray—" Silver broke out. - </p> - <p> - "Avast there!" cried Mr. Smollett. "Gray told me nothing, and I asked him - nothing; and what's more, I would see you and him and this whole island - blown clean out of the water into blazes first. So there's my mind for - you, my man, on that." - </p> - <p> - This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been - growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. - </p> - <p> - "Like enough," said he. "I would set no limits to what gentlemen might - consider shipshape, or might not, as the case were. And seein' as how you - are about to take a pipe, cap'n, I'll make so free as do likewise." - </p> - <p> - And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat silently smoking - for quite a while, now looking each other in the face, now stopping their - tobacco, now leaning forward to spit. It was as good as the play to see - them. - </p> - <p> - "Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the chart to get the - treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in - while asleep. You do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come - aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I'll give you my - affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or - if that ain't to your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having old - scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, you can. We'll divide - stores with you, man for man; and I'll give my affy-davy, as before to - speak the first ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you up. Now, - you'll own that's talking. Handsomer you couldn't look to get, now you. - And I hope"—raising his voice—"that all hands in this here - block house will overhaul my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to - all." - </p> - <p> - Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the ashes of his pipe - in the palm of his left hand. - </p> - <p> - "Is that all?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "Every last word, by thunder!" answered John. "Refuse that, and you've - seen the last of me but musket-balls." - </p> - <p> - "Very good," said the captain. "Now you'll hear me. If you'll come up one - by one, unarmed, I'll engage to clap you all in irons and take you home to - a fair trial in England. If you won't, my name is Alexander Smollett, I've - flown my sovereign's colours, and I'll see you all to Davy Jones. You - can't find the treasure. You can't sail the ship—there's not a man - among you fit to sail the ship. You can't fight us—Gray, there, got - away from five of you. Your ship's in irons, Master Silver; you're on a - lee shore, and so you'll find. I stand here and tell you so; and they're - the last good words you'll get from me, for in the name of heaven, I'll - put a bullet in your back when next I meet you. Tramp, my lad. Bundle out - of this, please, hand over hand, and double quick." - </p> - <p> - Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath. He - shook the fire out of his pipe. - </p> - <p> - "Give me a hand up!" he cried. - </p> - <p> - "Not I," returned the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Who'll give me a hand up?" he roared. - </p> - <p> - Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest imprecations, he crawled - along the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself again - upon his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - </p> - <p> - "There!" he cried. "That's what I think of ye. Before an hour's out, I'll - stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, - laugh! Before an hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them that - die'll be the lucky ones." - </p> - <p> - And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was - helped across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with - the flag of truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the - trees. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 21 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0198m.jpg" alt="0198m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0198.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Attack - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9198m.jpg" alt="9198m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9198.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - S soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely watching - him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a man of us at - his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry. - </p> - <p> - "Quarters!" he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places, - "Gray," he said, "I'll put your name in the log; you've stood by your duty - like a seaman. Mr. Trelawney, I'm surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I thought - you had worn the king's coat! If that was how you served at Fontenoy, sir, - you'd have been better in your berth." - </p> - <p> - The doctor's watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy - loading the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be - certain, and a flea in his ear, as the saying is. - </p> - <p> - The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke. - </p> - <p> - "My lads," said he, "I've given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in - red-hot on purpose; and before the hour's out, as he said, we shall be - boarded. We're outnumbered, I needn't tell you that, but we fight in - shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought with discipline. - I've no manner of doubt that we can drub them, if you choose." - </p> - <p> - Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all was clear. - </p> - <p> - On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two - loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the - north side, five. There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; - the firewood had been built into four piles—tables, you might say—one - about the middle of each side, and on each of these tables some ammunition - and four loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders. In - the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - </p> - <p> - "Toss out the fire," said the captain; "the chill is past, and we mustn't - have smoke in our eyes." - </p> - <p> - The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. Trelawney, and the - embers smothered among sand. - </p> - <p> - "Hawkins hasn't had his breakfast. Hawkins, help yourself, and back to - your post to eat it," continued Captain Smollett. "Lively, now, my lad; - you'll want it before you've done. Hunter, serve out a round of brandy to - all hands." - </p> - <p> - And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the - plan of the defence. - </p> - <p> - "Doctor, you will take the door," he resumed. "See, and don't expose - yourself; keep within, and fire through the porch. Hunter, take the east - side, there. Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, you are - the best shot—you and Gray will take this long north side, with the - five loopholes; it's there the danger is. If they can get up to it and - fire in upon us through our own ports, things would begin to look dirty. - Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at the shooting; we'll stand - by to load and bear a hand." - </p> - <p> - As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as the sun had - climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the - clearing and drank up the vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking - and the resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets and coats - were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the neck and rolled up to the - shoulders; and we stood there, each at his post, in a fever of heat and - anxiety. - </p> - <p> - An hour passed away. - </p> - <p> - "Hang them!" said the captain. "This is as dull as the doldrums. Gray, - whistle for a wind." - </p> - <p> - And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - </p> - <p> - "If you please, sir," said Joyce, "if I see anyone, am I to fire?" - </p> - <p> - "I told you so!" cried the captain. - </p> - <p> - "Thank you, sir," returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - </p> - <p> - Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us all on the alert, - straining ears and eyes—the musketeers with their pieces balanced in - their hands, the captain out in the middle of the block house with his - mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - </p> - <p> - So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and - fired. The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and repeated - from without in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of - geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several bullets struck the - log-house, but not one entered; and as the smoke cleared away and - vanished, the stockade and the woods around it looked as quiet and empty - as before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket-barrel betrayed - the presence of our foes. - </p> - <p> - "Did you hit your man?" asked the captain. - </p> - <p> - "No, sir," replied Joyce. "I believe not, sir." - </p> - <p> - "Next best thing to tell the truth," muttered Captain Smollett. "Load his - gun, Hawkins. How many should say there were on your side, doctor?" - </p> - <p> - "I know precisely," said Dr. Livesey. "Three shots were fired on this - side. I saw the three flashes—two close together—one farther - to the west." - </p> - <p> - "Three!" repeated the captain. "And how many on yours, Mr. Trelawney?" - </p> - <p> - But this was not so easily answered. There had come many from the north—seven - by the squire's computation, eight or nine according to Gray. From the - east and west only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, therefore, - that the attack would be developed from the north and that on the other - three sides we were only to be annoyed by a show of hostilities. But - Captain Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If the mutineers - succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, they would take possession - of any unprotected loophole and shoot us down like rats in our own - stronghold. - </p> - <p> - Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzza, - a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran - straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once more - opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and - knocked the doctor's musket into bits. - </p> - <p> - The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired - again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two - back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than - hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared - among the trees. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0201m.jpg" alt="0201m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0201.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing - inside our defences, while from the shelter of the woods seven or eight - men, each evidently supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though - useless fire on the log-house. - </p> - <p> - The four who had boarded made straight before them for the building, - shouting as they ran, and the men among the trees shouted back to - encourage them. Several shots were fired, but such was the hurry of the - marksmen that not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the four - pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - </p> - <p> - The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle loophole. - </p> - <p> - "At 'em, all hands—all hands!" he roared in a voice of thunder. - </p> - <p> - At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter's musket by the muzzle, - wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, and with one - stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. Meanwhile a - third, running unharmed all around the house, appeared suddenly in the - doorway and fell with his cutlass on the doctor. - </p> - <p> - Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we were firing, under - cover, at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could not - return a blow. - </p> - <p> - The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative safety. - Cries and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol-shots, and one loud - groan rang in my ears. - </p> - <p> - "Out, lads, out, and fight 'em in the open! Cutlasses!" cried the captain. - </p> - <p> - I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the same time - snatching another, gave me a cut across the knuckles which I hardly felt. - I dashed out of the door into the clear sunlight. Someone was close - behind, I knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing his - assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell upon him, beat down his - guard and sent him sprawling on his back with a great slash across the - face. - </p> - <p> - "Round the house, lads! Round the house!" cried the captain; and even in - the hurly-burly, I perceived a change in his voice. - </p> - <p> - Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my cutlass raised, ran - round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to face with - Anderson. He roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, flashing - in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, but as the blow still hung - impending, leaped in a trice upon one side, and missing my foot in the - soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. - </p> - <p> - When I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been - already swarming up the palisade to make an end of us. One man, in a red - night-cap, with his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and - thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the interval that when I - found my feet again all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red - night-cap still half-way over, another still just showing his head above - the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath of time, the fight was - over and the victory was ours. - </p> - <p> - Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big boatswain ere he had - time to recover from his last blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in - the very act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the pistol - still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had seen, the doctor had disposed - of at a blow. Of the four who had scaled the palisade, one only remained - unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the field, was now - clambering out again with the fear of death upon him. - </p> - <p> - "Fire—fire from the house!" cried the doctor. "And you, lads, back - into cover." - </p> - <p> - But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the last boarder made - good his escape and disappeared with the rest into the wood. In three - seconds nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who had - fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of the palisade. - </p> - <p> - The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. The survivors would - soon be back where they had left their muskets, and at any moment the fire - might recommence. - </p> - <p> - The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, and we saw at a - glance the price we had paid for victory. Hunter lay beside his loophole, - stunned; Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move again; while - right in the centre, the squire was supporting the captain, one as pale as - the other. - </p> - <p> - "The captain's wounded," said Mr. Trelawney. - </p> - <p> - "Have they run?" asked Mr. Smollett. - </p> - <p> - "All that could, you may be bound," returned the doctor; "but there's five - of them will never run again." - </p> - <p> - "Five!" cried the captain. "Come, that's better. Five against three leaves - us four to nine. That's better odds than we had at starting. We were seven - to nineteen then, or thought we were, and that's as bad to bear."* - </p> - <p> - *The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by Mr. - Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound. But - this was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART5" id="link2H_PART5"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0207m.jpg" alt="0207m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0207.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - PART FIVE—My Sea Adventure - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 22 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0209m.jpg" alt="0209m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0209.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - How My Sea Adventure Began - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9209m.jpg" alt="9209m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9209.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HERE was no return of the mutineers—not so much as another shot out - of the woods. They had "got their rations for that day," as the captain - put it, and we had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the - wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the - danger, and even outside we could hardly tell what we were at, for horror - of the loud groans that reached us from the doctor's patients. - </p> - <p> - Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only three still - breathed—that one of the pirates who had been shot at the loophole, - Hunter, and Captain Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good as - dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor's knife, and Hunter, do - what we could, never recovered consciousness in this world. He lingered - all day, breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his apoplectic - fit, but the bones of his chest had been crushed by the blow and his skull - fractured in falling, and some time in the following night, without sign - or sound, he went to his Maker. - </p> - <p> - As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, but not dangerous. No - organ was fatally injured. Anderson's ball—for it was Job that shot - him first—had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not - badly; the second had only torn and displaced some muscles in the calf. He - was sure to recover, the doctor said, but in the meantime, and for weeks - to come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as speak when he - could help it. - </p> - <p> - My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite. Doctor Livesey - patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the bargain. - </p> - <p> - After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the captain's side awhile in - consultation; and when they had talked to their hearts' content, it being - then a little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, girt on a - cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket over his shoulder - crossed the palisade on the north side and set off briskly through the - trees. - </p> - <p> - Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the block house, to be - out of earshot of our officers consulting; and Gray took his pipe out of - his mouth and fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck he was - at this occurrence. - </p> - <p> - "Why, in the name of Davy Jones," said he, "is Dr. Livesey mad?" - </p> - <p> - "Why no," says I. "He's about the last of this crew for that, I take it." - </p> - <p> - "Well, shipmate," said Gray, "mad he may not be; but if <i>he's</i> not, you mark - my words, <i>I</i> am." - </p> - <p> - "I take it," replied I, "the doctor has his idea; and if I am right, he's - going now to see Ben Gunn." - </p> - <p> - I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, the house being - stifling hot and the little patch of sand inside the palisade ablaze with - midday sun, I began to get another thought into my head, which was not by - any means so right. What I began to do was to envy the doctor walking in - the cool shadow of the woods with the birds about him and the pleasant - smell of the pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes stuck to the hot - resin, and so much blood about me and so many poor dead bodies lying all - around that I took a disgust of the place that was almost as strong as - fear. - </p> - <p> - All the time I was washing out the block house, and then washing up the - things from dinner, this disgust and envy kept growing stronger and - stronger, till at last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing - me, I took the first step towards my escapade and filled both pockets of - my coat with biscuit. - </p> - <p> - I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to do a foolish, - over-bold act; but I was determined to do it with all the precautions in - my power. These biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at - least, from starving till far on in the next day. - </p> - <p> - The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already had - a powder-horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms. - </p> - <p> - As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself. I was - to go down the sandy spit that divides the anchorage on the east from the - open sea, find the white rock I had observed last evening, and ascertain - whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden his boat, a thing - quite worth doing, as I still believe. But as I was certain I should not - be allowed to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take French leave - and slip out when nobody was watching, and that was so bad a way of doing - it as made the thing itself wrong. But I was only a boy, and I had made my - mind up. - </p> - <p> - Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable opportunity. The - squire and Gray were busy helping the captain with his bandages, the coast - was clear, I made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest of - the trees, and before my absence was observed I was out of cry of my - companions. - </p> - <p> - This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as I left but two - sound men to guard the house; but like the first, it was a help towards - saving all of us. - </p> - <p> - I took my way straight for the east coast of the island, for I was - determined to go down the sea side of the spit to avoid all chance of - observation from the anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, - although still warm and sunny. As I continued to thread the tall woods, I - could hear from far before me not only the continuous thunder of the surf, - but a certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which showed me - the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. Soon cool draughts of air - began to reach me, and a few steps farther I came forth into the open - borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny to the horizon - and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam along the beach. - </p> - <p> - I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. The sun might blaze - overhead, the air be without a breath, the surface smooth and blue, but - still these great rollers would be running along all the external coast, - thundering and thundering by day and night; and I scarce believe there is - one spot in the island where a man would be out of earshot of their noise. - </p> - <p> - I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, till, thinking I was - now got far enough to the south, I took the cover of some thick bushes and - crept warily up to the ridge of the spit. - </p> - <p> - Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea breeze, as though - it had the sooner blown itself out by its unusual violence, was already at - an end; it had been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south and - south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, under lee of - Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when first we entered it. The - <i>Hispaniola</i>, in that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from the truck - to the waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - </p> - <p> - Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets—him I - could always recognize—while a couple of men were leaning over the - stern bulwarks, one of them with a red cap—the very rogue that I had - seen some hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they were - talking and laughing, though at that distance—upwards of a mile—I - could, of course, hear no word of what was said. All at once there began - the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, - though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought I - could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon her - master's wrist. - </p> - <p> - Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for shore, and the man - with the red cap and his comrade went below by the cabin companion. - </p> - <p> - Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, and - as the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw - I must lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening. - </p> - <p> - The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of a - mile further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up with - it, crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost come - when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below it there was an - exceedingly small hollow of green turf, hidden by banks and a thick - underwood about knee-deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the - centre of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat-skins, like what - the gipsies carry about with them in England. - </p> - <p> - I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, and there was Ben - Gunn's boat—home-made if ever anything was home-made; a rude, - lop-sided framework of tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of - goat-skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely small, even for - me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a full-sized - man. There was one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher in - the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0213m.jpg" alt="0213m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0213.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but I - have seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn's boat - than by saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever made by - man. But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for it - was exceedingly light and portable. - </p> - <p> - Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had had - enough of truantry for once, but in the meantime I had taken another - notion and become so obstinately fond of it that I would have carried it - out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This was to slip - out under cover of the night, cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> adrift, and let her go - ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind that the mutineers, - after their repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer their hearts than - to up anchor and away to sea; this, I thought, it would be a fine thing to - prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their watchmen unprovided - with a boat, I thought it might be done with little risk. - </p> - <p> - Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal of biscuit. It was - a night out of ten thousand for my purpose. The fog had now buried all - heaven. As the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, absolute - blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, at last, I shouldered - the coracle and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had - supped, there were but two points visible on the whole anchorage. - </p> - <p> - One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated pirates lay - carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere blur of light upon the darkness, - indicated the position of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the - ebb—her bow was now towards me—the only lights on board were - in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a reflection on the fog of the - strong rays that flowed from the stern window. - </p> - <p> - The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade through a long belt - of swampy sand, where I sank several times above the ankle, before I came - to the edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way in, with some - strength and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards, on the surface. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 23 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0217m.jpg" alt="0217m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0217.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Ebb-tide Runs - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9217m.jpg" alt="9217m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9217.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE coracle—as I had ample reason to know before I was done with her—was - a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both buoyant and - clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided craft to - manage. Do as you pleased, she always made more leeway than anything else, - and turning round and round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben - Gunn himself has admitted that she was "queer to handle till you knew her - way." - </p> - <p> - Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the - one I was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, and - I am very sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the tide. - By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was still sweeping me down; - and there lay the <i>Hispaniola</i> right in the fairway, hardly to be missed. - </p> - <p> - First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet blacker than - darkness, then her spars and hull began to take shape, and the next - moment, as it seemed (for, the farther I went, the brisker grew the - current of the ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - </p> - <p> - The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she - pulled upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the blackness, the rippling - current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. One cut with - my sea-gully and the <i>Hispaniola</i> would go humming down the tide. - </p> - <p> - So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection that a taut - hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous as a kicking horse. Ten to - one, if I were so foolhardy as to cut the <i>Hispaniola</i> from her anchor, I - and the coracle would be knocked clean out of the water. - </p> - <p> - This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not again particularly - favoured me, I should have had to abandon my design. But the light airs - which had begun blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round - after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was meditating, a puff - came, caught the <i>Hispaniola</i>, and forced her up into the current; and to my - great joy, I felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by which I - held it dip for a second under water. - </p> - <p> - With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, - and cut one strand after another, till the vessel swung only by two. Then - I lay quiet, waiting to sever these last when the strain should be once - more lightened by a breath of wind. - </p> - <p> - All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, but to - say truth, my mind had been so entirely taken up with other thoughts that - I had scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to do, I - began to pay more heed. - </p> - <p> - One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands, that had been Flint's - gunner in former days. The other was, of course, my friend of the red - night-cap. Both men were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still - drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, with a drunken cry, - opened the stern window and threw out something, which I divined to be an - empty bottle. But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they were - furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and every now and then there - came forth such an explosion as I thought was sure to end in blows. But - each time the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled lower for a - while, until the next crisis came and in its turn passed away without - result. - </p> - <p> - On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire burning warmly - through the shore-side trees. Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning - sailor's song, with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and - seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the singer. I had heard - it on the voyage more than once and remembered these words: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - "But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five." -</pre> - <p> - And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully appropriate for a - company that had met such cruel losses in the morning. But, indeed, from - what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed - on. - </p> - <p> - At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew nearer in the dark; - I felt the hawser slacken once more, and with a good, tough effort, cut - the last fibres through. - </p> - <p> - The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I was almost - instantly swept against the bows of the <i>Hispaniola</i>. At the same time, the - schooner began to turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, across - the current. - </p> - <p> - I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to be swamped; and - since I found I could not push the coracle directly off, I now shoved - straight astern. At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just - as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light cord that was - trailing overboard across the stern bulwarks. Instantly I grasped it. - </p> - <p> - Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at first mere instinct, - but once I had it in my hands and found it fast, curiosity began to get - the upper hand, and I determined I should have one look through the cabin - window. - </p> - <p> - I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near - enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded - the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin. - </p> - <p> - By this time the schooner and her little consort were gliding pretty - swiftly through the water; indeed, we had already fetched up level with - the camp-fire. The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the - innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got my - eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen had - taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; and it was only one - glance that I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me Hands and - his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the - other's throat. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0223m.jpg" alt="0223m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0223.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I was near overboard. - I could see nothing for the moment but these two furious, encrimsoned - faces swaying together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my eyes to let - them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - </p> - <p> - The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished - company about the camp-fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so - often: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" -</pre> - <p> - I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very moment - in the cabin of the <i>Hispaniola</i>, when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of - the coracle. At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed to change - her course. The speed in the meantime had strangely increased. - </p> - <p> - I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little ripples, combing over - with a sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent. The <i>Hispaniola</i> - herself, a few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled along, seemed - to stagger in her course, and I saw her spars toss a little against the - blackness of the night; nay, as I looked longer, I made sure she also was - wheeling to the southward. - </p> - <p> - I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against my ribs. There, - right behind me, was the glow of the camp-fire. The current had turned at - right angles, sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the - little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling higher, ever - muttering louder, it went spinning through the narrows for the open sea. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent yaw, turning, perhaps, - through twenty degrees; and almost at the same moment one shout followed - another from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the companion ladder - and I knew that the two drunkards had at last been interrupted in their - quarrel and awakened to a sense of their disaster. - </p> - <p> - I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and devoutly - recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end of the straits, I made sure - we must fall into some bar of raging breakers, where all my troubles would - be ended speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to die, I could not - bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - </p> - <p> - So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the - billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to - expect death at the next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a - numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even in the midst of my - terrors, until sleep at last supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay - and dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 24 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0226m.jpg" alt="0226m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0226.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Cruise of the Coracle - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9226m.jpg" alt="9226m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9226.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - T was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west - end of Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind - the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to - the sea in formidable cliffs. - </p> - <p> - Haulbowline Head and Mizzen-mast Hill were at my elbow, the hill bare and - dark, the head bound with cliffs forty or fifty feet high and fringed with - great masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile to seaward, - and it was my first thought to paddle in and land. - </p> - <p> - That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen rocks the breakers - spouted and bellowed; loud reverberations, heavy sprays flying and - falling, succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw myself, if - I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the rough shore or spending my - strength in vain to scale the beetling crags. - </p> - <p> - Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of rock or letting - themselves drop into the sea with loud reports I beheld huge slimy - monsters—soft snails, as it were, of incredible bigness—two or - three score of them together, making the rocks to echo with their - barkings. - </p> - <p> - I have understood since that they were sea lions, and entirely harmless. - But the look of them, added to the difficulty of the shore and the high - running of the surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that - landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to confront - such perils. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0229m.jpg" alt="0229m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0229.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, before me. North of - Haulbowline Head, the land runs in a long way, leaving at low tide a long - stretch of yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes another - cape—Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon the chart—buried - in tall green pines, which descended to the margin of the sea. - </p> - <p> - I remembered what Silver had said about the current that sets northward - along the whole west coast of Treasure Island, and seeing from my position - that I was already under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline - Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to land upon the - kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - </p> - <p> - There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind blowing steady and - gentle from the south, there was no contrariety between that and the - current, and the billows rose and fell unbroken. - </p> - <p> - Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; but as it was, it is - surprising how easily and securely my little and light boat could ride. - Often, as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above the - gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; yet the - coracle would but bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and subside on - the other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - </p> - <p> - I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to try my skill at - paddling. But even a small change in the disposition of the weight will - produce violent changes in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly - moved before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, ran - straight down a slope of water so steep that it made me giddy, and struck - her nose, with a spout of spray, deep into the side of the next wave. - </p> - <p> - I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back into my old - position, whereupon the coracle seemed to find her head again and led me - as softly as before among the billows. It was plain she was not to be - interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no way influence her - course, what hope had I left of reaching land? - </p> - <p> - I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for all that. - First, moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my - sea-cap; then, getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself to - study how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - </p> - <p> - I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks - from shore or from a vessel's deck, was for all the world like any range - of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The - coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, threaded, so to - speak, her way through these lower parts and avoided the steep slopes and - higher, toppling summits of the wave. - </p> - <p> - "Well, now," thought I to myself, "it is plain I must lie where I am and - not disturb the balance; but it is plain also that I can put the paddle - over the side and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove or - two towards land." No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on my - elbows in the most trying attitude, and every now and again gave a weak - stroke or two to turn her head to shore. - </p> - <p> - It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and as we - drew near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly miss that - point, I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, indeed, - close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops swaying together in the - breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without fail. - </p> - <p> - It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with thirst. The glow of - the sun from above, its thousandfold reflection from the waves, the - sea-water that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, - combined to make my throat burn and my brain ache. The sight of the trees - so near at hand had almost made me sick with longing, but the current had - soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach of sea opened out, I - beheld a sight that changed the nature of my thoughts. - </p> - <p> - Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld the <i>Hispaniola</i> under - sail. I made sure, of course, that I should be taken; but I was so - distressed for want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or - sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a conclusion, surprise - had taken entire possession of my mind and I could do nothing but stare - and wonder. - </p> - <p> - The <i>Hispaniola</i> was under her main-sail and two jibs, and the beautiful - white canvas shone in the sun like snow or silver. When I first sighted - her, all her sails were drawing; she was lying a course about north-west, - and I presumed the men on board were going round the island on their way - back to the anchorage. Presently she began to fetch more and more to the - westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and were going about in - chase. At last, however, she fell right into the wind's eye, was taken - dead aback, and stood there awhile helpless, with her sails shivering. - </p> - <p> - "Clumsy fellows," said I; "they must still be drunk as owls." And I - thought how Captain Smollett would have set them skipping. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled again upon another - tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or so, and brought up once more dead in - the wind's eye. Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and - down, north, south, east, and west, the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailed by swoops and - dashes, and at each repetition ended as she had begun, with idly flapping - canvas. It became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if so, where - were the men? Either they were dead drunk or had deserted her, I thought, - and perhaps if I could get on board I might return the vessel to her - captain. - </p> - <p> - The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. - As for the latter's sailing, it was so wild and intermittent, and she hung - each time so long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if she did - not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made sure that I - could overhaul her. The scheme had an air of adventure that inspired me, - and the thought of the water breaker beside the fore companion doubled my - growing courage. - </p> - <p> - Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another cloud of spray, but - this time stuck to my purpose and set myself, with all my strength and - caution, to paddle after the unsteered <i>Hispaniola</i>. Once I shipped a sea so - heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like a bird, - but gradually I got into the way of the thing and guided my coracle among - the waves, with only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash of foam - in my face. - </p> - <p> - I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten - on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her - decks. I could not choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men - were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do - what I chose with the ship. - </p> - <p> - For some time she had been doing the worse thing possible for me—standing - still. She headed nearly due south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each - time she fell off, her sails partly filled, and these brought her in a - moment right to the wind again. I have said this was the worst thing - possible for me, for helpless as she looked in this situation, with the - canvas cracking like cannon and the blocks trundling and banging on the - deck, she still continued to run away from me, not only with the speed of - the current, but by the whole amount of her leeway, which was naturally - great. - </p> - <p> - But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for some seconds, very - low, and the current gradually turning her, the <i>Hispaniola</i> revolved slowly - round her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the cabin window - still gaping open and the lamp over the table still burning on into the - day. The main-sail hung drooped like a banner. She was stock-still but for - the current. - </p> - <p> - For the last little while I had even lost, but now redoubling my efforts, - I began once more to overhaul the chase. - </p> - <p> - I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came again in a clap; she - filled on the port tack and was off again, stooping and skimming like a - swallow. - </p> - <p> - My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy. Round - she came, till she was broadside on to me—round still till she had - covered a half and then two thirds and then three quarters of the distance - that separated us. I could see the waves boiling white under her forefoot. - Immensely tall she looked to me from my low station in the coracle. - </p> - <p> - And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had scarce time to think—scarce - time to act and save myself. I was on the summit of one swell when the - schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was over my head. I - sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping the coracle under water. With one - hand I caught the jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay and - the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a dull blow told me that - the schooner had charged down upon and struck the coracle and that I was - left without retreat on the <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 25 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0234m.jpg" alt="0234m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0234.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - I Strike the Jolly Roger - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9234m.jpg" alt="9234m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9234.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HAD scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib flapped - and filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The schooner - trembled to her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails - still drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - </p> - <p> - This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I lost no time, - crawled back along the bowsprit, and tumbled head foremost on the deck. - </p> - <p> - I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was still - drawing, concealed from me a certain portion of the after-deck. Not a soul - was to be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since the mutiny, - bore the print of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by the neck, - tumbled to and fro like a live thing in the scuppers. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> came right into the wind. The jibs behind me - cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the whole ship gave a sickening - heave and shudder, and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard, the - sheet groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - </p> - <p> - There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on his back, as stiff as - a handspike, with his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix and his - teeth showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped against the - bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on the - deck, his face as white, under its tan, as a tallow candle. - </p> - <p> - For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse, the - sails filling, now on one tack, now on another, and the boom swinging to - and fro till the mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too - there would come a cloud of light sprays over the bulwark and a heavy blow - of the ship's bows against the swell; so much heavier weather was made of - it by this great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided coracle, now - gone to the bottom of the sea. - </p> - <p> - At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but—what - was ghastly to behold—neither his attitude nor his fixed - teeth-disclosing grin was anyway disturbed by this rough usage. At every - jump too, Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down - upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body - canting towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid - from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed - ringlet of one whisker. - </p> - <p> - At the same time, I observed, around both of them, splashes of dark blood - upon the planks and began to feel sure that they had killed each other in - their drunken wrath. - </p> - <p> - While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship - was still, Israel Hands turned partly round and with a low moan writhed - himself back to the position in which I had seen him first. The moan, - which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his jaw hung - open went right to my heart. But when I remembered the talk I had - overheard from the apple barrel, all pity left me. - </p> - <p> - I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - </p> - <p> - "Come aboard, Mr. Hands," I said ironically. - </p> - <p> - He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far gone to express - surprise. All he could do was to utter one word, "Brandy." - </p> - <p> - It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it - once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion - stairs into the cabin. - </p> - <p> - It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast - places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor was thick - with mud where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading in - the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in clear white - and beaded round with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty - bottles clinked together in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of the - doctor's medical books lay open on the table, half of the leaves gutted - out, I suppose, for pipelights. In the midst of all this the lamp still - cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - </p> - <p> - I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and of the bottles a - most surprising number had been drunk out and thrown away. Certainly, - since the mutiny began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - </p> - <p> - Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for - myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of - raisins, and a piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down my own - stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain's reach, went - forward to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of water, and - then, and not till then, gave Hands the brandy. - </p> - <p> - He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle from his mouth. - </p> - <p> - "Aye," said he, "by thunder, but I wanted some o' that!" - </p> - <p> - I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - </p> - <p> - "Much hurt?" I asked him. - </p> - <p> - He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - </p> - <p> - "If that doctor was aboard," he said, "I'd be right enough in a couple of - turns, but I don't have no manner of luck, you see, and that's what's the - matter with me. As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is," he added, - indicating the man with the red cap. "He warn't no seaman anyhow. And - where mought you have come from?" - </p> - <p> - "Well," said I, "I've come aboard to take possession of this ship, Mr. - Hands; and you'll please regard me as your captain until further notice." - </p> - <p> - He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some of the colour had - come back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still - continued to slip out and settle down as the ship banged about. - </p> - <p> - "By the by," I continued, "I can't have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by - your leave, I'll strike 'em. Better none than these." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0237m.jpg" alt="0237m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0237.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed down their - cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - </p> - <p> - "God save the king!" said I, waving my cap. "And there's an end to Captain - Silver!" - </p> - <p> - He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast. - </p> - <p> - "I reckon," he said at last, "I reckon, Cap'n Hawkins, you'll kind of want - to get ashore now. S'pose we talks." - </p> - <p> - "Why, yes," says I, "with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say on." And I went - back to my meal with a good appetite. - </p> - <p> - "This man," he began, nodding feebly at the corpse "—O'Brien were - his name, a rank Irelander—this man and me got the canvas on her, - meaning for to sail her back. Well, <i>he's</i> dead now, he is—as dead as - bilge; and who's to sail this ship, I don't see. Without I gives you a - hint, you ain't that man, as far's I can tell. Now, look here, you gives - me food and drink and a old scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, - and I'll tell you how to sail her, and that's about square all round, I - take it." - </p> - <p> - "I'll tell you one thing," says I: "I'm not going back to Captain Kidd's - anchorage. I mean to get into North Inlet and beach her quietly there." - </p> - <p> - "To be sure you did," he cried. "Why, I ain't sich an infernal lubber - after all. I can see, can't I? I've tried my fling, I have, and I've lost, - and it's you has the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven't no ch'ice, - not I! I'd help you sail her up to Execution Dock, by thunder! So I - would." - </p> - <p> - Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. We struck our - bargain on the spot. In three minutes I had the <i>Hispaniola</i> sailing easily - before the wind along the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of - turning the northern point ere noon and beating down again as far as North - Inlet before high water, when we might beach her safely and wait till the - subsiding tide permitted us to land. - </p> - <p> - Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a - soft silk handkerchief of my mother's. With this, and with my aid, Hands - bound up the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after - he had eaten a little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy, he - began to pick up visibly, sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, and - looked in every way another man. - </p> - <p> - The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like a bird, the - coast of the island flashing by and the view changing every minute. Soon - we were past the high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, - sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were beyond that again and - had turned the corner of the rocky hill that ends the island on the north. - </p> - <p> - I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased with the bright, - sunshiny weather and these different prospects of the coast. I had now - plenty of water and good things to eat, and my conscience, which had - smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the great conquest I had - made. I should, I think, have had nothing left me to desire but for the - eyes of the coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck and the - odd smile that appeared continually on his face. It was a smile that had - in it something both of pain and weakness—a haggard old man's smile; - but there was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of treachery, - in his expression as he craftily watched, and watched, and watched me at - my work. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 26 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0241m.jpg" alt="0241m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0241.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - Israel Hands - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9241m.jpg" alt="9241m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9241.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run - so much the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth - of the North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not beach - her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. - The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good many trials I - succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another meal. - </p> - <p> - "Cap'n," said he at length with that same uncomfortable smile, "here's my - old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain't - partic'lar as a rule, and I don't take no blame for settling his hash, but - I don't reckon him ornamental now, do you?" - </p> - <p> - "I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and there he lies, for - me," said I. - </p> - <p> - "This here's an unlucky ship, this <i>Hispaniola</i>, Jim," he went on, blinking. - "There's a power of men been killed in this <i>Hispaniola</i>—a sight o' - poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to Bristol. I never - seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here O'Brien now—he's - dead, ain't he? Well now, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read and - figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for - good, or do he come alive again?" - </p> - <p> - "You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know that - already," I replied. "O'Brien there is in another world, and may be - watching us." - </p> - <p> - "Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate—appears as if killing - parties was a waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don't reckon for much, - by what I've seen. I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you've - spoke up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down into that there - cabin and get me a—well, a—shiver my timbers! I can't hit the - name on 't; well, you get me a bottle of wine, Jim—this here - brandy's too strong for my head." - </p> - <p> - Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural, and as for the - notion of his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. The - whole story was a pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck—so much - was plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes never - met mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a look to - the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the time he - kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most guilty, embarrassed - manner, so that a child could have told that he was bent on some - deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw where my - advantage lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easily - conceal my suspicions to the end. - </p> - <p> - "Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you have white or red?" - </p> - <p> - "Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, shipmate," he replied; - "so it's strong, and plenty of it, what's the odds?" - </p> - <p> - "All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I'll have to - dig for it." - </p> - <p> - With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could, - slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted the - forecastle ladder, and popped my head out of the fore companion. I knew he - would not expect to see me there, yet I took every precaution possible, - and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved too true. - </p> - <p> - He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though his leg - obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved—for I could hear him - stifle a groan—yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed - himself across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the port scuppers - and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a short dirk, - discoloured to the hilt with blood. He looked upon it for a moment, - thrusting forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, and then, - hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled back again into - his old place against the bulwark. - </p> - <p> - This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about, he was now - armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, it was - plain that I was meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards—whether - he would try to crawl right across the island from North Inlet to the camp - among the swamps or whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own - comrades might come first to help him—was, of course, more than I - could say. - </p> - <p> - Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that our - interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of the - schooner. We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a sheltered - place, and so that, when the time came, she could be got off again with as - little labour and danger as might be; and until that was done I considered - that my life would certainly be spared. - </p> - <p> - While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, I had not been idle - with my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once more into my - shoes, and laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with this - for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - </p> - <p> - Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle and with his - eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. He looked - up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man who - had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his favourite - toast of "Here's luck!" Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling - out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - </p> - <p> - "Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't no knife and hardly - strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed stays! - Cut me a quid, as'll likely be the last, lad, for I'm for my long home, - and no mistake." - </p> - <p> - "Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought - myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man." - </p> - <p> - "Why?" said he. "Now, you tell me why." - </p> - <p> - "Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about the dead. You've broken - your trust; you've lived in sin and lies and blood; there's a man you - killed lying at your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God's - mercy, Mr. Hands, that's why." - </p> - <p> - I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden in - his pocket and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, for his - part, took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the most unusual - solemnity. - </p> - <p> - "For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas and seen good and bad, - better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knives - going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' - goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; - them's my views—amen, so be it. And now, you look here," he added, - suddenly changing his tone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. The - tide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders, Cap'n Hawkins, - and we'll sail slap in and be done with it." - </p> - <p> - All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was delicate, - the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but - lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be got - in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am very sure that Hands - was an excellent pilot, for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving - the banks, with a certainty and a neatness that were a pleasure to behold. - </p> - <p> - Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us. The - shores of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern - anchorage, but the space was longer and narrower and more like, what in - truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southern - end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation. It had - been a great vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to the - injuries of the weather that it was hung about with great webs of dripping - seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes had taken root and now - flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us that - the anchorage was calm. - </p> - <p> - "Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit for to beach a ship in. - Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw, trees all around of it, and flowers - a-blowing like a garding on that old ship." - </p> - <p> - "And once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get her off again?" - </p> - <p> - "Why, so," he replied: "you take a line ashore there on the other side at - low water, take a turn about one of them big pines; bring it back, take a - turn around the capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, all - hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet as natur'. And - now, boy, you stand by. We're near the bit now, and she's too much way on - her. Starboard a little—so—steady—starboard—larboard - a little—steady—steady!" - </p> - <p> - So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, till, all of a - sudden, he cried, "Now, my hearty, luff!" And I put the helm hard up, and - the <i>Hispaniola</i> swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, wooded - shore. - </p> - <p> - The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat interfered with the - watch I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I - was still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I had - quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and stood craning over the - starboard bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading wide before the - bows. I might have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a sudden - disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head. Perhaps I had heard a - creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an - instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I looked round, there was - Hands, already half-way towards me, with the dirk in his right hand. - </p> - <p> - We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine was - the shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging bully's. - At the same instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways towards - the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which sprang sharp to - leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck Hands across the - chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead. - </p> - <p> - Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner where he had me - trapped, with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the main-mast I - stopped, drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had - already turned and was once more coming directly after me, and drew the - trigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither flash nor sound; the - priming was useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my neglect. Why - had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons? Then I - should not have been as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - </p> - <p> - Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzled - hair tumbling over his face, and his face itself as red as a red ensign - with his haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeed - much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thing I saw - plainly: I must not simply retreat before him, or he would speedily hold - me boxed into the bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in the - stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of the blood-stained dirk - would be my last experience on this side of eternity. I placed my palms - against the main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited, every - nerve upon the stretch. - </p> - <p> - Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed - in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a - game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, but - never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as now. - Still, as I say, it was a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at - it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed my courage had - begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few darting thoughts on what - would be the end of the affair, and while I saw certainly that I could - spin it out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape. - </p> - <p> - Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the <i>Hispaniola</i> struck, staggered, - ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a blow, canted over - to the port side till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees and - about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes and lay, in a - pool, between the deck and bulwark. - </p> - <p> - We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost - together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still spread - out, tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my head came - against the coxswain's foot with a crack that made my teeth rattle. Blow - and all, I was the first afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the - dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deck no place for - running on; I had to find some new way of escape, and that upon the - instant, for my foe was almost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang - into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did not draw a - breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - </p> - <p> - I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot - below me as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Hands with - his mouth open and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise - and disappointment. - </p> - <p> - Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing the priming - of my pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and to make - assurance doubly sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other and - recharge it afresh from the beginning. - </p> - <p> - My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dice - going against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauled himself - heavily into the shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly and - painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and groans to haul his - wounded leg behind him, and I had quietly finished my arrangements before - he was much more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol in either - hand, I addressed him. - </p> - <p> - "One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your brains out! Dead - men don't bite, you know," I added with a chuckle. - </p> - <p> - He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of his face that he was - trying to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, in my - new-found security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he - spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity. - In order to speak he had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all - else he remained unmoved. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and we'll have to sign - articles. I'd have had you but for that there lurch, but I don't have no - luck, not I; and I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, - for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." - </p> - <p> - I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cock upon - a wall, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over his shoulder. - Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and then a - sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to the mast. In the - horrid pain and surprise of the moment—I scarce can say it was by my - own volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim—both my - pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They did not fall - alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds - and plunged head first into the water. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0219m.jpg" alt="0219m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0219.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0247m.jpg" alt="0247m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0247.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 27 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0251m.jpg" alt="0251m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0251.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - "Pieces of Eight" - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9251m.jpg" alt="9251m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9251.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - WING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, - and from my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the - surface of the bay. Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence - nearer to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to - the surface in a lather of foam and blood and then sank again for good. As - the water settled, I could see him lying huddled together on the clean, - bright sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two whipped - past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the water, he appeared to - move a little, as if he were trying to rise. But he was dead enough, for - all that, being both shot and drowned, and was food for fish in the very - place where he had designed my slaughter. - </p> - <p> - I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and - terrified. The hot blood was running over my back and chest. The dirk, - where it had pinned my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot - iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that distressed me, for - these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a murmur; it was the horror I - had upon my mind of falling from the cross-trees into that still green - water, beside the body of the coxswain. - </p> - <p> - I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my eyes as if to - cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted - down to a more natural time, and I was once more in possession of myself. - </p> - <p> - It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but either it stuck too - hard or my nerve failed me, and I desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly - enough, that very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had come - the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; it held me by a mere - pinch of skin, and this the shudder tore away. The blood ran down the - faster, to be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked to the - mast by my coat and shirt. - </p> - <p> - These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the deck - by the starboard shrouds. For nothing in the world would I have again - ventured, shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from which - Israel had so lately fallen. - </p> - <p> - I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal - and still bled freely, but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it - greatly gall me when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the - ship was now, in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from its - last passenger—the dead man, O'Brien. - </p> - <p> - He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, where he lay like - some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, life-size, indeed, but how - different from life's colour or life's comeliness! In that position I - could easily have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical adventures - had worn off almost all my terror for the dead, I took him by the waist as - if he had been a sack of bran and with one good heave, tumbled him - overboard. He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off and - remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the splash subsided, I - could see him and Israel lying side by side, both wavering with the - tremulous movement of the water. O'Brien, though still quite a young man, - was very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the knees of the - man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and fro over both. - </p> - <p> - I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just turned. The sun was - within so few degrees of setting that already the shadow of the pines upon - the western shore began to reach right across the anchorage and fall in - patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and though it was - well warded off by the hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage - had begun to sing a little softly to itself and the idle sails to rattle - to and fro. - </p> - <p> - I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I speedily doused and - brought tumbling to the deck, but the main-sail was a harder matter. Of - course, when the schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and - the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought - this made it still more dangerous; yet the strain was so heavy that I half - feared to meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The peak - dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon the - water, and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that - was the extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the <i>Hispaniola</i> - must trust to luck, like myself. - </p> - <p> - By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into shadow—the last - rays, I remember, falling through a glade of the wood and shining bright - as jewels on the flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the - tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on - her beam-ends. - </p> - <p> - I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow enough, and holding - the cut hawser in both hands for a last security, I let myself drop softly - overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was firm and - covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great spirits, leaving - the <i>Hispaniola</i> on her side, with her main-sail trailing wide upon the - surface of the bay. About the same time, the sun went fairly down and the - breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - </p> - <p> - At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence - empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers and - ready for our own men to board and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer - my fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my achievements. - Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the recapture of the - <i>Hispaniola</i> was a clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain Smollett - would confess I had not lost my time. - </p> - <p> - So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my face homeward for - the block house and my companions. I remembered that the most easterly of - the rivers which drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage ran from the - two-peaked hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction that - I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood was pretty open, and - keeping along the lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner of that hill, - and not long after waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse. - </p> - <p> - This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben Gunn, the maroon; and - I walked more circumspectly, keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had - come nigh hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the two - peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as I - judged, the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring - fire. And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show himself so - careless. For if I could see this radiance, might it not reach the eyes of - Silver himself where he camped upon the shore among the marshes? - </p> - <p> - Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself - even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the - Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few - and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among - bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked up; a pale glimmer - of moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I - saw something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and knew - the moon had risen. - </p> - <p> - With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my - journey, and sometimes walking, sometimes running, impatiently drew near - to the stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it, - I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle - warily. It would have been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down by - my own party in mistake. - </p> - <p> - The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here and - there in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and right in - front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. It was - red and hot, and now and again it was a little darkened—as it were, - the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - </p> - <p> - For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - </p> - <p> - At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing. The western - end was already steeped in moonshine; the rest, and the block house - itself, still lay in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks of - light. On the other side of the house an immense fire had burned itself - into clear embers and shed a steady, red reverberation, contrasted - strongly with the mellow paleness of the moon. There was not a soul - stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - </p> - <p> - I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a little terror also. - It had not been our way to build great fires; we were, indeed, by the - captain's orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to fear that - something had gone wrong while I was absent. - </p> - <p> - I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and at a - convenient place, where the darkness was thickest, crossed the palisade. - </p> - <p> - To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees and crawled, - without a sound, towards the corner of the house. As I drew nearer, my - heart was suddenly and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in - itself, and I have often complained of it at other times, but just then it - was like music to hear my friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in - their sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful "All's well," never - fell more reassuringly on my ear. - </p> - <p> - In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they kept an infamous - bad watch. If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping in on - them, not a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it was, thought - I, to have the captain wounded; and again I blamed myself sharply for - leaving them in that danger with so few to mount guard. - </p> - <p> - By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All was dark within, so - that I could distinguish nothing by the eye. As for sounds, there was the - steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering or - pecking that I could in no way account for. - </p> - <p> - With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should lie down in my own - place (I thought with a silent chuckle) and enjoy their faces when they - found me in the morning. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0255m.jpg" alt="0255m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0255.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - My foot struck something yielding—it was a sleeper's leg; and he - turned and groaned, but without awaking. - </p> - <p> - And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness: - </p> - <p> - "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! - Pieces of eight!" and so forth, without pause or change, like the clacking - of a tiny mill. - </p> - <p> - Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard pecking - at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, - who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - </p> - <p> - I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping tone of the - parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the - voice of Silver cried, "Who goes?" - </p> - <p> - I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran - full into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me - tight. - </p> - <p> - "Bring a torch, Dick," said Silver when my capture was thus assured. - </p> - <p> - And one of the men left the log-house and presently returned with a - lighted brand. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PART6" id="link2H_PART6"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0259m.jpg" alt="0259m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0259.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h2> - PART SIX—Captain Silver - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 28 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0261m.jpg" alt="0261m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0261.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - In the Enemy's Camp - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9261m.jpg" alt="9261m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9261.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, - showed me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in - possession of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, there - were the pork and bread, as before, and what tenfold increased my horror, - not a sign of any prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, and - my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there to perish with them. - </p> - <p> - There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another man was left - alive. Five of them were on their feet, flushed and swollen, suddenly - called out of the first sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen - upon his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round - his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently - dressed. I remembered the man who had been shot and had run back among the - woods in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - </p> - <p> - The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's shoulder. He himself, - I thought, looked somewhat paler and more stern than I was used to. He - still wore the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his mission, - but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed with clay and torn with the - sharp briers of the wood. - </p> - <p> - "So," said he, "here's Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! Dropped in, like, - eh? Well, come, I take that friendly." - </p> - <p> - And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and began to fill a pipe. - </p> - <p> - "Give me a loan of the link, Dick," said he; and then, when he had a good - light, "That'll do, lad," he added; "stick the glim in the wood heap; and - you, gentlemen, bring yourselves to! You needn't stand up for Mr. Hawkins; - <i>he'll</i> excuse you, you may lay to that. And so, Jim"—stopping the - tobacco—"here you were, and quite a pleasant surprise for poor old - John. I see you were smart when first I set my eyes on you, but this here - gets away from me clean, it do." - </p> - <p> - To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. They had set me - with my back against the wall, and I stood there, looking Silver in the - face, pluckily enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black - despair in my heart. - </p> - <p> - Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran - on again. - </p> - <p> - "Now, you see, Jim, so be as you <i>are</i> here," says he, "I'll give you a - piece of my mind. I've always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and - the picter of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always wanted - you to jine and take your share, and die a gentleman, and now, my cock, - you've got to. Cap'n Smollett's a fine seaman, as I'll own up to any day, - but stiff on discipline. 'Dooty is dooty,' says he, and right he is. Just - you keep clear of the cap'n. The doctor himself is gone dead again you—'ungrateful - scamp' was what he said; and the short and the long of the whole story is - about here: you can't go back to your own lot, for they won't have you; - and without you start a third ship's company all by yourself, which might - be lonely, you'll have to jine with Cap'n Silver." - </p> - <p> - So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly - believed the truth of Silver's statement, that the cabin party were - incensed at me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by - what I heard. - </p> - <p> - "I don't say nothing as to your being in our hands," continued Silver, - "though there you are, and you may lay to it. I'm all for argyment; I - never seen good come out o' threatening. If you like the service, well, - you'll jine; and if you don't, Jim, why, you're free to answer no—free - and welcome, shipmate; and if fairer can be said by mortal seaman, shiver - my sides!" - </p> - <p> - "Am I to answer, then?" I asked with a very tremulous voice. Through all - this sneering talk, I was made to feel the threat of death that overhung - me, and my cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - </p> - <p> - "Lad," said Silver, "no one's a-pressing of you. Take your bearings. None - of us won't hurry you, mate; time goes so pleasant in your company, you - see." - </p> - <p> - "Well," says I, growing a bit bolder, "if I'm to choose, I declare I have - a right to know what's what, and why you're here, and where my friends - are." - </p> - <p> - "Wot's wot?" repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. "Ah, he'd be - a lucky one as knowed that!" - </p> - <p> - "You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're spoke to, my friend," - cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in his first gracious - tones, he replied to me, "Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins," said he, "in - the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a flag of truce. Says he, - 'Cap'n Silver, you're sold out. Ship's gone.' Well, maybe we'd been taking - a glass, and a song to help it round. I won't say no. Leastways, none of - us had looked out. We looked out, and by thunder, the old ship was gone! I - never seen a pack o' fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if I - tells you that looked the fishiest. 'Well,' says the doctor, 'let's - bargain.' We bargained, him and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block - house, the firewood you was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of - speaking, the whole blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, - they've tramped; I don't know where's they are." - </p> - <p> - He drew again quietly at his pipe. - </p> - <p> - "And lest you should take it into that head of yours," he went on, "that - you was included in the treaty, here's the last word that was said: 'How - many are you,' says I, 'to leave?' 'Four,' says he; 'four, and one of us - wounded. As for that boy, I don't know where he is, confound him,' says - he, 'nor I don't much care. We're about sick of him.' These was his words. - </p> - <p> - "Is that all?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Well, it's all that you're to hear, my son," returned Silver. - </p> - <p> - "And now I am to choose?" - </p> - <p> - "And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that," said Silver. - </p> - <p> - "Well," said I, "I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have - to look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it's little I care. I've - seen too many die since I fell in with you. But there's a thing or two I - have to tell you," I said, and by this time I was quite excited; "and the - first is this: here you are, in a bad way—ship lost, treasure lost, - men lost, your whole business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who - did it—it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we sighted - land, and I heard you, John, and you, Dick Johnson, and Hands, who is now - at the bottom of the sea, and told every word you said before the hour was - out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable, and it was I - that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it was I who brought her - where you'll never see her more, not one of you. The laugh's on my side; - I've had the top of this business from the first; I no more fear you than - I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me. But one thing I'll say, - and no more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when you fellows - are in court for piracy, I'll save you all I can. It is for you to choose. - Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness to - save you from the gallows." - </p> - <p> - I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not a - man of them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep. And while - they were still staring, I broke out again, "And now, Mr. Silver," I said, - "I believe you're the best man here, and if things go to the worst, I'll - take it kind of you to let the doctor know the way I took it." - </p> - <p> - "I'll bear it in mind," said Silver with an accent so curious that I could - not, for the life of me, decide whether he were laughing at my request or - had been favourably affected by my courage. - </p> - <p> - "I'll put one to that," cried the old mahogany-faced seaman—Morgan - by name—whom I had seen in Long John's public-house upon the quays - of Bristol. "It was him that knowed Black Dog." - </p> - <p> - "Well, and see here," added the sea-cook. "I'll put another again to that, - by thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from Billy - Bones. First and last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!" - </p> - <p> - "Then here goes!" said Morgan with an oath. - </p> - <p> - And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had been twenty. - </p> - <p> - "Avast, there!" cried Silver. "Who are you, Tom Morgan? Maybe you thought - you was cap'n here, perhaps. By the powers, but I'll teach you better! - Cross me, and you'll go where many a good man's gone before you, first and - last, these thirty year back—some to the yard-arm, shiver my - timbers, and some by the board, and all to feed the fishes. There's never - a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a'terwards, Tom - Morgan, you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - </p> - <p> - "Tom's right," said one. - </p> - <p> - "I stood hazing long enough from one," added another. "I'll be hanged if - I'll be hazed by you, John Silver." - </p> - <p> - "Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with <i>me</i>?" roared Silver, - bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still - glowing in his right hand. "Put a name on what you're at; you ain't dumb, - I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many years, and a - son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of - it? You know the way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by your account. - Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll see the colour - of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe's empty." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0267m.jpg" alt="0267m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0267.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - </p> - <p> - "That's your sort, is it?" he added, returning his pipe to his mouth. - "Well, you're a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you - ain't. P'r'aps you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n here by - 'lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best man by a long sea-mile. You - won't fight, as gentlemen o' fortune should; then, by thunder, you'll - obey, and you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen a better - boy than that. He's more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here - house, and what I say is this: let me see him that'll lay a hand on him—that's - what I say, and you may lay to it." - </p> - <p> - There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up against the wall, - my heart still going like a sledge-hammer, but with a ray of hope now - shining in my bosom. Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, - his pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had been in - church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and he kept the tail of it - on his unruly followers. They, on their part, drew gradually together - towards the far end of the block house, and the low hiss of their - whispering sounded in my ear continuously, like a stream. One after - another, they would look up, and the red light of the torch would fall for - a second on their nervous faces; but it was not towards me, it was towards - Silver that they turned their eyes. - </p> - <p> - "You seem to have a lot to say," remarked Silver, spitting far into the - air. "Pipe up and let me hear it, or lay to." - </p> - <p> - "Ax your pardon, sir," returned one of the men; "you're pretty free with - some of the rules; maybe you'll kindly keep an eye upon the rest. This - crew's dissatisfied; this crew don't vally bullying a marlin-spike; this - crew has its rights like other crews, I'll make so free as that; and by - your own rules, I take it we can talk together. I ax your pardon, sir, - acknowledging you for to be captaing at this present; but I claim my - right, and steps outside for a council." - </p> - <p> - And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, ill-looking, - yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, stepped coolly towards the door and - disappeared out of the house. One after another the rest followed his - example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding some apology. - "According to rules," said one. "Forecastle council," said Morgan. And so - with one remark or another all marched out and left Silver and me alone - with the torch. - </p> - <p> - The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - </p> - <p> - "Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins," he said in a steady whisper that was no - more than audible, "you're within half a plank of death, and what's a long - sight worse, of torture. They're going to throw me off. But, you mark, I - stand by you through thick and thin. I didn't mean to; no, not till you - spoke up. I was about desperate to lose that much blunt, and be hanged - into the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says to myself, you - stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins'll stand by you. You're his last card, - and by the living thunder, John, he's yours! Back to back, says I. You - save your witness, and he'll save your neck!" - </p> - <p> - I began dimly to understand. - </p> - <p> - "You mean all's lost?" I asked. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, by gum, I do!" he answered. "Ship gone, neck gone—that's the - size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim Hawkins, and seen no schooner—well, - I'm tough, but I gave out. As for that lot and their council, mark me, - they're outright fools and cowards. I'll save your life—if so be as - I can—from them. But, see here, Jim—tit for tat—you save - Long John from swinging." - </p> - <p> - I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was asking—he, - the old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - </p> - <p> - "What I can do, that I'll do," I said. - </p> - <p> - "It's a bargain!" cried Long John. "You speak up plucky, and by thunder, - I've a chance!" - </p> - <p> - He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among the firewood, and - took a fresh light to his pipe. - </p> - <p> - "Understand me, Jim," he said, returning. "I've a head on my shoulders, I - have. I'm on squire's side now. I know you've got that ship safe - somewheres. How you done it, I don't know, but safe it is. I guess Hands - and O'Brien turned soft. I never much believed in neither of <i>them</i>. Now you - mark me. I ask no questions, nor I won't let others. I know when a game's - up, I do; and I know a lad that's staunch. Ah, you that's young—you - and me might have done a power of good together!" - </p> - <p> - He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - </p> - <p> - "Will you taste, messmate?" he asked; and when I had refused: "Well, I'll - take a drain myself, Jim," said he. "I need a caulker, for there's trouble - on hand. And talking o' trouble, why did that doctor give me the chart, - Jim?" - </p> - <p> - My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw the needlessness of - further questions. - </p> - <p> - "Ah, well, he did, though," said he. "And there's something under that, no - doubt—something, surely, under that, Jim—bad or good." - </p> - <p> - And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great fair head - like a man who looks forward to the worst. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 29 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0271m.jpg" alt="0271m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0271.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Black Spot Again - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9271m.jpg" alt="9271m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9271.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them - re-entered the house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which had - in my eyes an ironical air, begged for a moment's loan of the torch. - Silver briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, leaving us - together in the dark. - </p> - <p> - "There's a breeze coming, Jim," said Silver, who had by this time adopted - quite a friendly and familiar tone. - </p> - <p> - I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. The embers of the - great fire had so far burned themselves out and now glowed so low and - duskily that I understood why these conspirators desired a torch. About - half-way down the slope to the stockade, they were collected in a group; - one held the light, another was on his knees in their midst, and I saw the - blade of an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in the moon - and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat stooping, as though watching - the manoeuvres of this last. I could just make out that he had a book as - well as a knife in his hand, and was still wondering how anything so - incongruous had come in their possession when the kneeling figure rose - once more to his feet and the whole party began to move together towards - the house. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0273m.jpg" alt="0273m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0273.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - "Here they come," said I; and I returned to my former position, for it - seemed beneath my dignity that they should find me watching them. - </p> - <p> - "Well, let 'em come, lad—let 'em come," said Silver cheerily. "I've - still a shot in my locker." - </p> - <p> - The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just inside, - pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances it would - have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set down each - foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him. - </p> - <p> - "Step up, lad," cried Silver. "I won't eat you. Hand it over, lubber. I - know the rules, I do; I won't hurt a depytation." - </p> - <p> - Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more briskly, and having - passed something to Silver, from hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly - back again to his companions. - </p> - <p> - The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - </p> - <p> - "The black spot! I thought so," he observed. "Where might you have got the - paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and cut - this out of a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" - </p> - <p> - "Ah, there!" said Morgan. "There! Wot did I say? No good'll come o' that, - I said." - </p> - <p> - "Well, you've about fixed it now, among you," continued Silver. "You'll - all swing now, I reckon. What soft-headed lubber had a Bible?" - </p> - <p> - "It was Dick," said one. - </p> - <p> - "Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers," said Silver. "He's seen his - slice of luck, has Dick, and you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - </p> - <p> - "Belay that talk, John Silver," he said. "This crew has tipped you the - black spot in full council, as in dooty bound; just you turn it over, as - in dooty bound, and see what's wrote there. Then you can talk." - </p> - <p> - "Thanky, George," replied the sea-cook. "You always was brisk for - business, and has the rules by heart, George, as I'm pleased to see. Well, - what is it, anyway? Ah! 'Deposed'—that's it, is it? Very pretty - wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o' write, George? Why, - you was gettin' quite a leadin' man in this here crew. You'll be cap'n - next, I shouldn't wonder. Just oblige me with that torch again, will you? - This pipe don't draw." - </p> - <p> - "Come, now," said George, "you don't fool this crew no more. You're a - funny man, by your account; but you're over now, and you'll maybe step - down off that barrel and help vote." - </p> - <p> - "I thought you said you knowed the rules," returned Silver contemptuously. - "Leastways, if you don't, I do; and I wait here—and I'm still your - cap'n, mind—till you outs with your grievances and I reply; in the - meantime, your black spot ain't worth a biscuit. After that, we'll see." - </p> - <p> - "Oh," replied George, "you don't be under no kind of apprehension; <i>we're</i> - all square, we are. First, you've made a hash of this cruise—you'll - be a bold man to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o' this - here trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno, but it's pretty - plain they wanted it. Third, you wouldn't let us go at them upon the - march. Oh, we see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, that's - what's wrong with you. And then, fourth, there's this here boy." - </p> - <p> - "Is that all?" asked Silver quietly. - </p> - <p> - "Enough, too," retorted George. "We'll all swing and sun-dry for your - bungling." - </p> - <p> - "Well now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints; one after another - I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' this cruise, did I? Well now, you all - know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we'd 'a - been aboard the <i>Hispaniola</i> this night as ever was, every man of us alive, - and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, - by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the lawful - cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed and began this - dance? Ah, it's a fine dance—I'm with you there—and looks - mighty like a hornpipe in a rope's end at Execution Dock by London town, - it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and you, George - Merry! And you're the last above board of that same meddling crew; and you - have the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n over me—you, - that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the stiffest yarn to - nothing." - </p> - <p> - Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late - comrades that these words had not been said in vain. - </p> - <p> - "That's for number one," cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his - brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. "Why, - I give you my word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense nor - memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you come - to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade." - </p> - <p> - "Go on, John," said Morgan. "Speak up to the others." - </p> - <p> - "Ah, the others!" returned John. "They're a nice lot, ain't they? You say - this cruise is bungled. Ah! By gum, if you could understand how bad it's - bungled, you would see! We're that near the gibbet that my neck's stiff - with thinking on it. You've seen 'em, maybe, hanged in chains, birds about - 'em, seamen p'inting 'em out as they go down with the tide. 'Who's that?' - says one. 'That! Why, that's John Silver. I knowed him well,' says - another. And you can hear the chains a-jangle as you go about and reach - for the other buoy. Now, that's about where we are, every mother's son of - us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and other ruination fools of - you. And if you want to know about number four, and that boy, why, shiver - my timbers, isn't he a hostage? Are we a-going to waste a hostage? No, not - us; he might be our last chance, and I shouldn't wonder. Kill that boy? - Not me, mates! And number three? Ah, well, there's a deal to say to number - three. Maybe you don't count it nothing to have a real college doctor to - see you every day—you, John, with your head broke—or you, - George Merry, that had the ague shakes upon you not six hours agone, and - has your eyes the colour of lemon peel to this same moment on the clock? - And maybe, perhaps, you didn't know there was a consort coming either? But - there is, and not so long till then; and we'll see who'll be glad to have - a hostage when it comes to that. And as for number two, and why I made a - bargain—well, you came crawling on your knees to me to make it—on - your knees you came, you was that downhearted—and you'd have starved - too if I hadn't—but that's a trifle! You look there—that's - why!" - </p> - <p> - And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly recognized—none - other than the chart on yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I - had found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain's chest. Why the - doctor had given it to him was more than I could fancy. - </p> - <p> - But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of the chart was - incredible to the surviving mutineers. They leaped upon it like cats upon - a mouse. It went from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by - the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with which they - accompanied their examination, you would have thought, not only they were - fingering the very gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in safety. - </p> - <p> - "Yes," said one, "that's Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, - with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever." - </p> - <p> - "Mighty pretty," said George. "But how are we to get away with it, and us - no ship." - </p> - <p> - Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with a hand against the - wall: "Now I give you warning, George," he cried. "One more word of your - sauce, and I'll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I know? You - had ought to tell me that—you and the rest, that lost me my - schooner, with your interference, burn you! But not you, you can't; you - hain't got the invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and - shall, George Merry, you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - "That's fair enow," said the old man Morgan. - </p> - <p> - "Fair! I reckon so," said the sea-cook. "You lost the ship; I found the - treasure. Who's the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! - Elect whom you please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it." - </p> - <p> - "Silver!" they cried. "Barbecue forever! Barbecue for cap'n!" - </p> - <p> - "So that's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. "George, I reckon you'll have - to wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I'm not a revengeful - man. But that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? - 'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck and spoiled his - Bible, and that's about all." - </p> - <p> - "It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?" growled Dick, who was - evidently uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself. - </p> - <p> - "A Bible with a bit cut out!" returned Silver derisively. "Not it. It - don't bind no more'n a ballad-book." - </p> - <p> - "Don't it, though?" cried Dick with a sort of joy. "Well, I reckon that's - worth having too." - </p> - <p> - "Here, Jim—here's a cur'osity for you," said Silver, and he tossed - me the paper. - </p> - <p> - It was around about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, for it - had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of Revelation—these - words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my mind: "Without are - dogs and murderers." The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, - which already began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had - been written with the same material the one word "Depposed." I have that - curiosity beside me at this moment, but not a trace of writing now remains - beyond a single scratch, such as a man might make with his thumb-nail. - </p> - <p> - That was the end of the night's business. Soon after, with a drink all - round, we lay down to sleep, and the outside of Silver's vengeance was to - put George Merry up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he should - prove unfaithful. - </p> - <p> - It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows I had matter enough - for thought in the man whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own most - perilous position, and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw Silver - now engaged upon—keeping the mutineers together with one hand and - grasping with the other after every means, possible and impossible, to - make his peace and save his miserable life. He himself slept peacefully - and snored aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he was, to - think on the dark perils that environed and the shameful gibbet that - awaited him. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 30 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0280m.jpg" alt="0280m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0280.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - On Parole - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9280m.jpg" alt="9280m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9280.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - WAS wakened—indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the - sentinel shake himself together from where he had fallen against the - door-post—by a clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the - wood: - </p> - <p> - "Block house, ahoy!" it cried. "Here's the doctor." - </p> - <p> - And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the sound, yet my - gladness was not without admixture. I remembered with confusion my - insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me—among - what companions and surrounded by what dangers—I felt ashamed to - look him in the face. - </p> - <p> - He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I - ran to a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once - before, up to the mid-leg in creeping vapour. - </p> - <p> - "You, doctor! Top o' the morning to you, sir!" cried Silver, broad awake - and beaming with good nature in a moment. "Bright and early, to be sure; - and it's the early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. - George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey over the ship's - side. All a-doin' well, your patients was—all well and merry." - </p> - <p> - So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his elbow - and one hand upon the side of the log-house—quite the old John in - voice, manner, and expression. - </p> - <p> - "We've quite a surprise for you too, sir," he continued. "We've a little - stranger here—he! he! A noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit - and taut as a fiddle; slep' like a supercargo, he did, right alongside of - John—stem to stem we was, all night." - </p> - <p> - Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and pretty near the cook, - and I could hear the alteration in his voice as he said, "Not Jim?" - </p> - <p> - "The very same Jim as ever was," says Silver. - </p> - <p> - The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, and it was some - seconds before he seemed able to move on. - </p> - <p> - "Well, well," he said at last, "duty first and pleasure afterwards, as you - might have said yourself, Silver. Let us overhaul these patients of - yours." - </p> - <p> - A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim nod - to me proceeded with his work among the sick. He seemed under no - apprehension, though he must have known that his life, among these - treacherous demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his patients - as if he were paying an ordinary professional visit in a quiet English - family. His manner, I suppose, reacted on the men, for they behaved to him - as if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship's doctor and they - still faithful hands before the mast. - </p> - <p> - "You're doing well, my friend," he said to the fellow with the bandaged - head, "and if ever any person had a close shave, it was you; your head - must be as hard as iron. Well, George, how goes it? You're a pretty - colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take that - medicine? Did he take that medicine, men?" - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough," returned Morgan. - </p> - <p> - "Because, you see, since I am mutineers' doctor, or prison doctor as I - prefer to call it," says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, "I make it - a point of honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) and - the gallows." - </p> - <p> - The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. - </p> - <p> - "Dick don't feel well, sir," said one. - </p> - <p> - "Don't he?" replied the doctor. "Well, step up here, Dick, and let me see - your tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man's tongue is fit - to frighten the French. Another fever." - </p> - <p> - "Ah, there," said Morgan, "that comed of sp'iling Bibles." - </p> - <p> - "That comes—as you call it—of being arrant asses," retorted - the doctor, "and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, - and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable—though - of course it's only an opinion—that you'll all have the deuce to pay - before you get that malaria out of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? - Silver, I'm surprised at you. You're less of a fool than many, take you - all round; but you don't appear to me to have the rudiments of a notion of - the rules of health. - </p> - <p> - "Well," he added after he had dosed them round and they had taken his - prescriptions, with really laughable humility, more like charity - schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers and pirates—"well, that's - done for today. And now I should wish to have a talk with that boy, - please." - </p> - <p> - And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - </p> - <p> - George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering over some - bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of the doctor's proposal he - swung round with a deep flush and cried "No!" and swore. - </p> - <p> - Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - </p> - <p> - "Si-lence!" he roared and looked about him positively like a lion. - "Doctor," he went on in his usual tones, "I was a-thinking of that, - knowing as how you had a fancy for the boy. We're all humbly grateful for - your kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes the drugs down - like that much grog. And I take it I've found a way as'll suit all. - Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour as a young gentleman—for - a young gentleman you are, although poor born—your word of honour - not to slip your cable?" - </p> - <p> - I readily gave the pledge required. - </p> - <p> - "Then, doctor," said Silver, "you just step outside o' that stockade, and - once you're there I'll bring the boy down on the inside, and I reckon you - can yarn through the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our dooties to - the squire and Cap'n Smollett." - </p> - <p> - The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but Silver's black looks had - restrained, broke out immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver - was roundly accused of playing double—of trying to make a separate - peace for himself, of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and - victims, and, in one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was - doing. It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could not imagine - how he was to turn their anger. But he was twice the man the rest were, - and his last night's victory had given him a huge preponderance on their - minds. He called them all the fools and dolts you can imagine, said it was - necessary I should talk to the doctor, fluttered the chart in their faces, - asked them if they could afford to break the treaty the very day they were - bound a-treasure-hunting. - </p> - <p> - "No, by thunder!" he cried. "It's us must break the treaty when the time - comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots - with brandy." - </p> - <p> - And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out upon his crutch, - with his hand on my shoulder, leaving them in a disarray, and silenced by - his volubility rather than convinced. - </p> - <p> - "Slow, lad, slow," he said. "They might round upon us in a twinkle of an - eye if we was seen to hurry." - </p> - <p> - Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand to where the - doctor awaited us on the other side of the stockade, and as soon as we - were within easy speaking distance Silver stopped. - </p> - <p> - "You'll make a note of this here also, doctor," says he, "and the boy'll - tell you how I saved his life, and were deposed for it too, and you may - lay to that. Doctor, when a man's steering as near the wind as me—playing - chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like—you wouldn't - think it too much, mayhap, to give him one good word? You'll please bear - in mind it's not my life only now—it's that boy's into the bargain; - and you'll speak me fair, doctor, and give me a bit o' hope to go on, for - the sake of mercy." - </p> - <p> - Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had his back to his - friends and the block house; his cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his - voice trembled; never was a soul more dead in earnest. - </p> - <p> - "Why, John, you're not afraid?" asked Dr. Livesey. - </p> - <p> - "Doctor, I'm no coward; no, not I—not <i>so</i> much!" and he snapped his - fingers. "If I was I wouldn't say it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the - shakes upon me for the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never seen - a better man! And you'll not forget what I done good, not any more than - you'll forget the bad, I know. And I step aside—see here—and - leave you and Jim alone. And you'll put that down for me too, for it's a - long stretch, is that!" - </p> - <p> - So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out of earshot, and - there sat down upon a tree-stump and began to whistle, spinning round now - and again upon his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and the - doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they went to and fro in the - sand between the fire—which they were busy rekindling—and the - house, from which they brought forth pork and bread to make the breakfast. - </p> - <p> - "So, Jim," said the doctor sadly, "here you are. As you have brewed, so - shall you drink, my boy. Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to - blame you, but this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain - Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and - couldn't help it, by George, it was downright cowardly!" - </p> - <p> - I will own that I here began to weep. "Doctor," I said, "you might spare - me. I have blamed myself enough; my life's forfeit anyway, and I should - have been dead by now if Silver hadn't stood for me; and doctor, believe - this, I can die—and I dare say I deserve it—but what I fear is - torture. If they come to torture me—" - </p> - <p> - "Jim," the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite changed, "Jim, I - can't have this. Whip over, and we'll run for it." - </p> - <p> - "Doctor," said I, "I passed my word." - </p> - <p> - "I know, I know," he cried. "We can't help that, Jim, now. I'll take it on - my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I - cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like - antelopes." - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0285m.jpg" alt="0285m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0285.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - "No," I replied; "you know right well you wouldn't do the thing yourself—neither - you nor squire nor captain; and no more will I. Silver trusted me; I - passed my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me finish. If - they come to torture me, I might let slip a word of where the ship is, for - I got the ship, part by luck and part by risking, and she lies in North - Inlet, on the southern beach, and just below high water. At half tide she - must be high and dry." - </p> - <p> - "The ship!" exclaimed the doctor. - </p> - <p> - Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard me out in silence. - </p> - <p> - "There is a kind of fate in this," he observed when I had done. "Every - step, it's you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance that - we are going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my boy. - You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn—the best deed that ever - you did, or will do, though you live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and - talking of Ben Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!" he - cried. "Silver! I'll give you a piece of advice," he continued as the cook - drew near again; "don't you be in any great hurry after that treasure." - </p> - <p> - "Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain't," said Silver. "I can only, - asking your pardon, save my life and the boy's by seeking for that - treasure; and you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - "Well, Silver," replied the doctor, "if that is so, I'll go one step - further: look out for squalls when you find it." - </p> - <p> - "Sir," said Silver, "as between man and man, that's too much and too - little. What you're after, why you left the block house, why you given me - that there chart, I don't know, now, do I? And yet I done your bidding - with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, this here's too much. - If you won't tell me what you mean plain out, just say so and I'll leave - the helm." - </p> - <p> - "No," said the doctor musingly; "I've no right to say more; it's not my - secret, you see, Silver, or, I give you my word, I'd tell it you. But I'll - go as far with you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I'll have my wig - sorted by the captain or I'm mistaken! And first, I'll give you a bit of - hope; Silver, if we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best - to save you, short of perjury." - </p> - <p> - Silver's face was radiant. "You couldn't say more, I'm sure, sir, not if - you was my mother," he cried. - </p> - <p> - "Well, that's my first concession," added the doctor. "My second is a - piece of advice: keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, - halloo. I'm off to seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I - speak at random. Good-bye, Jim." - </p> - <p> - And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the stockade, nodded to - Silver, and set off at a brisk pace into the wood. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 31 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0289m.jpg" alt="0289m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0289.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Treasure-hunt—Flint's Pointer - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9289m.jpg" alt="9289m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9289.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - IM," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved your life, you saved - mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for it—with - the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. - Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hope I had since the - attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, Jim, we're to go in for this - here treasure-hunting, with sealed orders too, and I don't like it; and - you and me must stick close, back to back like, and we'll save our necks - in spite o' fate and fortune." - </p> - <p> - Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and we - were soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried - junk. They had lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot - that they could only approach it from the windward, and even there not - without precaution. In the same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I - suppose, three times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an - empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed and roared - again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life saw men so careless of - the morrow; hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their way of - doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, though they were - bold enough for a brush and be done with it, I could see their entire - unfitness for anything like a prolonged campaign. - </p> - <p> - Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a - word of blame for their recklessness. And this the more surprised me, for - I thought he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, mates," said he, "it's lucky you have Barbecue to think for you with - this here head. I got what I wanted, I did. Sure enough, they have the - ship. Where they have it, I don't know yet; but once we hit the treasure, - we'll have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us that has the - boats, I reckon, has the upper hand." - </p> - <p> - Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot bacon; thus he - restored their hope and confidence, and, I more than suspect, repaired his - own at the same time. - </p> - <p> - "As for hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk, I guess, with them - he loves so dear. I've got my piece o' news, and thanky to him for that; - but it's over and done. I'll take him in a line when we go - treasure-hunting, for we'll keep him like so much gold, in case of - accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we got the ship and - treasure both and off to sea like jolly companions, why then we'll talk - Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and we'll give him his share, to be sure, for - all his kindness." - </p> - <p> - It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. For my part, I was - horribly cast down. Should the scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, - Silver, already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt it. He had - still a foot in either camp, and there was no doubt he would prefer wealth - and freedom with the pirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was the - best he had to hope on our side. - </p> - <p> - Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced to keep his faith - with Dr. Livesey, even then what danger lay before us! What a moment that - would be when the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty and he - and I should have to fight for dear life—he a cripple and I a boy—against - five strong and active seamen! - </p> - <p> - Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the - behaviour of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, - their inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, - the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Look out for squalls when you find - it," and you will readily believe how little taste I found in my breakfast - and with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors on the quest for - treasure. - </p> - <p> - We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us—all in - soiled sailor clothes and all but me armed to the teeth. Silver had two - guns slung about him—one before and one behind—besides the - great cutlass at his waist and a pistol in each pocket of his - square-tailed coat. To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat - perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds and ends of purposeless - sea-talk. I had a line about my waist and followed obediently after the - sea-cook, who held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hand, now - between his powerful teeth. For all the world, I was led like a dancing - bear. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0291m.jpg" alt="0291m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0291.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The other men were variously burthened, some carrying picks and shovels—for - that had been the very first necessary they brought ashore from the - <i>Hispaniola</i>—others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the midday - meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our stock, and I could see the - truth of Silver's words the night before. Had he not struck a bargain with - the doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been - driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their hunting. Water - would have been little to their taste; a sailor is not usually a good - shot; and besides all that, when they were so short of eatables, it was - not likely they would be very flush of powder. - </p> - <p> - Well, thus equipped, we all set out—even the fellow with the broken - head, who should certainly have kept in shadow—and straggled, one - after another, to the beach, where the two gigs awaited us. Even these - bore trace of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart, - and both in their muddy and unbailed condition. Both were to be carried - along with us for the sake of safety; and so, with our numbers divided - between them, we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - </p> - <p> - As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the chart. The red cross - was, of course, far too large to be a guide; and the terms of the note on - the back, as you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, the - reader may remember, thus: - </p> -<blockquote> - <p> - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - </p> - <p> - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - </p> - <p> - Ten feet. - </p> -</blockquote> - <p> - A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right before us the - anchorage was bounded by a plateau from two to three hundred feet high, - adjoining on the north the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass and - rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy eminence called the - Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of the plateau was dotted thickly with - pine-trees of varying height. Every here and there, one of a different - species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, and which of - these was the particular "tall tree" of Captain Flint could only be - decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass. - </p> - <p> - Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had picked a - favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone shrugging - his shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there. - </p> - <p> - We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to weary the hands - prematurely, and after quite a long passage, landed at the mouth of the - second river—that which runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. - Thence, bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope towards the - plateau. - </p> - <p> - At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation - greatly delayed our progress; but by little and little the hill began to - steepen and become stony under foot, and the wood to change its character - and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a most pleasant portion - of the island that we were now approaching. A heavy-scented broom and many - flowering shrubs had almost taken the place of grass. Thickets of green - nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with the red columns and the broad - shadow of the pines; and the first mingled their spice with the aroma of - the others. The air, besides, was fresh and stirring, and this, under the - sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful refreshment to our senses. - </p> - <p> - The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting and leaping to - and fro. About the centre, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I - followed—I tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among - the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I had to lend him a hand, - or he must have missed his footing and fallen backward down the hill. - </p> - <p> - We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were approaching the brow - of the plateau when the man upon the farthest left began to cry aloud, as - if in terror. Shout after shout came from him, and the others began to run - in his direction. - </p> - <p> - "He can't 'a found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurrying past us from - the right, "for that's clean a-top." - </p> - <p> - Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something very - different. At the foot of a pretty big pine and involved in a green - creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human - skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I believe a - chill struck for a moment to every heart. - </p> - <p> - "He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had gone - up close and was examining the rags of clothing. "Leastways, this is good - sea-cloth." - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye," said Silver; "like enough; you wouldn't look to find a bishop - here, I reckon. But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't - in natur'." - </p> - <p> - Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to fancy that the body - was in a natural position. But for some disarray (the work, perhaps, of - the birds that had fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had - gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly straight—his - feet pointing in one direction, his hands, raised above his head like a - diver's, pointing directly in the opposite. - </p> - <p> - "I've taken a notion into my old numbskull," observed Silver. "Here's the - compass; there's the tip-top p'int o' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a - tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones." - </p> - <p> - It was done. The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, and - the compass read duly E.S.E. and by E. - </p> - <p> - "I thought so," cried the cook; "this here is a p'inter. Right up there is - our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it - don't make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of <i>his</i> jokes, and - no mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed 'em, every man; - and this one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my timbers! - They're long bones, and the hair's been yellow. Aye, that would be - Allardyce. You mind Allardyce, Tom Morgan?" - </p> - <p> - "Aye, aye," returned Morgan; "I mind him; he owed me money, he did, and - took my knife ashore with him." - </p> - <p> - "Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'n lying round? - Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; and the birds, I guess, - would leave it be." - </p> - <p> - "By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver. - </p> - <p> - "There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, still feeling round among the - bones; "not a copper doit nor a baccy box. It don't look nat'ral to me." - </p> - <p> - "No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; "not nat'ral, nor not nice, says - you. Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot - spot for you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what they - are now." - </p> - <p> - "I saw him dead with these here deadlights," said Morgan. "Billy took me - in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes." - </p> - <p> - "Dead—aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said the fellow - with the bandage; "but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint's. Dear - heart, but he died bad, did Flint!" - </p> - <p> - "Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged, and now he hollered - for the rum, and now he sang. 'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; and - I tell you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was main hot, - and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin' out as clear as - clear—and the death-haul on the man already." - </p> - <p> - "Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead, and he don't walk, - that I know; leastways, he won't walk by day, and you may lay to that. - Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons." - </p> - <p> - We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and the staring - daylight, the pirates no longer ran separate and shouting through the - wood, but kept side by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of the - dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 32 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0298m.jpg" alt="0298m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0298.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Treasure-hunt—The Voice Among the Trees - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9298m.jpg" alt="9298m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9298.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - ARTLY from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver and - the sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained the - brow of the ascent. - </p> - <p> - The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, this spot on which we - had paused commanded a wide prospect on either hand. Before us, over the - tree-tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf; behind, we - not only looked down upon the anchorage and Skeleton Island, but saw—clear - across the spit and the eastern lowlands—a great field of open sea - upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spyglass, here dotted with single - pines, there black with precipices. There was no sound but that of the - distant breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of countless - insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, upon the sea; the very - largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude. - </p> - <p> - Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - </p> - <p> - "There are three 'tall trees'" said he, "about in the right line from - Skeleton Island. 'Spy-glass shoulder,' I take it, means that lower p'int - there. It's child's play to find the stuff now. I've half a mind to dine - first." - </p> - <p> - "I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. "Thinkin' o' Flint—I think it - were—as done me." - </p> - <p> - "Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead," said Silver. - </p> - <p> - "He were an ugly devil," cried a third pirate with a shudder; "that blue - in the face too!" - </p> - <p> - "That was how the rum took him," added Merry. "Blue! Well, I reckon he was - blue. That's a true word." - </p> - <p> - Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon this train of thought, - they had spoken lower and lower, and they had almost got to whispering by - now, so that the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence of the - wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees in front of us, a - thin, high, trembling voice struck up the well-known air and words: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" -</pre> - <p> - I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the pirates. The - colour went from their six faces like enchantment; some leaped to their - feet, some clawed hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - </p> - <p> - "It's Flint, by ——!" cried Merry. - </p> - <p> - The song had stopped as suddenly as it began—broken off, you would - have said, in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand - upon the singer's mouth. Coming through the clear, sunny atmosphere among - the green tree-tops, I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the - effect on my companions was the stranger. - </p> - <p> - "Come," said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to get the word out; - "this won't do. Stand by to go about. This is a rum start, and I can't - name the voice, but it's someone skylarking—someone that's flesh and - blood, and you may lay to that." - </p> - <p> - His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the colour to his face - along with it. Already the others had begun to lend an ear to this - encouragement and were coming a little to themselves, when the same voice - broke out again—not this time singing, but in a faint distant hail - that echoed yet fainter among the clefts of the Spy-glass. - </p> - <p> - "Darby M'Graw," it wailed—for that is the word that best describes - the sound—"Darby M'Graw! Darby M'Graw!" again and again and again; - and then rising a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: "Fetch - aft the rum, Darby!" - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0301m.jpg" alt="0301m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0301.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes starting from - their heads. Long after the voice had died away they still stared in - silence, dreadfully, before them. - </p> - <p> - "That fixes it!" gasped one. "Let's go." - </p> - <p> - "They was his last words," moaned Morgan, "his last words above board." - </p> - <p> - Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had been well brought - up, had Dick, before he came to sea and fell among bad companions. - </p> - <p> - Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth rattle in his head, - but he had not yet surrendered. - </p> - <p> - "Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby," he muttered; "not one - but us that's here." And then, making a great effort: "Shipmates," he - cried, "I'm here to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man or devil. - I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I'll face him - dead. There's seven hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a mile from - here. When did ever a gentleman o' fortune show his stern to that much - dollars for a boozy old seaman with a blue mug—and him dead too?" - </p> - <p> - But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his followers, rather, - indeed, of growing terror at the irreverence of his words. - </p> - <p> - "Belay there, John!" said Merry. "Don't you cross a sperrit." - </p> - <p> - And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away - severally had they dared; but fear kept them together, and kept them close - by John, as if his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty well - fought his weakness down. - </p> - <p> - "Sperrit? Well, maybe," he said. "But there's one thing not clear to me. - There was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well - then, what's he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That - ain't in natur', surely?" - </p> - <p> - This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will - affect the superstitious, and to my wonder, George Merry was greatly - relieved. - </p> - <p> - "Well, that's so," he said. "You've a head upon your shoulders, John, and - no mistake. 'Bout ship, mates! This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do - believe. And come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I grant you, - but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker somebody - else's voice now—it was liker—" - </p> - <p> - "By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared Silver. - </p> - <p> - "Aye, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his knees. "Ben Gunn it - were!" - </p> - <p> - "It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asked Dick. "Ben Gunn's not here in - the body any more'n Flint." - </p> - <p> - But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - </p> - <p> - "Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn," cried Merry; "dead or alive, nobody minds - him." - </p> - <p> - It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and how the natural - colour had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, with - intervals of listening; and not long after, hearing no further sound, they - shouldered the tools and set forth again, Merry walking first with - Silver's compass to keep them on the right line with Skeleton Island. He - had said the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - </p> - <p> - Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went, with - fearful glances; but he found no sympathy, and Silver even joked him on - his precautions. - </p> - <p> - "I told you," said he—"I told you you had sp'iled your Bible. If it - ain't no good to swear by, what do you suppose a sperrit would give for - it? Not that!" and he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his - crutch. - </p> - <p> - But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that the - lad was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his - alarm, the fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing swiftly - higher. - </p> - <p> - It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little - downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the west. The - pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of - nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, - as we did, pretty near north-west across the island, we drew, on the one - hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, - looked ever wider over that western bay where I had once tossed and - trembled in the coracle. - </p> - <p> - The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearings proved the - wrong one. So with the second. The third rose nearly two hundred feet into - the air above a clump of underwood—a giant of a vegetable, with a - red column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which a - company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous far to sea both on the - east and west and might have been entered as a sailing mark upon the - chart. - </p> - <p> - But it was not its size that now impressed my companions; it was the - knowledge that seven hundred thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere buried - below its spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they drew nearer, - swallowed up their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in their heads; - their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul was bound up in - that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and pleasure, that lay - waiting there for each of them. - </p> - <p> - Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and - quivered; he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and - shiny countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to him - and from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. - Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read them - like print. In the immediate nearness of the gold, all else had been - forgotten: his promise and the doctor's warning were both things of the - past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize upon the treasure, find - and board the <i>Hispaniola</i> under cover of night, cut every honest throat - about that island, and sail away as he had at first intended, laden with - crimes and riches. - </p> - <p> - Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me to keep up with the - rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. Now and again I stumbled, and it was - then that Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his - murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought up the - rear, was babbling to himself both prayers and curses as his fever kept - rising. This also added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, I was - haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted on that - plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face—he who died - at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink—had there, with his own - hand, cut down his six accomplices. This grove that was now so peaceful - must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I - could believe I heard it ringing still. - </p> - <p> - We were now at the margin of the thicket. - </p> - <p> - "Huzza, mates, all together!" shouted Merry; and the foremost broke into a - run. - </p> - <p> - And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. A low cry arose. - Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch like one - possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead halt. - </p> - <p> - Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for the sides had - fallen in and grass had sprouted on the bottom. In this were the shaft of - a pick broken in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn - around. On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name - <i>Walrus</i>—the name of Flint's ship. - </p> - <p> - All was clear to probation. The <i>cache</i> had been found and rifled; the seven - hundred thousand pounds were gone! - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 33 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0306m.jpg" alt="0306m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0306.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - The Fall of a Chieftain - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9306m.jpg" alt="9306m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9306.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HERE never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men was - as though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost - instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a - racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; - and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the - others had had time to realize the disappointment. - </p> - <p> - "Jim," he whispered, "take that, and stand by for trouble." - </p> - <p> - And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - </p> - <p> - At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, and in a few steps - had put the hollow between us two and the other five. Then he looked at me - and nodded, as much as to say, "Here is a narrow corner," as, indeed, I - thought it was. His looks were not quite friendly, and I was so revolted - at these constant changes that I could not forbear whispering, "So you've - changed sides again." - </p> - <p> - There was no time left for him to answer in. The buccaneers, with oaths - and cries, began to leap, one after another, into the pit and to dig with - their fingers, throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found a - piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. It was a - two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand among them for a quarter - of a minute. - </p> - <p> - "Two guineas!" roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. "That's your seven - hundred thousand pounds, is it? You're the man for bargains, ain't you? - You're him that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!" - </p> - <p> - "Dig away, boys," said Silver with the coolest insolence; "you'll find - some pig-nuts and I shouldn't wonder." - </p> - <p> - "Pig-nuts!" repeated Merry, in a scream. "Mates, do you hear that? I tell - you now, that man there knew it all along. Look in the face of him and - you'll see it wrote there." - </p> - <p> - "Ah, Merry," remarked Silver, "standing for cap'n again? You're a pushing - lad, to be sure." - </p> - <p> - But this time everyone was entirely in Merry's favour. They began to - scramble out of the excavation, darting furious glances behind them. One - thing I observed, which looked well for us: they all got out upon the - opposite side from Silver. - </p> - <p> - Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other, the pit between - us, and nobody screwed up high enough to offer the first blow. Silver - never moved; he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as - cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - </p> - <p> - At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - </p> - <p> - "Mates," says he, "there's two of them alone there; one's the old cripple - that brought us all here and blundered us down to this; the other's that - cub that I mean to have the heart of. Now, mates—" - </p> - <p> - He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant to lead a charge. - But just then—crack! crack! crack!—three musket-shots flashed - out of the thicket. Merry tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the - man with the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his length - upon his side, where he lay dead, but still twitching; and the other three - turned and ran for it with all their might. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0309m.jpg" alt="0309m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0309.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels of a pistol into - the struggling Merry, and as the man rolled up his eyes at him in the last - agony, "George," said he, "I reckon I settled you." - </p> - <p> - At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined us, with smoking - muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - </p> - <p> - "Forward!" cried the doctor. "Double quick, my lads. We must head 'em off - the boats." - </p> - <p> - And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to - the chest. - </p> - <p> - I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. The work that man - went through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were fit - to burst, was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the doctor. - As it was, he was already thirty yards behind us and on the verge of - strangling when we reached the brow of the slope. - </p> - <p> - "Doctor," he hailed, "see there! No hurry!" - </p> - <p> - Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we - could see the three survivors still running in the same direction as they - had started, right for Mizzenmast Hill. We were already between them and - the boats; and so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, mopping - his face, came slowly up with us. - </p> - <p> - "Thank ye kindly, doctor," says he. "You came in in about the nick, I - guess, for me and Hawkins. And so it's you, Ben Gunn!" he added. "Well, - you're a nice one, to be sure." - </p> - <p> - "I'm Ben Gunn, I am," replied the maroon, wriggling like an eel in his - embarrassment. "And," he added, after a long pause, "how do, Mr. Silver? - Pretty well, I thank ye, says you." - </p> - <p> - "Ben, Ben," murmured Silver, "to think as you've done me!" - </p> - <p> - The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes deserted, in their - flight, by the mutineers, and then as we proceeded leisurely downhill to - where the boats were lying, related in a few words what had taken place. - It was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the - half-idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end. - </p> - <p> - Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, had found the - skeleton—it was he that had rifled it; he had found the treasure; he - had dug it up (it was the haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the - excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many weary journeys, from - the foot of the tall pine to a cave he had on the two-pointed hill at the - north-east angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in safety - since two months before the arrival of the <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the afternoon of the - attack, and when next morning he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone - to Silver, given him the chart, which was now useless—given him the - stores, for Ben Gunn's cave was well supplied with goats' meat salted by - himself—given anything and everything to get a chance of moving in - safety from the stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of - malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - </p> - <p> - "As for you, Jim," he said, "it went against my heart, but I did what I - thought best for those who had stood by their duty; and if you were not - one of these, whose fault was it?" - </p> - <p> - That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the horrid - disappointment he had prepared for the mutineers, he had run all the way - to the cave, and leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray - and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across the island to be at - hand beside the pine. Soon, however, he saw that our party had the start - of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in front to - do his best alone. Then it had occurred to him to work upon the - superstitions of his former shipmates, and he was so far successful that - Gray and the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before the - arrival of the treasure-hunters. - </p> - <p> - "Ah," said Silver, "it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. You - would have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a thought, - doctor." - </p> - <p> - "Not a thought," replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - </p> - <p> - And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, with the pick-axe, - demolished one of them, and then we all got aboard the other and set out - to go round by sea for North Inlet. - </p> - <p> - This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he was almost killed - already with fatigue, was set to an oar, like the rest of us, and we were - soon skimming swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the straits - and doubled the south-east corner of the island, round which, four days - ago, we had towed the <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben - Gunn's cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket. It was the - squire, and we waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in which - the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - </p> - <p> - Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North Inlet, what should we - meet but the <i>Hispaniola</i>, cruising by herself? The last flood had lifted - her, and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, as in the - southern anchorage, we should never have found her more, or found her - stranded beyond help. As it was, there was little amiss beyond the wreck - of the main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a fathom and - a half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, the nearest point - for Ben Gunn's treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned with - the gig to the <i>Hispaniola</i>, where he was to pass the night on guard. - </p> - <p> - A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the - top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing of - my escapade either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite - salute he somewhat flushed. - </p> - <p> - "John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain and imposter—a - monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, - I will not. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like mill-stones." - </p> - <p> - "Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting. - </p> - <p> - "I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "It is a gross dereliction of - my duty. Stand back." - </p> - <p> - And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with a - little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The floor - was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, - only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and - quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint's treasure that we - had come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen - men from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood - and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking - the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, - perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon that - island—Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn—who had each taken - his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to share in the - reward. - </p> - <p> - "Come in, Jim," said the captain. "You're a good boy in your line, Jim, - but I don't think you and me'll go to sea again. You're too much of the - born favourite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, - man?" - </p> - <p> - "Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver. - </p> - <p> - "Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said. - </p> - <p> - What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and - what a meal it was, with Ben Gunn's salted goat and some delicacies and a - bottle of old wine from the <i>Hispaniola</i>. Never, I am sure, were people - gayer or happier. And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the - firelight, but eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was - wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter—the same bland, polite, - obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - 34 - </h2> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0314m.jpg" alt="0314m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0314.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <h3> - And Last - </h3> -<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> - <img src="images/9314m.jpg" alt="9314m " width="100%" /> - <a href="images/9314.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </div> - <p> - HE next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this - great mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three - miles by boat to the <i>Hispaniola</i>, was a considerable task for so small a - number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did not - greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was - sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught, and we thought, - besides, they had had more than enough of fighting. - </p> - <p> - Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben Gunn came and went - with the boat, while the rest during their absences piled treasure on the - beach. Two of the bars, slung in a rope's end, made a good load for a - grown man—one that he was glad to walk slowly with. For my part, as - I was not much use at carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave - packing the minted money into bread-bags. - </p> -<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> - <img src="images/0317m.jpg" alt="0317m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0317.jpg"><i>Original</i></a> - </h5> - <p> - It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard for the diversity of - coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I never - had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, - Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and - moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last - hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps - of string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square pieces, and - pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round your neck—nearly - every variety of money in the world must, I think, have found a place in - that collection; and for number, I am sure they were like autumn leaves, - so that my back ached with stooping and my fingers with sorting them out. - </p> - <p> - Day after day this work went on; by every evening a fortune had been - stowed aboard, but there was another fortune waiting for the morrow; and - all this time we heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - </p> - <p> - At last—I think it was on the third night—the doctor and I - were strolling on the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands - of the isle, when, from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us - a noise between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached - our ears, followed by the former silence. - </p> - <p> - "Heaven forgive them," said the doctor; "'tis the mutineers!" - </p> - <p> - "All drunk, sir," struck in the voice of Silver from behind us. - </p> - <p> - Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, and in spite of - daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself once more as quite a privileged - and friendly dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these - slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to - ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, none treated him better than a - dog, unless it was Ben Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old - quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to thank him for; - although for that matter, I suppose, I had reason to think even worse of - him than anybody else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery - upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly that the doctor - answered him. - </p> - <p> - "Drunk or raving," said he. - </p> - <p> - "Right you were, sir," replied Silver; "and precious little odds which, to - you and me." - </p> - <p> - "I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man," returned the - doctor with a sneer, "and so my feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. - But if I were sure they were raving—as I am morally certain one, at - least, of them is down with fever—I should leave this camp, and at - whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my skill." - </p> - <p> - "Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong," quoth Silver. "You would - lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I'm on your side now, - hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let - alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down - there, they couldn't keep their word—no, not supposing they wished - to; and what's more, they couldn't believe as you could." - </p> - <p> - "No," said the doctor. "You're the man to keep your word, we know that." - </p> - <p> - Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only once - we heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting. A - council was held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the - island—to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the - strong approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk - of the salt goat, a few medicines, and some other necessaries, tools, - clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and by the particular - desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - </p> - <p> - That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the - treasure stowed and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the goat - meat in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we weighed - anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood out of North - Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain had flown and fought under - at the palisade. - </p> - <p> - The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for, - as we soon had proved. For coming through the narrows, we had to lie very - near the southern point, and there we saw all three of them kneeling - together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in supplication. It - went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them in that wretched state; but - we could not risk another mutiny; and to take them home for the gibbet - would have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor hailed them and told - them of the stores we had left, and where they were to find them. But they - continued to call us by name and appeal to us, for God's sake, to be - merciful and not leave them to die in such a place. - </p> - <p> - At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and was now swiftly - drawing out of earshot, one of them—I know not which it was—leapt - to his feet with a hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and - sent a shot whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail. - </p> - <p> - After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked - out they had disappeared from the spit, and the spit itself had almost - melted out of sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the end - of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest rock of - Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round of sea. - </p> - <p> - We were so short of men that everyone on board had to bear a hand—only - the captain lying on a mattress in the stern and giving his orders, for - though greatly recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her head - for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we could not risk the voyage - home without fresh hands; and as it was, what with baffling winds and a - couple of fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - </p> - <p> - It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most beautiful land-locked - gulf, and were immediately surrounded by shore boats full of Negroes and - Mexican Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and vegetables and offering - to dive for bits of money. The sight of so many good-humoured faces - (especially the blacks), the taste of the tropical fruits, and above all - the lights that began to shine in the town made a most charming contrast - to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island; and the doctor and the - squire, taking me along with them, went ashore to pass the early part of - the night. Here they met the captain of an English man-of-war, fell in - talk with him, went on board his ship, and, in short, had so agreeable a - time that day was breaking when we came alongside the <i>Hispaniola</i>. - </p> - <p> - Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on board he began, with - wonderful contortions, to make us a confession. Silver was gone. The - maroon had connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, and he - now assured us he had only done so to preserve our lives, which would - certainly have been forfeit if "that man with the one leg had stayed - aboard." But this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone empty-handed. He - had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and had removed one of the sacks of - coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas, to help him on his - further wanderings. - </p> - <p> - I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - </p> - <p> - Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on board, made a good - cruise home, and the <i>Hispaniola</i> reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was - beginning to think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of those who - had sailed returned with her. "Drink and the devil had done for the rest," - with a vengeance, although, to be sure, we were not quite in so bad a case - as that other ship they sang about: - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. -</pre> - <p> - All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used it wisely or - foolishly, according to our natures. Captain Smollett is now retired from - the sea. Gray not only saved his money, but being suddenly smit with the - desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is now mate and part - owner of a fine full-rigged ship, married besides, and the father of a - family. As for Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he spent or lost - in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen days, for he was back - begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a lodge to keep, exactly as he - had feared upon the island; and he still lives, a great favourite, though - something of a butt, with the country boys, and a notable singer in church - on Sundays and saints' days. - </p> - <p> - Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one - leg has at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old - Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. It - is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world - are very small. - </p> - <p> - The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where Flint - buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and - wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the - worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its - coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still - ringing in my ears: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" - </p> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE ISLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 120-h.htm or 120-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/120/ - -Produced by Judy Boss, John Hamm, Arthur DiBianca and David Widger - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* - - - - - -*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Treasure Island* - - - -Treasure Island -by Robert Louis Stevenson - - - - - TREASURE ISLAND - - To - S.L.O., - an American gentleman - in accordance with whose classic taste - the following narrative has been designed, - it is now, in return for numerous delightful hours, - and with the kindest wishes, - dedicated - by his affectionate friend, the author. - - - - - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - --So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! - - - - - CONTENTS - - PART ONE - The Old Buccaneer - - 1. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE ADMIRAL BENBOW 11 - 2. BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS . . . . 17 - 3. THE BLACK SPOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 4. THE SEA-CHEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 - 5. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN . . . . . . . 36 - 6. THE CAPTAIN'S PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . 41 - - PART TWO - The Sea Cook - - 7. I GO TO BRISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 - 8. AT THE SIGN OF THE SPY-GLASS . . . . . . 54 - 9. POWDER AND ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - 10. THE VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 - 11. WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL . . . . 70 - 12. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 - - PART THREE - My Shore Adventure - - 13. HOW MY SHORE ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . 82 - 14. THE FIRST BLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 - 15. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . 93 - - PART FOUR - The Stockade - - 16. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED . . . . . . 100 - 17. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - THE JOLLY-BOAT'S LAST TRIP . . . . . . 105 - 18. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - END OF THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHTING . . . 109 - 19. NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: - THE GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE . . . . . 114 - 20. SILVER'S EMBASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 - 21. THE ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 - - PART FIVE - My Sea Adventure - - 22. HOW MY SEA ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . . 132 - 23. THE EBB-TIDE RUNS . . . . . . . . . . . 138 - 24. THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE . . . . . . . 143 - 25. I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER . . . . . . . . 148 - 26. ISRAEL HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 - 27. "PIECES OF EIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . 161 - - PART SIX - Captain Silver - - 28. IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP . . . . . . . . . . 168 - 29. THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN . . . . . . . . . . 176 - 30. ON PAROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 - 31. THE TREASURE-HUNT--FLINT'S POINTER . . . 189 - 32. THE TREASURE-HUNT--THE VOICE AMONG - THE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 - 33. THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN . . . . . . . . 201 - 34. AND LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 - - - - - - TREASURE ISLAND - - - - PART ONE - - The Old Buccaneer - - - - 1 - - The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow - - -SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these -gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole -particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning -to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the -island, and that only because there is still treasure not -yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ -and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral -Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut -first took up his lodging under our roof. - -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came -plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following -behind him in a hand-barrow--a tall, strong, heavy, -nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the -shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and -scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut -across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him -looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he -did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that -he sang so often afterwards: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have -been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he -rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike -that he carried, and when my father appeared, called -roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought -to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering -on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs -and up at our signboard. - -"This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a -pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?" - -My father told him no, very little company, the more -was the pity. - -"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. -Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled the -barrow; "bring up alongside and help up my chest. I'll -stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum -and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up -there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? -You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're at-- -there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on -the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked -through that," says he, looking as fierce as a -commander. - -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he -spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who sailed -before the mast, but seemed like a mate or skipper -accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who -came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down -the morning before at the Royal George, that he had -inquired what inns there were along the coast, and -hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as -lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of -residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest. - -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung -round the cove or upon the cliffs with a brass -telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the -parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very -strong. Mostly he would not speak when spoken to, only -look up sudden and fierce and blow through his nose -like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came about -our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when -he came back from his stroll he would ask if any -seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we -thought it was the want of company of his own kind that -made him ask this question, but at last we began to see -he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put -up at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, -making by the coast road for Bristol) he would look in -at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a -mouse when any such was present. For me, at least, -there was no secret about the matter, for I was, in a -way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one -day and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of -every month if I would only keep my "weather-eye open -for a seafaring man with one leg" and let him know the -moment he appeared. Often enough when the first of the -month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he -would only blow through his nose at me and stare me down, -but before the week was out he was sure to think better -of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and repeat his orders -to look out for "the seafaring man with one leg." - -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely -tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shook the -four corners of the house and the surf roared along the -cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand -forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now -the leg would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; -now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had never -had but the one leg, and that in the middle of his -body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge -and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether -I paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny piece, in -the shape of these abominable fancies. - -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the -seafaring man with one leg, I was far less afraid of -the captain himself than anybody else who knew him. -There were nights when he took a deal more rum and -water than his head would carry; and then he would -sometimes sit and sing his wicked, old, wild sea-songs, -minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses -round and force all the trembling company to listen to -his stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I -have heard the house shaking with "Yo-ho-ho, and a -bottle of rum," all the neighbours joining in for dear -life, with the fear of death upon them, and each -singing louder than the other to avoid remark. For in -these fits he was the most overriding companion ever -known; he would slap his hand on the table for silence -all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a -question, or sometimes because none was put, and so he -judged the company was not following his story. Nor -would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had -drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. -Dreadful stories they were--about hanging, and walking -the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry Tortugas, and -wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own -account he must have lived his life among some of the -wickedest men that God ever allowed upon the sea, and -the language in which he told these stories shocked our -plain country people almost as much as the crimes that -he described. My father was always saying the inn -would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming -there to be tyrannized over and put down, and sent -shivering to their beds; but I really believe his -presence did us good. People were frightened at the -time, but on looking back they rather liked it; it was -a fine excitement in a quiet country life, and there -was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog" and a "real -old salt" and such like names, and saying there was the -sort of man that made England terrible at sea. - -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept -on staying week after week, and at last month after month, -so that all the money had been long exhausted, and still -my father never plucked up the heart to insist on having -more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through -his nose so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared -my poor father out of the room. I have seen him wringing -his hands after such a rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance -and the terror he lived in must have greatly hastened his -early and unhappy death. - -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change -whatever in his dress but to buy some stockings from a -hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having fallen down, -he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a great -annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his -coat, which he patched himself upstairs in his room, and -which, before the end, was nothing but patches. He never -wrote or received a letter, and he never spoke with any -but the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, -only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us -had ever seen open. - -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, -when my poor father was far gone in a decline that took -him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon to see -the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and -went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse -should come down from the hamlet, for we had no -stabling at the old Benbow. I followed him in, and I -remember observing the contrast the neat, bright -doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his bright, -black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish -country folk, and above all, with that filthy, heavy, -bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, far gone -in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he--the -captain, that is--began to pipe up his eternal song: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -At first I had supposed "the dead man's chest" to be -that identical big box of his upstairs in the front -room, and the thought had been mingled in my nightmares -with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this -time we had all long ceased to pay any particular -notice to the song; it was new, that night, to nobody -but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did not -produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a -moment quite angrily before he went on with his talk to -old Taylor, the gardener, on a new cure for the -rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually -brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his -hand upon the table before him in a way we all knew to -mean silence. The voices stopped at once, all but Dr. -Livesey's; he went on as before speaking clear and kind -and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or -two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped -his hand again, glared still harder, and at last broke -out with a villainous, low oath, "Silence, there, -between decks!" - -"Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and -when the ruffian had told him, with another oath, that -this was so, "I have only one thing to say to you, sir," -replies the doctor, "that if you keep on drinking rum, -the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!" - -The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his -feet, drew and opened a sailor's clasp-knife, and -balancing it open on the palm of his hand, threatened -to pin the doctor to the wall. - -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as -before, over his shoulder and in the same tone of -voice, rather high, so that all the room might hear, -but perfectly calm and steady: "If you do not put that -knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my -honour, you shall hang at the next assizes." - -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the -captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon, and -resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog. - -"And now, sir," continued the doctor, "since I now know -there's such a fellow in my district, you may count I'll -have an eye upon you day and night. I'm not a doctor only; -I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint -against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like -tonight's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted -down and routed out of this. Let that suffice." - -Soon after, Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door and he -rode away, but the captain held his peace that evening, -and for many evenings to come. - - - - 2 - - Black Dog Appears and Disappears - - -IT was not very long after this that there occurred the -first of the mysterious events that rid us at last of -the captain, though not, as you will see, of his -affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard -frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first -that my poor father was little likely to see the -spring. He sank daily, and my mother and I had all the -inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without -paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - -It was one January morning, very early--a pinching, -frosty morning--the cove all grey with hoar-frost, the -ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still low -and only touching the hilltops and shining far to -seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and -set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under the -broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope -under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I -remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as -he strode off, and the last sound I heard of him as he -turned the big rock was a loud snort of indignation, as -though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying -the breakfast-table against the captain's return when -the parlour door opened and a man stepped in on whom I -had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy -creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and -though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a -fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men, -with one leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled -me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the -sea about him too. - -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would -take rum; but as I was going out of the room to fetch it, -he sat down upon a table and motioned me to draw near. I -paused where I was, with my napkin in my hand. - -"Come here, sonny," says he. "Come nearer here." - -I took a step nearer. - -"Is this here table for my mate Bill?" he asked with a -kind of leer. - -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for -a person who stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - -"Well," said he, "my mate Bill would be called the -captain, as like as not. He has a cut on one cheek and -a mighty pleasant way with him, particularly in drink, -has my mate Bill. We'll put it, for argument like, that -your captain has a cut on one cheek--and we'll put it, if -you like, that that cheek's the right one. Ah, well! I -told you. Now, is my mate Bill in this here house?" - -I told him he was out walking. - -"Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?" - -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how -the captain was likely to return, and how soon, and -answered a few other questions, "Ah," said he, "this'll -be as good as drink to my mate Bill." - -The expression of his face as he said these words was -not at all pleasant, and I had my own reasons for -thinking that the stranger was mistaken, even supposing -he meant what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I -thought; and besides, it was difficult to know what to -do. The stranger kept hanging about just inside the -inn door, peering round the corner like a cat waiting -for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into the road, -but he immediately called me back, and as I did not -obey quick enough for his fancy, a most horrible change -came over his tallowy face, and he ordered me in with -an oath that made me jump. As soon as I was back again -he returned to his former manner, half fawning, half -sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a -good boy and he had taken quite a fancy to me. "I have -a son of my own," said he, "as like you as two blocks, -and he's all the pride of my 'art. But the great thing -for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you -had sailed along of Bill, you wouldn't have stood there -to be spoke to twice--not you. That was never Bill's -way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. And here, -sure enough, is my mate Bill, with a spy-glass under -his arm, bless his old 'art, to be sure. You and me'll -just go back into the parlour, sonny, and get behind -the door, and we'll give Bill a little surprise--bless -his 'art, I say again. - -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the -parlour and put me behind him in the corner so that we -were both hidden by the open door. I was very uneasy -and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to -my fears to observe that the stranger was certainly -frightened himself. He cleared the hilt of his cutlass -and loosened the blade in the sheath; and all the time -we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt -what we used to call a lump in the throat. - -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, -without looking to the right or left, and marched straight -across the room to where his breakfast awaited him. - -"Bill," said the stranger in a voice that I thought he -had tried to make bold and big. - -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all -the brown had gone out of his face, and even his nose -was blue; he had the look of a man who sees a ghost, or -the evil one, or something worse, if anything can be; -and upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a -moment turn so old and sick. - -"Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, -Bill, surely," said the stranger. - -The captain made a sort of gasp. - -"Black Dog!" said he. - -"And who else?" returned the other, getting more at his -ease. "Black Dog as ever was, come for to see his old -shipmate Billy, at the Admiral Benbow inn. Ah, Bill, -Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I -lost them two talons," holding up his mutilated hand. - -"Now, look here," said the captain; "you've run me -down; here I am; well, then, speak up; what is it?" - -"That's you, Bill," returned Black Dog, "you're in the -right of it, Billy. I'll have a glass of rum from this -dear child here, as I've took such a liking to; and -we'll sit down, if you please, and talk square, like -old shipmates." - -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated -on either side of the captain's breakfast-table--Black -Dog next to the door and sitting sideways so as to have -one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I thought, on -his retreat. - -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. "None of -your keyholes for me, sonny," he said; and I left them -together and retired into the bar. - -"For a long time, though I certainly did my best to -listen, I could hear nothing but a low gattling; but at -last the voices began to grow higher, and I could pick -up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - -"No, no, no, no; and an end of it!" he cried once. And -again, "If it comes to swinging, swing all, say I." - -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of -oaths and other noises--the chair and table went over in -a lump, a clash of steel followed, and then a cry of pain, -and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and -the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and -the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just -at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last -tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to -the chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard -of Admiral Benbow. You may see the notch on the lower side -of the frame to this day. - -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon -the road, Black Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a -wonderful clean pair of heels and disappeared over the -edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for -his part, stood staring at the signboard like a -bewildered man. Then he passed his hand over his eyes -several times and at last turned back into the house. - -"Jim," says he, "rum"; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, -and caught himself with one hand against the wall. - -"Are you hurt?" cried I. - -"Rum," he repeated. "I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!" - -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all -that had fallen out, and I broke one glass and fouled -the tap, and while I was still getting in my own way, I -heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld -the captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same -instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting, came -running downstairs to help me. Between us we raised his -head. He was breathing very loud and hard, but his eyes -were closed and his face a horrible colour. - -"Dear, deary me," cried my mother, "what a disgrace -upon the house! And your poor father sick!" - -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the -captain, nor any other thought but that he had got his -death-hurt in the scuffle with the stranger. I got the -rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat, but -his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. -It was a happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor -Livesey came in, on his visit to my father. - -"Oh, doctor," we cried, "what shall we do? Where is he wounded?" - -"Wounded? A fiddle-stick's end!" said the doctor. "No -more wounded than you or I. The man has had a stroke, -as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, just you run -upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, -nothing about it. For my part, I must do my best to -save this fellow's trebly worthless life; Jim, you get -me a basin." - -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already -ripped up the captain's sleeve and exposed his great -sinewy arm. It was tattooed in several places. -"Here's luck," "A fair wind," and "Billy Bones his -fancy," were very neatly and clearly executed on the -forearm; and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of -a gallows and a man hanging from it--done, as I -thought, with great spirit. - -"Prophetic," said the doctor, touching this picture -with his finger. "And now, Master Billy Bones, if that -be your name, we'll have a look at the colour of your -blood. Jim," he said, "are you afraid of blood?" - -"No, sir," said I. - -"Well, then," said he, "you hold the basin"; and with -that he took his lancet and opened a vein. - -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain -opened his eyes and looked mistily about him. First he -recognized the doctor with an unmistakable frown; then -his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. But -suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise -himself, crying, "Where's Black Dog?" - -"There is no Black Dog here," said the doctor, "except -what you have on your own back. You have been drinking -rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; -and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged -you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones--" - -"That's not my name," he interrupted. - -"Much I care," returned the doctor. "It's the name of -a buccaneer of my acquaintance; and I call you by it -for the sake of shortness, and what I have to say to -you is this; one glass of rum won't kill you, but if -you take one you'll take another and another, and I -stake my wig if you don't break off short, you'll die-- -do you understand that?--die, and go to your own place, -like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. -I'll help you to your bed for once." - -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him -upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell -back on the pillow as if he were almost fainting. - -"Now, mind you," said the doctor, "I clear my -conscience--the name of rum for you is death." - -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me -with him by the arm. - -"This is nothing," he said as soon as he had closed the -door. "I have drawn blood enough to keep him quiet -awhile; he should lie for a week where he is--that is -the best thing for him and you; but another stroke -would settle him." - - - - 3 - - The Black Spot - -ABOUT noon I stopped at the captain's door with some -cooling drinks and medicines. He was lying very much -as we had left him, only a little higher, and he seemed -both weak and excited. - -"Jim," he said, "you're the only one here that's worth -anything, and you know I've been always good to you. -Never a month but I've given you a silver fourpenny for -yourself. And now you see, mate, I'm pretty low, and -deserted by all; and Jim, you'll bring me one noggin of -rum, now, won't you, matey?" - -"The doctor--" I began. - -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice -but heartily. "Doctors is all swabs," he said; "and -that doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring -men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping -round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving -like the sea with earthquakes--what to the doctor know -of lands like that?--and I lived on rum, I tell you. -It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and -if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a -lee shore, my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that doctor -swab"; and he ran on again for a while with curses. -"Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges," he continued in the -pleading tone. "I can't keep 'em still, not I. I -haven't had a drop this blessed day. That doctor's a -fool, I tell you. If I don't have a drain o' rum, Jim, -I'll have the horrors; I seen some on 'em already. -I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as -plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, -I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll raise Cain. -Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn't hurt me. -I'll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim." - -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me -for my father, who was very low that day and needed quiet; -besides, I was reassured by the doctor's words, now quoted -to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe. - -"I want none of your money," said I, "but what you owe -my father. I'll get you one glass, and no more." - -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and -drank it out. - -"Aye, aye," said he, "that's some better, sure enough. -And now, matey, did that doctor say how long I was to -lie here in this old berth?" - -"A week at least," said I. - -"Thunder!" he cried. "A week! I can't do that; they'd -have the black spot on me by then. The lubbers is -going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment; -lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to -nail what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, -now, I want to know? But I'm a saving soul. I never -wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; and -I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll -shake out another reef, matey, and daddle 'em again." - -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with -great difficulty, holding to my shoulder with a grip -that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs like -so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were -in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the -voice in which they were uttered. He paused when he -had got into a sitting position on the edge. - -"That doctor's done me," he murmured. "My ears is -singing. Lay me back." - -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again -to his former place, where he lay for a while silent. - -"Jim," he said at length, "you saw that seafaring man today?" - -"Black Dog?" I asked. - -"Ah! Black Dog," says he. "HE'S a bad un; but there's -worse that put him on. Now, if I can't get away nohow, -and they tip me the black spot, mind you, it's my old -sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse--you can, -can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to-- -well, yes, I will!--to that eternal doctor swab, and -tell him to pipe all hands--magistrates and sich--and -he'll lay 'em aboard at the Admiral Benbow--all old -Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I -was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm -the on'y one as knows the place. He gave it me at -Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, -you see. But you won't peach unless they get the black -spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a -seafaring man with one leg, Jim--him above all." - -"But what is the black spot, captain?" I asked. - -"That's a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get -that. But you keep your weather-eye open, Jim, and -I'll share with you equals, upon my honour." - -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; -but soon after I had given him his medicine, which he -took like a child, with the remark, "If ever a seaman -wanted drugs, it's me," he fell at last into a heavy, -swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should -have done had all gone well I do not know. Probably I -should have told the whole story to the doctor, for I -was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of -his confessions and make an end of me. But as things -fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that -evening, which put all other matters on one side. Our -natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the -arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn -to be carried on in the meanwhile kept me so busy that -I had scarcely time to think of the captain, far less -to be afraid of him. - -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his -meals as usual, though he ate little and had more, I am -afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped -himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through -his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night -before the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was -shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him -singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he -was, we were all in the fear of death for him, and the -doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles -away and was never near the house after my father's -death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he -seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. -He clambered up and down stairs, and went from the -parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes put -his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and -fast like a man on a steep mountain. He never -particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had -as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper -was more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, -more violent than ever. He had an alarming way now -when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it -bare before him on the table. But with all that, he -minded people less and seemed shut up in his own -thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to -our extreme wonder, he piped up to a different air, a -king of country love-song that he must have learned in -his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. - -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and -about three o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty -afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, -full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw -someone drawing slowly near along the road. He was -plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick -and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; -and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore -a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him -appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a -more dreadful-looking figure. He stopped a little from -the inn, and raising his voice in an odd sing-song, -addressed the air in front of him, "Will any kind friend -inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight -of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native country, -England--and God bless King George!--where or in what part -of this country he may now be?" - -"You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my -good man," said I. - -"I hear a voice," said he, "a young voice. Will you give -me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in?" - -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, -eyeless creature gripped it in a moment like a vise. I -was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, but -the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single -action of his arm. - -"Now, boy," he said, "take me in to the captain." - -"Sir," said I, "upon my word I dare not." - -"Oh," he sneered, "that's it! Take me in straight or -I'll break your arm." - -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - -"Sir," said I, "it is for yourself I mean. The captain -is not what he used to be. He sits with a drawn -cutlass. Another gentleman--" - -"Come, now, march," interrupted he; and I never heard a -voice so cruel, and cold, and ugly as that blind man's. -It cowed me more than the pain, and I began to obey him -at once, walking straight in at the door and towards -the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, -dazed with rum. The blind man clung close to me, -holding me in one iron fist and leaning almost more of -his weight on me than I could carry. "Lead me straight -up to him, and when I'm in view, cry out, 'Here's a -friend for you, Bill.' If you don't, I'll do this," -and with that he gave me a twitch that I thought would -have made me faint. Between this and that, I was so -utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my -terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, -cried out the words he had ordered in a trembling voice. - -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the -rum went out of him and left him staring sober. The -expression of his face was not so much of terror as of -mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do -not believe he had enough force left in his body. - -"Now, Bill, sit where you are," said the beggar. "If I -can't see, I can hear a finger stirring. Business is -business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his left -hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right." - -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass -something from the hollow of the hand that held his -stick into the palm of the captain's, which closed upon -it instantly. - -"And now that's done," said the blind man; and at the words -he suddenly left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy -and nimbleness, skipped out of the parlour and into the road, -where, as I still stood motionless, I could hear his stick -go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed -to gather our senses, but at length, and about at the -same moment, I released his wrist, which I was still -holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply -into the palm. - -"Ten o'clock!" he cried. "Six hours. We'll do them -yet," and he sprang to his feet. - -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his -throat, stood swaying for a moment, and then, with a -peculiar sound, fell from his whole height face -foremost to the floor. - -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste -was all in vain. The captain had been struck dead by -thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to -understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, -though of late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as -I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of tears. -It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of -the first was still fresh in my heart. - - - - 4 - - The Sea-chest - -I LOST no time, of course, in telling my mother all -that I knew, and perhaps should have told her long -before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult and -dangerous position. Some of the man's money--if he had -any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely -that our captain's shipmates, above all the two -specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, -would be inclined to give up their booty in payment of -the dead man's debts. The captain's order to mount at -once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my -mother alone and unprotected, which was not to be -thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for either of -us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of -coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the -clock, filled us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to -our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and -what between the dead body of the captain on the -parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind -beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there -were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my -skin for terror. Something must speedily be resolved -upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth -together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No -sooner said than done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran -out at once in the gathering evening and the frosty fog. - -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out -of view, on the other side of the next cove; and what -greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction -from that whence the blind man had made his appearance -and whither he had presumably returned. We were not -many minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped -to lay hold of each other and hearken. But there was -no unusual sound--nothing but the low wash of the -ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, -and I shall never forget how much I was cheered to see -the yellow shine in doors and windows; but that, as it -proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get -in that quarter. For--you would have thought men would -have been ashamed of themselves--no soul would consent -to return with us to the Admiral Benbow. The more we -told of our troubles, the more--man, woman, and child-- -they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of -Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well -enough known to some there and carried a great weight -of terror. Some of the men who had been to field-work -on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, -besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, -and taking them to be smugglers, to have bolted away; -and one at least had seen a little lugger in what we -called Kitt's Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain's was enough to frighten them to -death. And the short and the long of the matter was, -that while we could get several who were willing enough -to ride to Dr. Livesey's, which lay in another -direction, not one would help us to defend the inn. - -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, -on the other hand, a great emboldener; and so when each -had said his say, my mother made them a speech. She -would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to -her fatherless boy; "If none of the rest of you dare," -she said, "Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we -came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken- -hearted men. We'll have that chest open, if we die for -it. And I'll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, to -bring back our lawful money in." - -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course -they all cried out at our foolhardiness, but even then -not a man would go along with us. All they would do was -to give me a loaded pistol lest we were attacked, and to -promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were -pursued on our return, while one lad was to ride forward -to the doctor's in search of armed assistance. - -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in -the cold night upon this dangerous venture. A full -moon was beginning to rise and peered redly through the -upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, -for it was plain, before we came forth again, that all -would be as bright as day, and our departure exposed to -the eyes of any watchers. We slipped along the hedges, -noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to -increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of -the Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. - -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for -a moment in the dark, alone in the house with the dead -captain's body. Then my mother got a candle in the -bar, and holding each other's hands, we advanced into -the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, -with his eyes open and one arm stretched out. - -"Draw down the blind, Jim," whispered my mother; "they -might come and watch outside. And now," said she when -I had done so, "we have to get the key off THAT; and -who's to touch it, I should like to know!" and she gave -a kind of sob as she said the words. - -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to -his hand there was a little round of paper, blackened -on the one side. I could not doubt that this was the -BLACK SPOT; and taking it up, I found written on -the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short -message: "You have till ten tonight." - -"He had till ten, Mother," said I; and just as I said -it, our old clock began striking. This sudden noise -startled us shockingly; but the news was good, for it -was only six. - -"Now, Jim," she said, "that key." - -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, -a thimble, and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail -tobacco bitten away at the end, his gully with the crooked -handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder box were all that they -contained, and I began to despair. - -"Perhaps it's round his neck," suggested my mother. - -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt -at the neck, and there, sure enough, hanging to a bit -of tarry string, which I cut with his own gully, we -found the key. At this triumph we were filled with -hope and hurried upstairs without delay to the little -room where he had slept so long and where his box had -stood since the day of his arrival. - -It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside, -the initial "B" burned on the top of it with a hot -iron, and the corners somewhat smashed and broken as by -long, rough usage. - -"Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock -was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back the -lid in a twinkling. - -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the -interior, but nothing was to be seen on the top except -a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and -folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. -Under that, the miscellany began--a quadrant, a tin -canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very -handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish -watch and some other trinkets of little value and -mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted -with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells. -I have often wondered since why he should have carried -about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, -and hunted life. - -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but -the silver and the trinkets, and neither of these were -in our way. Underneath there was an old boat-cloak, -whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My -mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay -before us, the last things in the chest, a bundle tied -up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas -bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold. - -"I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman," said -my mother. "I'll have my dues, and not a farthing -over. Hold Mrs. Crossley's bag." And she began to -count over the amount of the captain's score from the -sailor's bag into the one that I was holding. - -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were -of all countries and sizes--doubloons, and louis d'ors, -and guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know not what -besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, -too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these -only that my mother knew how to make her count. - -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my -hand upon her arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty -air a sound that brought my heart into my mouth--the -tap-tapping of the blind man's stick upon the frozen -road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding -our breath. Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and -then we could hear the handle being turned and the bolt -rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; and then -there was a long time of silence both within and -without. At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our -indescribable joy and gratitude, died slowly away again -until it ceased to be heard. - -"Mother," said I, "take the whole and let's be going," -for I was sure the bolted door must have seemed -suspicious and would bring the whole hornet's nest -about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had -bolted it, none could tell who had never met that -terrible blind man. - -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent -to take a fraction more than was due to her and was -obstinately unwilling to be content with less. It was -not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her -rights and she would have them; and she was still -arguing with me when a little low whistle sounded a -good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and more -than enough, for both of us. - -"I'll take what I have," she said, jumping to her feet. - -"And I'll take this to square the count," said I, -picking up the oilskin packet. - -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving -the candle by the empty chest; and the next we had -opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not -started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly -dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the -high ground on either side; and it was only in the -exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that -a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the first -steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the -hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we -must come forth into the moonlight. Nor was this all, -for the sound of several footsteps running came already -to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, -a light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing -showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern. - -"My dear," said my mother suddenly, "take the money and -run on. I am going to faint." - -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. -How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbours; how I -blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, -for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We -were just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I -helped her, tottering as she was, to the edge of the -bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on -my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to -do it at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but -I managed to drag her down the bank and a little way -under the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the -bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below -it. So there we had to stay--my mother almost entirely -exposed and both of us within earshot of the inn. - - - - 5 - - The Last of the Blind Man - -MY curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, -for I could not remain where I was, but crept back to -the bank again, whence, sheltering my head behind a -bush of broom, I might command the road before our -door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began -to arrive, seven or eight of them, running hard, their -feet beating out of time along the road and the man -with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran -together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through -the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the -blind beggar. The next moment his voice showed me that -I was right. - -"Down with the door!" he cried. - -"Aye, aye, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was -made upon the Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer -following; and then I could see them pause, and hear -speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were -surprised to find the door open. But the pause was -brief, for the blind man again issued his commands. -His voice sounded louder and higher, as if he were -afire with eagerness and rage. - -"In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on -the road with the formidable beggar. There was a -pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a voice -shouting from the house, "Bill's dead." - -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - -"Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest -of you aloft and get the chest," he cried. - -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so -that the house must have shook with it. Promptly -afterwards, fresh sounds of astonishment arose; the -window of the captain's room was thrown open with a -slam and a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out -into the moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed -the blind beggar on the road below him. - -"Pew," he cried, "they've been before us. Someone's -turned the chest out alow and aloft." - -"Is it there?" roared Pew. - -"The money's there." - -The blind man cursed the money. - -"Flint's fist, I mean," he cried. - -"We don't see it here nohow," returned the man. - -"Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind -man again. - -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained -below to search the captain's body, came to the door of -the inn. "Bill's been overhauled a'ready," said he; -"nothin' left." - -"It's these people of the inn--it's that boy. I wish I -had put his eyes out!" cried the blind man, Pew. -"There were no time ago--they had the door bolted when -I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em." - -"Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the -fellow from the window. - -"Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated -Pew, striking with his stick upon the road. - -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old -inn, heavy feet pounding to and fro, furniture thrown -over, doors kicked in, until the very rocks re-echoed -and the men came out again, one after another, on the -road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. -And just the same whistle that had alarmed my mother -and myself over the dead captain's money was once more -clearly audible through the night, but this time twice -repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's trumpet, -so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault, but I now -found that it was a signal from the hillside towards the -hamlet, and from its effect upon the buccaneers, a signal -to warn them of approaching danger. - -"There's Dirk again," said one. "Twice! We'll have to -budge, mates." - -"Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. "Dirk was a fool and a -coward from the first--you wouldn't mind him. They -must be close by; they can't be far; you have your -hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, -shiver my soul," he cried, "if I had eyes!" - -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of -the fellows began to look here and there among the -lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half an -eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest -stood irresolute on the road. - -"You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you -hang a leg! You'd be as rich as kings if you could -find it, and you know it's here, and you stand there -skulking. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill, and -I did it--a blind man! And I'm to lose my chance for you! -I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when -I might be rolling in a coach! If you had the pluck of a -weevil in a biscuit you would catch them still." - -"Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloons!" grumbled one. - -"They might have hid the blessed thing," said another. -"Take the Georges, Pew, and don't stand here squalling." - -Squalling was the word for it; Pew's anger rose so high -at these objections till at last, his passion -completely taking the upper hand, he struck at them -right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded -heavily on more than one. - -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind -miscreant, threatened him in horrid terms, and tried in -vain to catch the stick and wrest it from his grasp. - -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was -still raging, another sound came from the top of the -hill on the side of the hamlet--the tramp of horses -galloping. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, -flash and report, came from the hedge side. And that -was plainly the last signal of danger, for the -buccaneers turned at once and ran, separating in every -direction, one seaward along the cove, one slant across -the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a -sign of them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, -whether in sheer panic or out of revenge for his ill -words and blows I know not; but there he remained -behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and -groping and calling for his comrades. Finally he took -a wrong turn and ran a few steps past me, towards the -hamlet, crying, "Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," and other -names, "you won't leave old Pew, mates--not old Pew!" - -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four -or five riders came in sight in the moonlight and swept -at full gallop down the slope. - -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and -ran straight for the ditch, into which he rolled. But -he was on his feet again in a second and made another -dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest -of the coming horses. - -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went -Pew with a cry that rang high into the night; and the -four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by. He -fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face -and moved no more. - -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were -pulling up, at any rate, horrified at the accident; and -I soon saw what they were. One, tailing out behind the -rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to Dr. -Livesey's; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had -met by the way, and with whom he had had the -intelligence to return at once. Some news of the -lugger in Kitt's Hole had found its way to Supervisor -Dance and set him forth that night in our direction, -and to that circumstance my mother and I owed our -preservation from death. - -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we -had carried her up to the hamlet, a little cold water -and salts and that soon brought her back again, and she -was none the worse for her terror, though she still -continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the -meantime the supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, -to Kitt's Hole; but his men had to dismount and grope -down the dingle, leading, and sometimes supporting, -their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it -was no great matter for surprise that when they got -down to the Hole the lugger was already under way, -though still close in. He hailed her. A voice -replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he -would get some lead in him, and at the same time a -bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon after, the -lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance -stood there, as he said, "like a fish out of water," -and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B---- to -warn the cutter. "And that," said he, "is just about -as good as nothing. They've got off clean, and there's -an end. "Only," he added, "I'm glad I trod on Master -Pew's corns," for by this time he had heard my story. - -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you -cannot imagine a house in such a state of smash; the -very clock had been thrown down by these fellows in -their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and -though nothing had actually been taken away except the -captain's money-bag and a little silver from the till, -I could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. Dance -could make nothing of the scene. - -"They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what -in fortune were they after? More money, I suppose?" - -"No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. "In fact, -sir, I believe I have the thing in my breast pocket; -and to tell you the truth, I should like to get it put -in safety." - -"To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. "I'll take -it, if you like." - -"I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey--" I began. - -"Perfectly right," he interrupted very cheerily, -"perfectly right--a gentleman and a magistrate. And, -now I come to think of it, I might as well ride round -there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's -dead, when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's -dead, you see, and people will make it out against an -officer of his Majesty's revenue, if make it out they -can. Now, I'll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I'll -take you along." - -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back -to the hamlet where the horses were. By the time I had -told mother of my purpose they were all in the saddle. - -"Dogger," said Mr. Dance, "you have a good horse; take -up this lad behind you." - -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt, -the supervisor gave the word, and the party struck out -at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. Livesey's house. - - - - 6 - - The Captain's Papers - -WE rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. -Livesey's door. The house was all dark to the front. - -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger -gave me a stirrup to descend by. The door was opened -almost at once by the maid. - -"Is Dr. Livesey in?" I asked. - -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone -up to the hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - -"So there we go, boys," said Mr. Dance. - -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, -but ran with Dogger's stirrup-leather to the lodge -gates and up the long, leafless, moonlit avenue to -where the white line of the hall buildings looked on -either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance -dismounted, and taking me along with him, was admitted -at a word into the house. - -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us -at the end into a great library, all lined with -bookcases and busts upon the top of them, where the -squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either -side of a bright fire. - -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a -tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion, -and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened -and reddened and lined in his long travels. His -eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this -gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you would say, -but quick and high. - -"Come in, Mr. Dance," says he, very stately and condescending. - -"Good evening, Dance," says the doctor with a nod. -"And good evening to you, friend Jim. What good wind -brings you here?" - -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his -story like a lesson; and you should have seen how the -two gentlemen leaned forward and looked at each other, -and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. -When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. -Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried -"Bravo!" and broke his long pipe against the grate. -Long before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will -remember, was the squire's name) had got up from his -seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, -as if to hear the better, had taken off his powdered -wig and sat there looking very strange indeed with his -own close-cropped black poll." - -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - -"Mr. Dance," said the squire, "you are a very noble -fellow. And as for riding down that black, atrocious -miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, like -stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, -I perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. -Dance must have some ale." - -"And so, Jim," said the doctor, "you have the thing -that they were after, have you?" - -"Here it is, sir," said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were -itching to open it; but instead of doing that, he put -it quietly in the pocket of his coat. - -"Squire," said he, "when Dance has had his ale he must, -of course, be off on his Majesty's service; but I mean -to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at my house, and with -your permission, I propose we should have up the cold -pie and let him sup." - -"As you will, Livesey," said the squire; "Hawkins has -earned better than cold pie." - -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a -sidetable, and I made a hearty supper, for I was as -hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further -complimented and at last dismissed. - -"And now, squire," said the doctor. - -"And now, Livesey," said the squire in the same breath. - -"One at a time, one at a time," laughed Dr. Livesey. -"You have heard of this Flint, I suppose?" - -"Heard of him!" cried the squire. "Heard of him, you -say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. -Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The Spaniards were so -prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was -sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his -top-sails with these eyes, off Trinidad, and the -cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put -back--put back, sir, into Port of Spain." - -"Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said the -doctor. "But the point is, had he money?" - -"Money!" cried the squire. "Have you heard the story? -What were these villains after but money? What do they -care for but money? For what would they risk their -rascal carcasses but money?" - -"That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. "But -you are so confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that -I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is this: -Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to -where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure -amount to much?" - -"Amount, sir!" cried the squire. "It will amount to -this: If we have the clue you talk about, I fit out a -ship in Bristol dock, and take you and Hawkins here -along, and I'll have that treasure if I search a year." - -"Very well," said the doctor. "Now, then, if Jim is -agreeable, we'll open the packet"; and he laid it -before him on the table. - -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get -out his instrument case and cut the stitches with his -medical scissors. It contained two things--a book and -a sealed paper. - -"First of all we'll try the book," observed the doctor. - -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as -he opened it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to -come round from the side-table, where I had been -eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first -page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a -man with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or -practice. One was the same as the tattoo mark, "Billy -Bones his fancy"; then there was "Mr. W. Bones, mate," -"No more rum," "Off Palm Key he got itt," and some -other snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. -I could not help wondering who it was that had "got -itt," and what "itt" was that he got. A knife in his -back as like as not. - -"Not much instruction there," said Dr. Livesey as he -passed on. - -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious -series of entries. There was a date at one end of the -line and at the other a sum of money, as in common -account-books, but instead of explanatory writing, only -a varying number of crosses between the two. On the -12th of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy -pounds had plainly become due to someone, and there was -nothing but six crosses to explain the cause. In a few -cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, -as "Offe Caraccas," or a mere entry of latitude and -longitude, as "62o 17' 20", 19o 2' 40"." - -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount -of the separate entries growing larger as time went on, -and at the end a grand total had been made out after -five or six wrong additions, and these words appended, -"Bones, his pile." - -"I can't make head or tail of this," said Dr. Livesey. - -"The thing is as clear as noonday," cried the squire. -"This is the black-hearted hound's account-book. These -crosses stand for the names of ships or towns that they -sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel's share, -and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added -something clearer. 'Offe Caraccas,' now; you see, here -was some unhappy vessel boarded off that coast. God -help the poor souls that manned her--coral long ago." - -"Right!" said the doctor. "See what it is to be a -traveller. Right! And the amounts increase, you see, -as he rose in rank." - -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings -of places noted in the blank leaves towards the end and -a table for reducing French, English, and Spanish -moneys to a common value. - -"Thrifty man!" cried the doctor. "He wasn't the one to -be cheated." - -"And now," said the squire, "for the other." - -The paper had been sealed in several places with a -thimble by way of seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that -I had found in the captain's pocket. The doctor opened -the seals with great care, and there fell out the map -of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, -names of hills and bays and inlets, and every -particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a -safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine -miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like -a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked -harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked "The -Spy-glass." There were several additions of a later -date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on -the north part of the island, one in the southwest--and -beside this last, in the same red ink, and in a small, -neat hand, very different from the captain's tottery -characters, these words: "Bulk of treasure here." - -Over on the back the same hand had written this further -information: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - - Ten feet. - - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - J.F. - -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me -incomprehensible, it filled the squire and Dr. Livesey -with delight. - -"Livesey," said the squire, "you will give up this -wretched practice at once. Tomorrow I start for -Bristol. In three weeks' time--three weeks!--two -weeks--ten days--we'll have the best ship, sir, and the -choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin- -boy. You'll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, -Livesey, are ship's doctor; I am admiral. We'll take -Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We'll have favourable -winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in -finding the spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play -duck and drake with ever after." - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "I'll go with you; and -I'll go bail for it, so will Jim, and be a credit to -the undertaking. There's only one man I'm afraid of." - -"And who's that?" cried the squire. "Name the dog, sir!" - -"You," replied the doctor; "for you cannot hold your -tongue. We are not the only men who know of this -paper. These fellows who attacked the inn tonight-- -bold, desperate blades, for sure--and the rest who -stayed aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not -far off, are, one and all, through thick and thin, -bound that they'll get that money. We must none of us -go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick -together in the meanwhile; you'll take Joyce and Hunter -when you ride to Bristol, and from first to last, not -one of us must breathe a word of what we've found." - -"Livesey," returned the squire, "you are always in the -right of it. I'll be as silent as the grave." - - - - - - PART TWO - - The Sea-cook - - - - 7 - - I Go to Bristol - -IT was longer than the squire imagined ere we were -ready for the sea, and none of our first plans--not -even Dr. Livesey's, of keeping me beside him--could be -carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to -London for a physician to take charge of his practice; -the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on -at the hall under the charge of old Redruth, the -gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams -and the most charming anticipations of strange islands -and adventures. I brooded by the hour together over -the map, all the details of which I well remembered. -Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper's room, I -approached that island in my fancy from every possible -direction; I explored every acre of its surface; I -climbed a thousand times to that tall hill they call -the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most -wonderful and changing prospects. Sometimes the isle -was thick with savages, with whom we fought, sometimes -full of dangerous animals that hunted us, but in all my -fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and tragic as -our actual adventures. - -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a -letter addressed to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, -"To be opened, in the case of his absence, by Tom -Redruth or young Hawkins." Obeying this order, we -found, or rather I found--for the gamekeeper was a poor -hand at reading anything but print--the following -important news: - - Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17-- - - Dear Livesey--As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two - hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for--treasure, I mean. - -"Redruth," said I, interrupting the letter, "Dr. -Livesey will not like that. The squire has been -talking, after all." - -"Well, who's a better right?" growled the gamekeeper. -"A pretty rum go if squire ain't to talk for Dr. -Livesey, I should think." - -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read -straight on: - - Blandly himself found the HISPANIOLA, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the HISPANIOLA - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high--the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - Wo far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure--riggers and what not--were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - I wished a round score of men--in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French--and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - I was monstrously touched--so would you have - been--and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship's cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country's service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable--not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It's the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - John Trelawney - - Postscript--I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don't turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master--a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o'-war fashion on board the good ship - HISPANIOLA. - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker's account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - J. T. - - P.P.S.--Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - J. T. - -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put -me. I was half beside myself with glee; and if ever I -despised a man, it was old Tom Redruth, who could do -nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the under- -gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; -but such was not the squire's pleasure, and the squire's -pleasure was like law among them all. Nobody but old -Redruth would have dared so much as even to grumble. - -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the -Admiral Benbow, and there I found my mother in good -health and spirits. The captain, who had so long been -a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the -wicked cease from troubling. The squire had had -everything repaired, and the public rooms and the sign -repainted, and had added some furniture--above all a -beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found -her a boy as an apprentice also so that she should not -want help while I was gone. - -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the -first time, my situation. I had thought up to that -moment of the adventures before me, not at all of the -home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this clumsy -stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my -mother, I had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I -led that boy a dog's life, for as he was new to the work, -I had a hundred opportunities of setting him right and -putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, -Redruth and I were afoot again and on the road. I said -good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had lived since -I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow--since he -was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last -thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode -along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut -cheek, and his old brass telescope. Next moment we had -turned the corner and my home was out of sight. - -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on -the heath. I was wedged in between Redruth and a stout -old gentleman, and in spite of the swift motion and the -cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from the -very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down -dale through stage after stage, for when I was awakened -at last it was by a punch in the ribs, and I opened my -eyes to find that we were standing still before a large -building in a city street and that the day had already -broken a long time. - -"Where are we?" I asked. - -"Bristol," said Tom. "Get down." - -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far -down the docks to superintend the work upon the -schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and our way, to -my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the -great multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and -nations. In one, sailors were singing at their work, -in another there were men aloft, high over my head, -hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a -spider's. Though I had lived by the shore all my life, -I seemed never to have been near the sea till then. -The smell of tar and salt was something new. I saw the -most wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over -the ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with -rings in their ears, and whiskers curled in ringlets, -and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, clumsy sea- -walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I -could not have been more delighted. - -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with -a piping boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, -bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasure! - -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came -suddenly in front of a large inn and met Squire -Trelawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in stout -blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his -face and a capital imitation of a sailor's walk. - -"Here you are," he cried, "and the doctor came last night -from London. Bravo! The ship's company complete!" - -"Oh, sir," cried I, "when do we sail?" - -"Sail!" says he. "We sail tomorrow!" - - - - 8 - - At the Sign of the Spy-glass - -WHEN I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note -addressed to John Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, -and told me I should easily find the place by following -the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for a -little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set -off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the -ships and seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of -people and carts and bales, for the dock was now at its -busiest, until I found the tavern in question. - -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. -The sign was newly painted; the windows had neat red -curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. There was a -street on each side and an open door on both, which -made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in -spite of clouds of tobacco smoke. - -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked -so loudly that I hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at -a glance I was sure he must be Long John. His left leg -was cut off close by the hip, and under the left -shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with -wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. -He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a -ham--plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. -Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, -whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a -merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more -favoured of his guests. - -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention -of Long John in Squire Trelawney's letter I had taken a -fear in my mind that he might prove to be the very one- -legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old -Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. -I had seen the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind -man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was -like--a very different creature, according to me, from -this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, -and walked right up to the man where he stood, propped -on his crutch, talking to a customer. - -"Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note. - -"Yes, my lad," said he; "such is my name, to be sure. And -who may you be?" And then as he saw the squire's letter, -he seemed to me to give something almost like a start. - -"Oh!" said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. "I -see. You are our new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you." - -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose -suddenly and made for the door. It was close by him, -and he was out in the street in a moment. But his -hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at -glance. It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two -fingers, who had come first to the Admiral Benbow. - -"Oh," I cried, "stop him! It's Black Dog!" - -"I don't care two coppers who he is," cried Silver. "But -he hasn't paid his score. Harry, run and catch him." - -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up -and started in pursuit. - -"If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score," -cried Silver; and then, relinquishing my hand, "Who did -you say he was?" he asked. "Black what?" - -"Dog, sir," said I. Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of -the buccaneers? He was one of them." - -"So?" cried Silver. "In my house! Ben, run and help -Harry. One of those swabs, was he? Was that you -drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here." - -The man whom he called Morgan--an old, grey-haired, -mahogany-faced sailor--came forward pretty sheepishly, -rolling his quid. - -"Now, Morgan," said Long John very sternly, "you never -clapped your eyes on that Black--Black Dog before, did -you, now?" - -"Not I, sir," said Morgan with a salute. - -"You didn't know his name, did you?" - -"No, sir." - -"By the powers, Tom Morgan, it's as good for you!" -exclaimed the landlord. "If you had been mixed up with -the like of that, you would never have put another foot -in my house, you may lay to that. And what was he -saying to you?" - -"I don't rightly know, sir," answered Morgan. - -"Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed -dead-eye?" cried Long John. "Don't rightly know, don't -you! Perhaps you don't happen to rightly know who you was -speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what was he jawing--v'yages, -cap'ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?" - -"We was a-talkin' of keel-hauling," answered Morgan. - -"Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, -too, and you may lay to that. Get back to your place -for a lubber, Tom." - -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added -to me in a confidential whisper that was very flattering, -as I thought, "He's quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y -stupid. And now," he ran on again, aloud, "let's see--Black -Dog? No, I don't know the name, not I. Yet I kind of think -I've--yes, I've seen the swab. He used to come here with a -blind beggar, he used." - -"That he did, you may be sure," said I. "I knew that -blind man too. His name was Pew." - -"It was!" cried Silver, now quite excited. "Pew! That -were his name for certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he -did! If we run down this Black Dog, now, there'll be -news for Cap'n Trelawney! Ben's a good runner; few -seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, -hand over hand, by the powers! He talked o' keel- -hauling, did he? I'LL keel-haul him!" - -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was -stumping up and down the tavern on his crutch, slapping -tables with his hand, and giving such a show of -excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge -or a Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been -thoroughly reawakened on finding Black Dog at the Spy- -glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was too -deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the -time the two men had come back out of breath and -confessed that they had lost the track in a crowd, and -been scolded like thieves, I would have gone bail for -the innocence of Long John Silver. - -"See here, now, Hawkins," said he, "here's a blessed -hard thing on a man like me, now, ain't it? There's -Cap'n Trelawney--what's he to think? Here I have this -confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house -drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of -it plain; and here I let him give us all the slip -before my blessed deadlights! Now, Hawkins, you do me -justice with the cap'n. You're a lad, you are, but -you're as smart as paint. I see that when you first -come in. Now, here it is: What could I do, with this -old timber I hobble on? When I was an A B master -mariner I'd have come up alongside of him, hand over -hand, and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I -would; but now--" - -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw -dropped as though he had remembered something. - -"The score!" he burst out. "Three goes o' rum! Why, -shiver my timbers, if I hadn't forgotten my score!" - -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down -his cheeks. I could not help joining, and we laughed together, -peal after peal, until the tavern rang again. - -"Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!" he said at -last, wiping his cheeks. "You and me should get on -well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I should be rated -ship's boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This -won't do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I'll put on my -old cockerel hat, and step along of you to Cap'n -Trelawney, and report this here affair. For mind you, -it's serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me's -come out of it with what I should make so bold as to -call credit. Nor you neither, says you; not smart-- -none of the pair of us smart. But dash my buttons! -That was a good un about my score." - -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that -though I did not see the joke as he did, I was again -obliged to join him in his mirth. - -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the -most interesting companion, telling me about the -different ships that we passed by, their rig, tonnage, -and nationality, explaining the work that was going -forward--how one was discharging, another taking in -cargo, and a third making ready for sea--and every now -and then telling me some little anecdote of ships or -seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had -learned it perfectly. I began to see that here was one -of the best of possible shipmates. - -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were -seated together, finishing a quart of ale with a toast -in it, before they should go aboard the schooner on a -visit of inspection. - -Long John told the story from first to last, with a -great deal of spirit and the most perfect truth. "That -was how it were, now, weren't it, Hawkins?" he would -say, now and again, and I could always bear him -entirely out. - -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got -away, but we all agreed there was nothing to be done, -and after he had been complimented, Long John took up -his crutch and departed. - -"All hands aboard by four this afternoon," shouted the -squire after him. - -"Aye, aye, sir," cried the cook, in the passage. - -"Well, squire," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't put much -faith in your discoveries, as a general thing; but I -will say this, John Silver suits me." - -"The man's a perfect trump," declared the squire. - -"And now," added the doctor, "Jim may come on board -with us, may he not?" - -"To be sure he may," says squire. "Take your hat, -Hawkins, and we'll see the ship." - - - - 9 - - Powder and Arms - -THE HISPANIOLA lay some way out, and we went under -the figureheads and round the sterns of many other -ships, and their cables sometimes grated underneath our -keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, -we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we -stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old -sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He and -the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon -observed that things were not the same between Mr. -Trelawney and the captain. - -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with -everything on board and was soon to tell us why, for we -had hardly got down into the cabin when a sailor -followed us. - -"Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you," said he. - -"I am always at the captain's orders. Show him in," -said the squire. - -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, -entered at once and shut the door behind him. - -"Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All -well, I hope; all shipshape and seaworthy?" - -"Well, sir," said the captain, "better speak plain, I -believe, even at the risk of offence. I don't like -this cruise; I don't like the men; and I don't like my -officer. That's short and sweet." - -"Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" inquired the -squire, very angry, as I could see. - -"I can't speak as to that, sir, not having seen her -tried," said the captain. "She seems a clever craft; -more I can't say." - -"Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, -either?" says the squire. - -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - -"Stay a bit," said he, "stay a bit. No use of such -questions as that but to produce ill feeling. The -captain has said too much or he has said too little, and -I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his -words. You don't, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?" - -"I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to -sail this ship for that gentleman where he should bid -me," said the captain. "So far so good. But now I -find that every man before the mast knows more than I -do. I don't call that fair, now, do you?" - -"No," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't." - -"Next," said the captain, "I learn we are going after -treasure--hear it from my own hands, mind you. Now, -treasure is ticklish work; I don't like treasure voyages -on any account, and I don't like them, above all, when -they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. -Trelawney) the secret has been told to the parrot." - -"Silver's parrot?" asked the squire. - -"It's a way of speaking," said the captain. "Blabbed, -I mean. It's my belief neither of you gentlemen know -what you are about, but I'll tell you my way of it-- -life or death, and a close run." - -"That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough," -replied Dr. Livesey. "We take the risk, but we are not -so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you say you don't -like the crew. Are they not good seamen?" - -"I don't like them, sir," returned Captain Smollett. -"And I think I should have had the choosing of my own -hands, if you go to that." - -"Perhaps you should," replied the doctor. "My friend -should, perhaps, have taken you along with him; but the -slight, if there be one, was unintentional. And you -don't like Mr. Arrow?" - -"I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman, but he's -too free with the crew to be a good officer. A mate -should keep himself to himself--shouldn't drink with -the men before the mast!" - -"Do you mean he drinks?" cried the squire. - -"No, sir," replied the captain, "only that he's too familiar." - -"Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?" -asked the doctor. "Tell us what you want." - -"Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?" - -"Like iron," answered the squire. - -"Very good," said the captain. "Then, as you've heard -me very patiently, saying things that I could not -prove, hear me a few words more. They are putting the -powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a -good place under the cabin; why not put them there?-- -first point. Then, you are bringing four of your own -people with you, and they tell me some of them are to -be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here -beside the cabin?--second point." - -"Any more?" asked Mr. Trelawney. - -"One more," said the captain. "There's been too much -blabbing already." - -"Far too much," agreed the doctor. - -"I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued -Captain Smollett: "that you have a map of an island, -that there's crosses on the map to show where treasure -is, and that the island lies--" And then he named the -latitude and longitude exactly. - -"I never told that," cried the squire, "to a soul!" - -"The hands know it, sir," returned the captain. - -"Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins," cried -the squire. - -"It doesn't much matter who it was," replied the -doctor. And I could see that neither he nor the -captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney's -protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so -loose a talker; yet in this case I believe he was -really right and that nobody had told the situation of -the island. - -"Well, gentlemen," continued the captain, "I don't know -who has this map; but I make it a point, it shall be -kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise I -would ask you to let me resign." - -"I see," said the doctor. "You wish us to keep this -matter dark and to make a garrison of the stern part of -the ship, manned with my friend's own people, and -provided with all the arms and powder on board. In -other words, you fear a mutiny." - -"Sir," said Captain Smollett, "with no intention to -take offence, I deny your right to put words into my -mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified in going to -sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for -Mr. Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the -men are the same; all may be for what I know. But I am -responsible for the ship's safety and the life of every -man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, as I -think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain -precautions or let me resign my berth. And that's all." - -"Captain Smollett," began the doctor with a smile, "did -ever you hear the fable of the mountain and the mouse? -You'll excuse me, I dare say, but you remind me of that -fable. When you came in here, I'll stake my wig, you -meant more than this." - -"Doctor," said the captain, "you are smart. When I -came in here I meant to get discharged. I had no -thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word." - -"No more I would," cried the squire. "Had Livesey not -been here I should have seen you to the deuce. As it -is, I have heard you. I will do as you desire, but I -think the worse of you." - -"That's as you please, sir," said the captain. "You'll -find I do my duty." - -And with that he took his leave. - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "contrary to all my -notions, I believed you have managed to get two honest -men on board with you--that man and John Silver." - -"Silver, if you like," cried the squire; "but as for -that intolerable humbug, I declare I think his conduct -unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English." - -"Well," says the doctor, "we shall see." - -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take -out the arms and powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while -the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by superintending. - -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole -schooner had been overhauled; six berths had been made -astern out of what had been the after-part of the main -hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to the -galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port -side. It had been originally meant that the captain, -Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, and the squire -were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and I -were to get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain -were to sleep on deck in the companion, which had been -enlarged on each side till you might almost have called -it a round-house. Very low it was still, of course; -but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even the -mate seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, -perhaps, had been doubtful as to the crew, but that is -only guess, for as you shall hear, we had not long the -benefit of his opinion. - -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the -berths, when the last man or two, and Long John along -with them, came off in a shore-boat. - -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, -and as soon as he saw what was doing, "So ho, mates!" -says he. "What's this?" - -"We're a-changing of the powder, Jack," answers one. - -"Why, by the powers," cried Long John, "if we do, we'll -miss the morning tide!" - -"My orders!" said the captain shortly. "You may go -below, my man. Hands will want supper." - -"Aye, aye, sir," answered the cook, and touching his -forelock, he disappeared at once in the direction of -his galley. - -"That's a good man, captain," said the doctor. - -"Very likely, sir," replied Captain Smollett. "Easy -with that, men--easy," he ran on, to the fellows who -were shifting the powder; and then suddenly observing -me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long -brass nine, "Here you, ship's boy," he cried, "out o' -that! Off with you to the cook and get some work." - -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, -to the doctor, "I'll have no favourites on my ship." - -I assure you I was quite of the squire's way of -thinking, and hated the captain deeply. - - - - 10 - - The Voyage - -ALL that night we were in a great bustle getting things -stowed in their place, and boatfuls of the squire's -friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, coming off to wish -him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a -night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; -and I was dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the -boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew began to man -the capstan-bars. I might have been twice as weary, -yet I would not have left the deck, all was so new and -interesting to me--the brief commands, the shrill note -of the whistle, the men bustling to their places in the -glimmer of the ship's lanterns. - -"Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave," cried one voice. - -"The old one," cried another. - -"Aye, aye, mates," said Long John, who was standing by, -with his crutch under his arm, and at once broke out in -the air and words I knew so well: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--" - -And then the whole crew bore chorus:-- - - "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -And at the third "Ho!" drove the bars before them with -a will. - -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old -Admiral Benbow in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice -of the captain piping in the chorus. But soon the anchor -was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at the bows; -soon the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping -to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to -snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her -voyage to the Isle of Treasure. - -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was -fairly prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship, -the crew were capable seamen, and the captain -thoroughly understood his business. But before we came -the length of Treasure Island, two or three things had -happened which require to be known. - -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the -captain had feared. He had no command among the men, -and people did what they pleased with him. But that -was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two -at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red -cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of -drunkenness. Time after time he was ordered below in -disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; sometimes -he lay all day long in his little bunk at one side of -the companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be -almost sober and attend to his work at least passably. - -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got -the drink. That was the ship's mystery. Watch him as -we pleased, we could do nothing to solve it; and when -we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if he -were drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he -ever tasted anything but water. - -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad -influence amongst the men, but it was plain that at this -rate he must soon kill himself outright, so nobody was -much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with -a head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - -"Overboard!" said the captain. "Well, gentlemen, that -saves the trouble of putting him in irons." - -But there we were, without a mate; and it was -necessary, of course, to advance one of the men. The -boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest man aboard, -and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as -mate. Mr. Trelawney had followed the sea, and his -knowledge made him very useful, for he often took a watch -himself in easy weather. And the coxswain, Israel Hands, -was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who could be -trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so -the mention of his name leads me on to speak of our -ship's cook, Barbecue, as the men called him. - -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round -his neck, to have both hands as free as possible. It -was something to see him wedge the foot of the crutch -against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding to -every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking -like someone safe ashore. Still more strange was it to -see him in the heaviest of weather cross the deck. He -had a line or two rigged up to help him across the -widest spaces--Long John's earrings, they were called; -and he would hand himself from one place to another, -now using the crutch, now trailing it alongside by the -lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet -some of the men who had sailed with him before -expressed their pity to see him so reduced. - -"He's no common man, Barbecue," said the coxswain to -me. "He had good schooling in his young days and can -speak like a book when so minded; and brave--a lion's -nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple -four and knock their heads together--him unarmed." - -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a -way of talking to each and doing everybody some -particular service. To me he was unweariedly kind, and -always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as -clean as a new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and -his parrot in a cage in one corner. - -"Come away, Hawkins," he would say; "come and have a -yarn with John. Nobody more welcome than yourself, my -son. Sit you down and hear the news. Here's Cap'n -Flint--I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous -buccaneer--here's Cap'n Flint predicting success to our -v'yage. Wasn't you, cap'n?" - -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, "Pieces -of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" till you -wondered that it was not out of breath, or till John -threw his handkerchief over the cage. - -"Now, that bird," he would say, "is, maybe, two hundred -years old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if -anybody's seen more wickedness, it must be the devil -himself. She's sailed with England, the great Cap'n -England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at -Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. -She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. -It's there she learned 'Pieces of eight,' and little -wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, -Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the viceroy of the -Indies out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you -would think she was a babby. But you smelt powder-- -didn't you, cap'n?" - -"Stand by to go about," the parrot would scream. - -"Ah, she's a handsome craft, she is," the cook would say, -and give her sugar from his pocket, and then the bird -would peck at the bars and swear straight on, passing -belief for wickedness. "There," John would add, "you -can't touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here's this -poor old innocent bird o' mine swearing blue fire, and -none the wiser, you may lay to that. She would swear the -same, in a manner of speaking, before chaplain." And John -would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had that made -me think he was the best of men. - -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were -still on pretty distant terms with one another. The -squire made no bones about the matter; he despised the -captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when -he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and -not a word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, -that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew, that -some of them were as brisk as he wanted to see and all -had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken -a downright fancy to her. "She'll lie a point nearer -the wind than a man has a right to expect of his own -married wife, sir. But," he would add, "all I say is, -we're not home again, and I don't like the cruise." - -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and -down the deck, chin in air. - -"A trifle more of that man," he would say, "and I -shall explode." - -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the -qualities of the HISPANIOLA. Every man on board -seemed well content, and they must have been hard to -please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief -there was never a ship's company so spoiled since Noah -put to sea. Double grog was going on the least excuse; -there was duff on odd days, as, for instance, if the -squire heard it was any man's birthday, and always a -barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for -anyone to help himself that had a fancy. - -"Never knew good come of it yet," the captain said to -Dr. Livesey. "Spoil forecastle hands, make devils. -That's my belief." - -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall -hear, for if it had not been for that, we should have -had no note of warning and might all have perished by -the hand of treachery. - -This was how it came about. - -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island -we were after--I am not allowed to be more plain--and -now we were running down for it with a bright lookout -day and night. It was about the last day of our -outward voyage by the largest computation; some time -that night, or at latest before noon of the morrow, we -should sight the Treasure Island. We were heading -S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. -The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her -bowsprit now and then with a whiff of spray. All was -drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the bravest -spirits because we were now so near an end of the first -part of our adventure. - -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and -I was on my way to my berth, it occurred to me that I -should like an apple. I ran on deck. The watch was -all forward looking out for the island. The man at the -helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling -away gently to himself, and that was the only sound -excepting the swish of the sea against the bows and -around the sides of the ship. - -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there -was scarce an apple left; but sitting down there in the -dark, what with the sound of the waters and the rocking -movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep or was -on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with -rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as he leaned -his shoulders against it, and I was just about to jump -up when the man began to speak. It was Silver's voice, -and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have -shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling -and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for -from these dozen words I understood that the lives of all -the honest men aboard depended upon me alone. - - - - 11 - - What I Heard in the Apple Barrel - -"NO, not I," said Silver. "Flint was cap'n; I was -quartermaster, along of my timber leg. The same -broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his deadlights. -It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of -college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but -he was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, -at Corso Castle. That was Roberts' men, that was, and -comed of changing names to their ships--ROYAL -FORTUNE and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, -so let her stay, I says. So it was with the CASSANDRA, -as brought us all safe home from Malabar, -after England took the viceroy of the Indies; so it was -with the old WALRUS, Flint's old ship, as I've seen -amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold." - -"Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on -board, and evidently full of admiration. "He was the -flower of the flock, was Flint!" - -"Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. -"I never sailed along of him; first with England, then -with Flint, that's my story; and now here on my own -account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine -hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after -Flint. That ain't bad for a man before the mast--all -safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's saving does -it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men -now? I dunno. Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em -aboard here, and glad to get the duff--been begging -before that, some on 'em. Old Pew, as had lost his -sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve -hundred pound in a year, like a lord in Parliament. -Where is he now? Well, he's dead now and under hatches; -but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, the -man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut -throats, and starved at that, by the powers!" - -"Well, it ain't much use, after all," said the -young seaman. - -"'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, -nor nothing," cried Silver. "But now, you look here: -you're young, you are, but you're as smart as paint. I -see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to -you like a man." - -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old -rogue addressing another in the very same words of flattery -as he had used to myself. I think, if I had been able, that -I would have killed him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran -on, little supposing he was overheard. - -"Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives -rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink -like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is done, why, -it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of -farthings in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum -and a good fling, and to sea again in their shirts. -But that's not the course I lay. I puts it all away, -some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by -reason of suspicion. I'm fifty, mark you; once back -from this cruise, I set up gentleman in earnest. Time -enough too, says you. Ah, but I've lived easy in the -meantime, never denied myself o' nothing heart desires, -and slep' soft and ate dainty all my days but when at -sea. And how did I begin? Before the mast, like you!" - -"Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, -ain't it? You daren't show face in Bristol after this." - -"Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver derisively. - -"At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his companion. - -"It were," said the cook; "it were when we weighed anchor. -But my old missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is -sold, lease and goodwill and rigging; and the old girl's off -to meet me. I would tell you where, for I trust you, but -it'd make jealousy among the mates." - -"And can you trust your missis?" asked the other. - -"Gentlemen of fortune," returned the cook, "usually -trusts little among themselves, and right they are, you may -lay to it. But I have a way with me, I have. When a mate -brings a slip on his cable--one as knows me, I mean--it -won't be in the same world with old John. There was some -that was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; -but Flint his own self was feared of me. Feared he was, and -proud. They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint's; the -devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with them. -Well now, I tell you, I'm not a boasting man, and you seen -yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, -LAMBS wasn't the word for Flint's old buccaneers. Ah, you may -be sure of yourself in old John's ship." - -"Well, I tell you now," replied the lad, "I didn't half -a quarter like the job till I had this talk with you, -John; but there's my hand on it now." - -"And a brave lad you were, and smart too," answered -Silver, shaking hands so heartily that all the barrel -shook, "and a finer figurehead for a gentleman of -fortune I never clapped my eyes on." - -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of -their terms. By a "gentleman of fortune" they plainly -meant neither more nor less than a common pirate, and -the little scene that I had overheard was the last act -in the corruption of one of the honest hands--perhaps of -the last one left aboard. But on this point I was soon -to be relieved, for Silver giving a little whistle, a -third man strolled up and sat down by the party. - -"Dick's square," said Silver. - -"Oh, I know'd Dick was square," returned the voice of the -coxswain, Israel Hands. "He's no fool, is Dick." And he -turned his quid and spat. "But look here," he went on, -"here's what I want to know, Barbecue: how long are we -a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I've -had a'most enough o' Cap'n Smollett; he's hazed me long -enough, by thunder! I want to go into that cabin, I do. -I want their pickles and wines, and that." - -"Israel," said Silver, "your head ain't much account, -nor ever was. But you're able to hear, I reckon; -leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, here's what I -say: you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and -you'll speak soft, and you'll keep sober till I give -the word; and you may lay to that, my son." - -"Well, I don't say no, do I?" growled the coxswain. -"What I say is, when? That's what I say." - -"When! By the powers!" cried Silver. "Well now, if -you want to know, I'll tell you when. The last moment -I can manage, and that's when. Here's a first-rate -seaman, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. -Here's this squire and doctor with a map and such--I -don't know where it is, do I? No more do you, says -you. Well then, I mean this squire and doctor shall -find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, by the -powers. Then we'll see. If I was sure of you all, -sons of double Dutchmen, I'd have Cap'n Smollett -navigate us half-way back again before I struck." - -"Why, we're all seamen aboard here, I should think," -said the lad Dick. - -"We're all forecastle hands, you mean," snapped Silver. "We -can steer a course, but who's to set one? That's what all you -gentlemen split on, first and last. If I had my way, I'd have -Cap'n Smollett work us back into the trades at least; then we'd -have no blessed miscalculations and a spoonful of water a day. -But I know the sort you are. I'll finish with 'em at the -island, as soon's the blunt's on board, and a pity it is. But -you're never happy till you're drunk. Split my sides, I've a -sick heart to sail with the likes of you!" - -"Easy all, Long John," cried Israel. "Who's a-crossin' -of you?" - -"Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen -laid aboard? And how many brisk lads drying in the sun -at Execution Dock?" cried Silver. "And all for this -same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a -thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on'y lay -your course, and a p'int to windward, you would ride in -carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You'll -have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang." - -"Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; -but there's others as could hand and steer as well as -you," said Israel. "They liked a bit o' fun, they did. -They wasn't so high and dry, nohow, but took their -fling, like jolly companions every one." - -"So?" says Silver. "Well, and where are they now? Pew -was that sort, and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, -and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they was a sweet -crew, they was! On'y, where are they?" - -"But," asked Dick, "when we do lay 'em athwart, what -are we to do with 'em, anyhow?" - -"There's the man for me!" cried the cook admiringly. -"That's what I call business. Well, what would you -think? Put 'em ashore like maroons? That would have -been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much -pork? That would have been Flint's, or Billy Bones's." - -"Billy was the man for that," said Israel. "'Dead men -don't bite,' says he. Well, he's dead now hisself; he -knows the long and short on it now; and if ever a rough -hand come to port, it was Billy." - -"Right you are," said Silver; "rough and ready. But -mark you here, I'm an easy man--I'm quite the -gentleman, says you; but this time it's serious. Dooty -is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I'm in -Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don't want none of -these sea-lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked -for, like the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; -but when the time comes, why, let her rip!" - -"John," cries the coxswain, "you're a man!" - -"You'll say so, Israel when you see," said Silver. -"Only one thing I claim--I claim Trelawney. I'll wring -his calf's head off his body with these hands, Dick!" -he added, breaking off. "You just jump up, like a -sweet lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like." - -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have -leaped out and run for it if I had found the strength, -but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I heard Dick -begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, -and the voice of Hands exclaimed, "Oh, stow that! -Don't you get sucking of that bilge, John. Let's have -a go of the rum." - -"Dick," said Silver, "I trust you. I've a gauge on the -keg, mind. There's the key; you fill a pannikin and -bring it up." - -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself -that this must have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong -waters that destroyed him. - -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his -absence Israel spoke straight on in the cook's ear. It -was but a word or two that I could catch, and yet I -gathered some important news, for besides other scraps -that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was -audible: "Not another man of them'll jine." Hence -there were still faithful men on board. - -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took -the pannikin and drank--one "To luck," another with a -"Here's to old Flint," and Silver himself saying, in a -kind of song, "Here's to ourselves, and hold your luff, -plenty of prizes and plenty of duff." - -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the -barrel, and looking up, I found the moon had risen and -was silvering the mizzen-top and shining white on the -luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time the -voice of the lookout shouted, "Land ho!" - - - - 12 - - Council of War - -THERE was a great rush of feet across the deck. I -could hear people tumbling up from the cabin and the -forecastle, and slipping in an instant outside my -barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double -towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in -time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the -weather bow. - -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of -fog had lifted almost simultaneously with the -appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of us -we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, -and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, -whose peak was still buried in the fog. All three -seemed sharp and conical in figure. - -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet -recovered from my horrid fear of a minute or two -before. And then I heard the voice of Captain Smollett -issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple -of points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that -would just clear the island on the east. - -"And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted -home, "has any one of you ever seen that land ahead?" - -"I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a -trader I was cook in." - -"The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I -fancy?" asked the captain. - -"Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a -main place for pirates once, and a hand we had on board -knowed all their names for it. That hill to the -nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three -hills in a row running south'ard--fore, main, and -mizzen, sir. But the main--that's the big un, with the -cloud on it--they usually calls the Spy-glass, by -reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the -anchorage cleaning, for it's there they cleaned their -ships, sir, asking your pardon." - -"I have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. "See if -that's the place." - -Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the -chart, but by the fresh look of the paper I knew he was -doomed to disappointment. This was not the map we -found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy, -complete in all things--names and heights and -soundings--with the single exception of the red crosses -and the written notes. Sharp as must have been his -annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - -"Yes, sir," said he, "this is the spot, to be sure, and -very prettily drawed out. Who might have done that, I -wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I reckon. Aye, -here it is: 'Capt. Kidd's Anchorage'--just the name my -shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs -along the south, and then away nor'ard up the west -coast. Right you was, sir," says he, "to haul your -wind and keep the weather of the island. Leastways, if -such was your intention as to enter and careen, and -there ain't no better place for that in these waters." - -"Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. "I'll ask -you later on to give us a help. You may go." - -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed -his knowledge of the island, and I own I was half- -frightened when I saw him drawing nearer to myself. He -did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his -council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this -time taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and -power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he -laid his hand upon my arm. - -"Ah," says he, "this here is a sweet spot, this island-- -a sweet spot for a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe, -and you'll climb trees, and you'll hunt goats, you will; -and you'll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself. -Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my -timber leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young and -have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When you want to -go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he'll -put up a snack for you to take along." - -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the -shoulder, he hobbled off forward and went below. - -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were -talking together on the quarter-deck, and anxious as I -was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them -openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts -to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to -his side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave -to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon -as I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard, I -broke immediately, "Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain -and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence -to send for me. I have terrible news." - -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next -moment he was master of himself. - -"Thank you, Jim," said he quite loudly, "that was all I -wanted to know," as if he had asked me a question. - -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the -other two. They spoke together for a little, and -though none of them started, or raised his voice, or so -much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey -had communicated my request, for the next thing that I -heard was the captain giving an order to Job Anderson, -and all hands were piped on deck. - -"My lads," said Captain Smollett, "I've a word to say -to you. This land that we have sighted is the place we -have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, being a very -open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked -me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that -every man on board had done his duty, alow and aloft, -as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and -the doctor are going below to the cabin to drink YOUR -health and luck, and you'll have grog served out -for you to drink OUR health and luck. I'll tell -you what I think of this: I think it handsome. And if -you think as I do, you'll give a good sea-cheer for the -gentleman that does it." - -The cheer followed--that was a matter of course; but it -rang out so full and hearty that I confess I could hardly -believe these same men were plotting for our blood. - -"One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long John -when the first had subsided. - -And this also was given with a will. - -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and -not long after, word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins -was wanted in the cabin. - -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle -of Spanish wine and some raisins before them, and the -doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, and that, -I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern -window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could -see the moon shining behind on the ship's wake. - -"Now, Hawkins," said the squire, "you have something to -say. Speak up." - -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, -told the whole details of Silver's conversation. -Nobody interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one -of the three of them make so much as a movement, but -they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - -"Jim," said Dr. Livesey, "take a seat." - -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured -me out a glass of wine, filled my hands with raisins, -and all three, one after the other, and each with a -bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for -my luck and courage. - -"Now, captain," said the squire, "you were right, and I -was wrong. I own myself an ass, and I await your orders." - -"No more an ass than I, sir," returned the captain. "I -never heard of a crew that meant to mutiny but what -showed signs before, for any man that had an eye in his -head to see the mischief and take steps according. But -this crew," he added, "beats me." - -"Captain," said the doctor, "with your permission, -that's Silver. A very remarkable man." - -"He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir," -returned the captain. "But this is talk; this don't -lead to anything. I see three or four points, and with -Mr. Trelawney's permission, I'll name them." - -"You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," -says Mr. Trelawney grandly. - -"First point," began Mr. Smollett. "We must go on, -because we can't turn back. If I gave the word to go -about, they would rise at once. Second point, we have -time before us--at least until this treasure's found. -Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's -got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I -propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying -is, and come to blows some fine day when they least -expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home -servants, Mr. Trelawney?" - -"As upon myself," declared the squire. - -"Three," reckoned the captain; "ourselves make seven, -counting Hawkins here. Now, about the honest hands?" - -"Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor; "those -he had picked up for himself before he lit on Silver." - -"Nay," replied the squire. "Hands was one of mine." - -"I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the captain. - -"And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke out -the squire. "Sir, I could find it in my heart to blow -the ship up." - -"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, "the best that I -can say is not much. We must lay to, if you please, -and keep a bright lookout. It's trying on a man, I -know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But -there's no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, -and whistle for a wind, that's my view." - -"Jim here," said the doctor, "can help us more than -anyone. The men are not shy with him, and Jim is a -noticing lad." - -"Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the squire. - -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt -altogether helpless; and yet, by an odd train of -circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety came. -In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only -seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could -rely; and out of these seven one was a boy, so that the -grown men on our side were six to their nineteen. - - - - - - PART THREE - - My Shore Adventure - - - - 13 - - How My Shore Adventure Began - -THE appearance of the island when I came on deck next -morning was altogether changed. Although the breeze -had now utterly ceased, we had made a great deal of way -during the night and were now lying becalmed about half -a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. -Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the -surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by -streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, and by -many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the -others--some singly, some in clumps; but the general -colouring was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear -above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. All were -strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three -or four hundred feet the tallest on the island, was -likewise the strangest in configuration, running up -sheer from almost every side and then suddenly cut off -at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - -The HISPANIOLA was rolling scuppers under in the -ocean swell. The booms were tearing at the blocks, the -rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole ship -creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I -had to cling tight to the backstay, and the world -turned giddily before my eyes, for though I was a good -enough sailor when there was way on, this standing -still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing -I never learned to stand without a qualm or so, above -all in the morning, on an empty stomach. - -Perhaps it was this--perhaps it was the look of the -island, with its grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone -spires, and the surf that we could both see and hear -foaming and thundering on the steep beach--at least, -although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore -birds were fishing and crying all around us, and you -would have thought anyone would have been glad to get -to land after being so long at sea, my heart sank, as -the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look -onward, I hated the very thought of Treasure Island. - -We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was -no sign of any wind, and the boats had to be got out -and manned, and the ship warped three or four miles -round the corner of the island and up the narrow -passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I -volunteered for one of the boats, where I had, of -course, no business. The heat was sweltering, and the -men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in -command of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in -order, he grumbled as loud as the worst. - -"Well," he said with an oath, "it's not forever." - -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day -the men had gone briskly and willingly about their -business; but the very sight of the island had relaxed -the cords of discipline. - -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and -conned the ship. He knew the passage like the palm of -his hand, and though the man in the chains got -everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John -never hesitated once. - -"There's a strong scour with the ebb," he said, "and -this here passage has been dug out, in a manner of -speaking, with a spade." - -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, -about a third of a mile from each shore, the mainland -on one side and Skeleton Island on the other. The -bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent -up clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, -but in less than a minute they were down again and all -was once more silent. - -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, -the trees coming right down to high-water mark, the -shores mostly flat, and the hilltops standing round at -a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one -there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, -emptied out into this pond, as you might call it; and -the foliage round that part of the shore had a kind of -poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see -nothing of the house or stockade, for they were quite -buried among trees; and if it had not been for the -chart on the companion, we might have been the first -that had ever anchored there since the island arose out -of the seas. - -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that -of the surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and -against the rocks outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung -over the anchorage--a smell of sodden leaves and rotting -tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing, -like someone tasting a bad egg. - -"I don't know about treasure," he said, "but I'll stake -my wig there's fever here." - -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the -boat, it became truly threatening when they had come -aboard. They lay about the deck growling together in -talk. The slightest order was received with a black -look and grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the -honest hands must have caught the infection, for there -was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, it was -plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived -the danger. Long John was hard at work going from -group to group, spending himself in good advice, and as -for example no man could have shown a better. He -fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility; -he was all smiles to everyone. If an order were given, -John would be on his crutch in an instant, with the -cheeriest "Aye, aye, sir!" in the world; and when there -was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after -another, as if to conceal the discontent of the rest. - -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this -obvious anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - -We held a council in the cabin. - -"Sir," said the captain, "if I risk another order, the -whole ship'll come about our ears by the run. You see, -sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, do I not? Well, -if I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I -don't, Silver will see there's something under that, and -the game's up. Now, we've only one man to rely on." - -"And who is that?" asked the squire. - -"Silver, sir," returned the captain; "he's as anxious -as you and I to smother things up. This is a tiff; -he'd soon talk 'em out of it if he had the chance, and -what I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let's -allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why -we'll fight the ship. If they none of them go, well -then, we hold the cabin, and God defend the right. If -some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver'll bring 'em -aboard again as mild as lambs." - -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all -the sure men; Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into -our confidence and received the news with less surprise -and a better spirit than we had looked for, and then the -captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - -"My lads," said he, "we've had a hot day and are all -tired and out of sorts. A turn ashore'll hurt nobody-- -the boats are still in the water; you can take the gigs, -and as many as please may go ashore for the afternoon. -I'll fire a gun half an hour before sundown." - -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they -would break their shins over treasure as soon as they -were landed, for they all came out of their sulks in a -moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a far- -away hill and sent the birds once more flying and -squalling round the anchorage. - -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He -whipped out of sight in a moment, leaving Silver to -arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he did -so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as -have pretended not to understand the situation. It was -as plain as day. Silver was the captain, and a mighty -rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands--and I -was soon to see it proved that there were such on -board--must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, -I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were -disaffected by the example of the ringleaders--only -some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in -the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. -It is one thing to be idle and skulk and quite another -to take a ship and murder a number of innocent men. - -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows -were to stay on board, and the remaining thirteen, -including Silver, began to embark. - -Then it was that there came into my head the first of -the mad notions that contributed so much to save our -lives. If six men were left by Silver, it was plain -our party could not take and fight the ship; and since -only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin -party had no present need of my assistance. It occurred -to me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over -the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest -boat, and almost at the same moment she shoved off. - -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, "Is -that you, Jim? Keep your head down." But Silver, from -the other boat, looked sharply over and called out to -know if that were me; and from that moment I began to -regret what I had done. - -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, -having some start and being at once the lighter and the -better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, and the -bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had -caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into -the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest were -still a hundred yards behind. - -"Jim, Jim!" I heard him shouting. - -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, -and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose -till I could run no longer. - - - - 14 - - The First Blow - -I WAS so pleased at having given the slip to Long John -that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with -some interest on the strange land that I was in. - -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, -bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, swampy trees; and I had -now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of -undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted -with a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, -not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the foliage, -like willows. On the far side of the open stood one of -the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining -vividly in the sun. - -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. -The isle was uninhabited; my shipmates I had left -behind, and nothing lived in front of me but dumb -brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among -the trees. Here and there were flowering plants, -unknown to me; here and there I saw snakes, and one -raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me -with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little -did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that the -noise was the famous rattle. - -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees-- -live, or evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they -should be called--which grew low along the sand like -brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage -compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from -the top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and -growing taller as it went, until it reached the margin -of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest of -the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. -The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the -outline of the Spy-glass trembled through the haze. - -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among -the bulrushes; a wild duck flew up with a quack, -another followed, and soon over the whole surface of -the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and -circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my -shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the -fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon I heard the very -distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I -continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover -of the nearest live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, -as silent as a mouse. - -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which -I now recognized to be Silver's, once more took up the -story and ran on for a long while in a stream, only now -and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they -must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; -but no distinct word came to my hearing. - -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps -to have sat down, for not only did they cease to draw -any nearer, but the birds themselves began to grow more -quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp. - -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, -that since I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with -these desperadoes, the least I could do was to overhear -them at their councils, and that my plain and obvious duty -was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable -ambush of the crouching trees. - -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty -exactly, not only by the sound of their voices but by -the behaviour of the few birds that still hung in alarm -above the heads of the intruders. - -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly -towards them, till at last, raising my head to an -aperture among the leaves, I could see clear down into -a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set -about with trees, where Long John Silver and another of -the crew stood face to face in conversation. - -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat -beside him on the ground, and his great, smooth, blond -face, all shining with heat, was lifted to the other -man's in a kind of appeal. - -"Mate," he was saying, "it's because I thinks gold dust -of you--gold dust, and you may lay to that! If I -hadn't took to you like pitch, do you think I'd have -been here a-warning of you? All's up--you can't make -nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking, -and if one of the wild uns knew it, where'd I be, Tom-- -now, tell me, where'd I be?" - -"Silver," said the other man--and I observed he was not -only red in the face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and -his voice shook too, like a taut rope--"Silver," says he, -"you're old, and you're honest, or has the name for it; -and you've money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't; -and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you tell me -you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of a mess -of swabs? Not you! As sure as God sees me, I'd sooner -lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty--" - -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. -I had found one of the honest hands--well, here, at -that same moment, came news of another. Far away out -in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like -the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and -then one horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the -Spy-glass re-echoed it a score of times; the whole -troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, with -a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell -was still ringing in my brain, silence had re- -established its empire, and only the rustle of the -redescending birds and the boom of the distant surges -disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, -but Silver had not winked an eye. He stood where he -was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his -companion like a snake about to spring. - -"John!" said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - -"Hands off!" cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed -to me, with the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - -"Hands off, if you like, John Silver," said the other. -"It's a black conscience that can make you feared of -me. But in heaven's name, tell me, what was that?" - -"That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than -ever, his eye a mere pin-point in his big face, but -gleaming like a crumb of glass. "That?" Oh, I reckon -that'll be Alan." - -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - -"Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his soul for a true seaman! -And as for you, John Silver, long you've been a mate of -mine, but you're mate of mine no more. If I die like a -dog, I'll die in my dooty. You've killed Alan, have you? -Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you." - -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back -directly on the cook and set off walking for the beach. -But he was not destined to go far. With a cry John -seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of -his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling -through the air. It struck poor Tom, point foremost, -and with stunning violence, right between the shoulders -in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he gave -a sort of gasp, and fell. - -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever -tell. Like enough, to judge from the sound, his back -was broken on the spot. But he had no time given him -to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without leg -or crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had -twice buried his knife up to the hilt in that -defenceless body. From my place of ambush, I could -hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know -that for the next little while the whole world swam away -from before me in a whirling mist; Silver and the birds, -and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and round and -topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing -and distant voices shouting in my ear. - -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled -himself together, his crutch under his arm, his hat -upon his head. Just before him Tom lay motionless upon -the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, -cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp -of grass. Everything else was unchanged, the sun still -shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh and the tall -pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce persuade -myself that murder had been actually done and a human -life cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out -a whistle, and blew upon it several modulated blasts -that rang far across the heated air. I could not tell, -of course, the meaning of the signal, but it instantly -awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be -discovered. They had already slain two of the honest -people; after Tom and Alan, might not I come next? - -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back -again, with what speed and silence I could manage, to -the more open portion of the wood. As I did so, I -could hear hails coming and going between the old -buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger -lent me wings. As soon as I was clear of the thicket, -I ran as I never ran before, scarce minding the -direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the -murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me -until it turned into a kind of frenzy. - -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? -When the gun fired, how should I dare to go down to the -boats among those fiends, still smoking from their crime? -Would not the first of them who saw me wring my neck like -a snipe's? Would not my absence itself be an evidence -to them of my alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? -It was all over, I thought. Good-bye to the HISPANIOLA; -good-bye to the squire, the doctor, and the captain! -There was nothing left for me but death by starvation -or death by the hands of the mutineers. - -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and -without taking any notice, I had drawn near to the foot -of the little hill with the two peaks and had got into -a part of the island where the live-oaks grew more -widely apart and seemed more like forest trees in their -bearing and dimensions. Mingled with these were a few -scattered pines, some fifty, some nearer seventy, feet -high. The air too smelt more freshly than down beside -the marsh. - -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with -a thumping heart. - - - - 15 - - The Man of the Island - -FROM the side of the hill, which was here steep and -stony, a spout of gravel was dislodged and fell -rattling and bounding through the trees. My eyes -turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a -figure leap with great rapidity behind the trunk of a -pine. What it was, whether bear or man or monkey, I -could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more -I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition -brought me to a stand. - -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind -me the murderers, before me this lurking nondescript. -And immediately I began to prefer the dangers that I -knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less -terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, -and I turned on my heel, and looking sharply behind me -over my shoulder, began to retrace my steps in the -direction of the boats. - -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide -circuit, began to head me off. I was tired, at any -rate; but had I been as fresh as when I rose, I could -see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such -an adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted -like a deer, running manlike on two legs, but unlike -any man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as -it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in -doubt about that. - -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was -within an ace of calling for help. But the mere fact -that he was a man, however wild, had somewhat reassured -me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in proportion. -I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method -of escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of -my pistol flashed into my mind. As soon as I remembered -I was not defenceless, courage glowed again in my heart -and I set my face resolutely for this man of the island -and walked briskly towards him. - -He was concealed by this time behind another tree -trunk; but he must have been watching me closely, for -as soon as I began to move in his direction he -reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he -hesitated, drew back, came forward again, and at last, -to my wonder and confusion, threw himself on his knees -and held out his clasped hands in supplication. - -At that I once more stopped. - -"Who are you?" I asked. - -"Ben Gunn," he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and -awkward, like a rusty lock. "I'm poor Ben Gunn, I am; and -I haven't spoke with a Christian these three years." - -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and -that his features were even pleasing. His skin, -wherever it was exposed, was burnt by the sun; even his -lips were black, and his fair eyes looked quite -startling in so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men -that I had seen or fancied, he was the chief for -raggedness. He was clothed with tatters of old ship's -canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary -patchwork was all held together by a system of the most -various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, bits -of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. About his waist -he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which was -the one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. - -"Three years!" I cried. "Were you shipwrecked?" - -"Nay, mate," said he; "marooned." - -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a -horrible kind of punishment common enough among the -buccaneers, in which the offender is put ashore with a -little powder and shot and left behind on some desolate -and distant island. - -"Marooned three years agone," he continued, "and lived -on goats since then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever -a man is, says I, a man can do for himself. But, mate, -my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn't happen -to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, -many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese--toasted, -mostly--and woke up again, and here I were." - -"If ever I can get aboard again," said I, "you shall -have cheese by the stone." - -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my -jacket, smoothing my hands, looking at my boots, and -generally, in the intervals of his speech, showing a -childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow creature. -But at my last words he perked up into a kind of -startled slyness. - -"If ever you can get aboard again, says you?" he -repeated. "Why, now, who's to hinder you?" - -"Not you, I know," was my reply. - -"And right you was," he cried. "Now you--what do you -call yourself, mate?" - -"Jim," I told him. - -"Jim, Jim," says he, quite pleased apparently. "Well, -now, Jim, I've lived that rough as you'd be ashamed to -hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn't think I had -had a pious mother--to look at me?" he asked. - -"Why, no, not in particular," I answered. - -"Ah, well," said he, "but I had--remarkable pious. And -I was a civil, pious boy, and could rattle off my -catechism that fast, as you couldn't tell one word from -another. And here's what it come to, Jim, and it begun -with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That's -what it begun with, but it went further'n that; and so -my mother told me, and predicked the whole, she did, the -pious woman! But it were Providence that put me here. -I've thought it all out in this here lonely island, and -I'm back on piety. You don't catch me tasting rum so -much, but just a thimbleful for luck, of course, the -first chance I have. I'm bound I'll be good, and I see -the way to. And, Jim"--looking all round him and lowering -his voice to a whisper--"I'm rich." - -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in -his solitude, and I suppose I must have shown the -feeling in my face, for he repeated the statement -hotly: "Rich! Rich! I says. And I'll tell you what: -I'll make a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you'll bless -your stars, you will, you was the first that found me!" - -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over -his face, and he tightened his grasp upon my hand and -raised a forefinger threateningly before my eyes. - -"Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?" -he asked. - -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe -that I had found an ally, and I answered him at once. - -"It's not Flint's ship, and Flint is dead; but I'll -tell you true, as you ask me--there are some of Flint's -hands aboard; worse luck for the rest of us." - -"Not a man--with one--leg?" he gasped. - -"Silver?" I asked. - -"Ah, Silver!" says he. "That were his name." - -"He's the cook, and the ringleader too." - -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he -give it quite a wring. - -"If you was sent by Long John," he said, "I'm as good as -pork, and I know it. But where was you, do you suppose?" - -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer -told him the whole story of our voyage and the -predicament in which we found ourselves. He heard me -with the keenest interest, and when I had done he -patted me on the head. - -"You're a good lad, Jim," he said; "and you're all in a -clove hitch, ain't you? Well, you just put your trust -in Ben Gunn--Ben Gunn's the man to do it. Would you -think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a -liberal-minded one in case of help--him being in a -clove hitch, as you remark?" - -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - -"Aye, but you see," returned Ben Gunn, "I didn't mean -giving me a gate to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, -and such; that's not my mark, Jim. What I mean is, -would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one -thousand pounds out of money that's as good as a man's -own already?" - -"I am sure he would," said I. "As it was, all hands -were to share." - -"AND a passage home?" he added with a look of great -shrewdness. - -"Why," I cried, "the squire's a gentleman. And -besides, if we got rid of the others, we should want -you to help work the vessel home." - -"Ah," said he, "so you would." And he seemed very much -relieved. - -"Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. "So much I'll -tell you, and no more. I were in Flint's ship when he -buried the treasure; he and six along--six strong -seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us -standing off and on in the old WALRUS. One fine -day up went the signal, and here come Flint by himself -in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. -The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked -about the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and -the six all dead--dead and buried. How he done it, not -a man aboard us could make out. It was battle, murder, -and sudden death, leastways--him against six. Billy -Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; -and they asked him where the treasure was. 'Ah,' says -he, 'you can go ashore, if you like, and stay,' he -says; 'but as for the ship, she'll beat up for more, by -thunder!' That's what he said. - -"Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we -sighted this island. 'Boys,' said I, 'here's Flint's -treasure; let's land and find it.' The cap'n was -displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind -and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every -day they had the worse word for me, until one fine -morning all hands went aboard. 'As for you, Benjamin -Gunn,' says they, 'here's a musket,' they says, 'and a -spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find -Flint's money for yourself,' they says. - -"Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite -of Christian diet from that day to this. But now, you -look here; look at me. Do I look like a man before the -mast? No, says you. Nor I weren't, neither, I says." - -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - -"Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim," he went -on. "Nor he weren't, neither--that's the words. Three -years he were the man of this island, light and dark, fair -and rain; and sometimes he would maybe think upon a prayer -(says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of his old -mother, so be as she's alive (you'll say); but the most -part of Gunn's time (this is what you'll say)--the most -part of his time was took up with another matter. And -then you'll give him a nip, like I do." - -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - -"Then," he continued, "then you'll up, and you'll say -this: Gunn is a good man (you'll say), and he puts a -precious sight more confidence--a precious sight, mind -that--in a gen'leman born than in these gen'leman of -fortune, having been one hisself." - -"Well," I said, "I don't understand one word that -you've been saying. But that's neither here nor there; -for how am I to get on board?" - -"Ah," said he, "that's the hitch, for sure. Well, -there's my boat, that I made with my two hands. I keep -her under the white rock. If the worst come to the -worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!" he broke -out. "What's that?" - -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or -two to run, all the echoes of the island awoke and -bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - -"They have begun to fight!" I cried. "Follow me." - -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors -all forgotten, while close at my side the marooned man -in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly. - -"Left, left," says he; "keep to your left hand, mate -Jim! Under the trees with you! Theer's where I killed -my first goat. They don't come down here now; they're -all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of -Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And there's the cetemery"-- -cemetery, he must have meant. "You see the mounds? I -come here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought -maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren't quite a -chapel, but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says -you, Ben Gunn was short-handed--no chapling, nor so -much as a Bible and a flag, you says." - -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor -receiving any answer. - -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable -interval by a volley of small arms. - -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in -front of me, I beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air -above a wood. - - - - - - PART FOUR - - The Stockade - - - - 16 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the - Ship Was Abandoned - -IT was about half past one--three bells in the sea -phrase--that the two boats went ashore from the -HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I were -talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a -breath of wind, we should have fallen on the six -mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our -cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and -to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the -news that Jim Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was -gone ashore with the rest. - -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we -were alarmed for his safety. With the men in the -temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we -should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch -was bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the -place turned me sick; if ever a man smelt fever and -dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The -six scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in -the forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made fast -and a man sitting in each, hard by where the river runs -in. One of them was whistling "Lillibullero." - -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter -and I should go ashore with the jolly-boat in quest -of information. - -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I -pulled straight in, in the direction of the stockade -upon the chart. The two who were left guarding their -boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; "Lillibullero" -stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what -they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all -might have turned out differently; but they had their -orders, I suppose, and decided to sit quietly where -they were and hark back again to "Lillibullero." - -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so -as to put it between us; even before we landed we had -thus lost sight of the gigs. I jumped out and came as -near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief -under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols -ready primed for safety. - -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose -almost at the top of a knoll. Well, on the knoll, and -enclosing the spring, they had clapped a stout log- -house fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and -loopholed for musketry on either side. All round this -they had cleared a wide space, and then the thing was -completed by a paling six feet high, without door or -opening, too strong to pull down without time and -labour and too open to shelter the besiegers. The -people in the log-house had them in every way; they -stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like -partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; -for, short of a complete surprise, they might have held -the place against a regiment. - -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For -though we had a good enough place of it in the cabin of -the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms and ammunition, -and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been -one thing overlooked--we had no water. I was thinking -this over when there came ringing over the island the -cry of a man at the point of death. I was not new to -violent death--I have served his Royal Highness the -Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy-- -but I know my pulse went dot and carry one. "Jim -Hawkins is gone," was my first thought. - -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more -still to have been a doctor. There is no time to -dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made up my mind -instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore -and jumped on board the jolly-boat. - -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the -water fly, and the boat was soon alongside and I aboard -the schooner. - -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire -was sitting down, as white as a sheet, thinking of the -harm he had led us to, the good soul! And one of the -six forecastle hands was little better. - -"There's a man," says Captain Smollett, nodding towards -him, "new to this work. He came nigh-hand fainting, -doctor, when he heard the cry. Another touch of the -rudder and that man would join us." - -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we -settled on the details of its accomplishment. - -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and -the forecastle, with three or four loaded muskets and a -mattress for protection. Hunter brought the boat round -under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work -loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of -biscuits, kegs of pork, a cask of cognac, and my -invaluable medicine chest. - -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on -deck, and the latter hailed the coxswain, who was the -principal man aboard. - -"Mr. Hands," he said, "here are two of us with a brace -of pistols each. If any one of you six make a signal -of any description, that man's dead." - -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little -consultation one and all tumbled down the fore -companion, thinking no doubt to take us on the rear. -But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the -sparred galley, they went about ship at once, and a -head popped out again on deck. - -"Down, dog!" cries the captain. - -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, -for the time, of these six very faint-hearted seamen. - -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had -the jolly-boat loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I -got out through the stern-port, and we made for shore -again as fast as oars could take us. - -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along -shore. "Lillibullero" was dropped again; and just -before we lost sight of them behind the little point, -one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half -a mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I -feared that Silver and the others might be close at hand, -and all might very well be lost by trying for too much. - -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and -set to provision the block house. All three made the -first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our stores over -the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them--one man, -to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets-- Hunter and I -returned to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. -So we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the -whole cargo was bestowed, when the two servants took up -their position in the block house, and I, with all my power, -sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. - -That we should have risked a second boat load seems -more daring than it really was. They had the advantage -of numbers, of course, but we had the advantage of -arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and -before they could get within range for pistol shooting, -we flattered ourselves we should be able to give a good -account of a half-dozen at least. - -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all -his faintness gone from him. He caught the painter and -made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat for our -very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo, -with only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire -and me and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the -arms and powder we dropped overboard in two fathoms and a -half of water, so that we could see the bright steel shining -far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy bottom. - -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the -ship was swinging round to her anchor. Voices were -heard faintly halloaing in the direction of the two -gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and -Hunter, who were well to the eastward, it warned our -party to be off. - -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and -dropped into the boat, which we then brought round to -the ship's counter, to be handier for Captain Smollett. - -"Now, men," said he, "do you hear me?" - -There was no answer from the forecastle. - -"It's to you, Abraham Gray--it's to you I am speaking." - -Still no reply. - -"Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, "I am -leaving this ship, and I order you to follow your -captain. I know you are a good man at bottom, and I -dare say not one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes -out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you -thirty seconds to join me in." - -There was a pause. - -"Come, my fine fellow," continued the captain; "don't -hang so long in stays. I'm risking my life and the -lives of these good gentlemen every second." - -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst -Abraham Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and -came running to the captain like a dog to the whistle. - -"I'm with you, sir," said he. - -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped -aboard of us, and we had shoved off and given way. - -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in -our stockade. - - - - 17 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's - Last Trip - -THIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the -others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a -boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five -grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and -the captain--over six feet high, was already more than -she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, -and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. -Several times we shipped a little water, and my -breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet -before we had gone a hundred yards. - -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her -to lie a little more evenly. All the same, we were -afraid to breathe. - -In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong -rippling current running westward through the basin, -and then south'ard and seaward down the straits by -which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples -were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of -it was that we were swept out of our true course and -away from our proper landing-place behind the point. -If we let the current have its way we should come -ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear -at any moment. - -"I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir," said I -to the captain. I was steering, while he and Redruth, -two fresh men, were at the oars. "The tide keeps -washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?" - -"Not without swamping the boat," said he. "You must -bear up, sir, if you please--bear up until you see -you're gaining." - -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping -us westward until I had laid her head due east, or just -about right angles to the way we ought to go. - -"We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I. - -"If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must -even lie it," returned the captain. "We must keep -upstream. You see, sir," he went on, "if once we dropped -to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say where we -should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by -the gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, -and then we can dodge back along the shore." - -"The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, -who was sitting in the fore-sheets; "you can ease her -off a bit." - -"Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had -happened, for we had all quietly made up our minds to -treat him like one of ourselves. - -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his -voice was a little changed. - -"The gun!" said he. - -"I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he -was thinking of a bombardment of the fort. "They could -never get the gun ashore, and if they did, they could -never haul it through the woods." - -"Look astern, doctor," replied the captain. - -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to -our horror, were the five rogues busy about her, -getting off her jacket, as they called the stout -tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, -but it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the -round-shot and the powder for the gun had been left -behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into -the possession of the evil ones abroad. - -"Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely. - -At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the -landing-place. By this time we had got so far out of -the run of the current that we kept steerage way even -at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could -keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was -that with the course I now held we turned our broadside -instead of our stern to the HISPANIOLA and offered -a target like a barn door. - -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal -Israel Hands plumping down a round-shot on the deck. - -"Who's the best shot?" asked the captain. - -"Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I. - -"Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of -these men, sir? Hands, if possible," said the captain. - -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the -priming of his gun. - -"Now," cried the captain, "easy with that gun, sir, or -you'll swamp the boat. All hands stand by to trim her -when he aims." - -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned -over to the other side to keep the balance, and all was so -nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop. - -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the -swivel, and Hands, who was at the muzzle with the -rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. However, -we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he -stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of -the other four who fell. - -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions -on board but by a great number of voices from the -shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other -pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling -into their places in the boats. - -"Here come the gigs, sir," said I. - -"Give way, then," cried the captain. "We mustn't mind -if we swamp her now. If we can't get ashore, all's up." - -"Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added; -"the crew of the other most likely going round by shore -to cut us off." - -"They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain. -"Jack ashore, you know. It's not them I mind; it's the -round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's maid couldn't -miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and -we'll hold water." - -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good -pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped but -little water in the process. We were now close in; -thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for -the ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand -below the clustering trees. The gig was no longer to -be feared; the little point had already concealed it -from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly -delayed us, was now making reparation and delaying our -assailants. The one source of danger was the gun. - -"If I durst," said the captain, "I'd stop and pick -off another man." - -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay -their shot. They had never so much as looked at their -fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I could see -him trying to crawl away. - -"Ready!" cried the squire. - -"Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo. - -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent -her stern bodily under water. The report fell in at the -same instant of time. This was the first that Jim heard, -the sound of the squire's shot not having reached him. -Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but -I fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind -of it may have contributed to our disaster. - -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in -three feet of water, leaving the captain and myself, facing -each other, on our feet. The other three took complete -headers, and came up again drenched and bubbling. - -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, -and we could wade ashore in safety. But there were all -our stores at the bottom, and to make things worse, -only two guns out of five remained in a state for -service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held -over my head, by a sort of instinct. As for the -captain, he had carried his over his shoulder by a -bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The -other three had gone down with the boat. - -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing -near us in the woods along shore, and we had not only -the danger of being cut off from the stockade in our -half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, if -Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they -would have the sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter -was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a doubtful case--a -pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush one's -clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as -we could, leaving behind us the poor jolly-boat and a -good half of all our powder and provisions. - - - - 18 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the - First Day's Fighting - -WE made our best speed across the strip of wood that -now divided us from the stockade, and at every step we -took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. Soon we -could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking -of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest -and looked to my priming. - -"Captain," said I, "Trelawney is the dead shot. Give -him your gun; his own is useless." - -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as -he had been since the beginning of the bustle, hung a -moment on his heel to see that all was fit for service. -At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I -handed him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to -see him spit in his hand, knit his brows, and make the -blade sing through the air. It was plain from every -line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and -saw the stockade in front of us. We struck the -enclosure about the middle of the south side, and -almost at the same time, seven mutineers--Job Anderson, -the boatswain, at their head--appeared in full cry at -the southwestern corner. - -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, -not only the squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the -block house, had time to fire. The four shots came in -rather a scattering volley, but they did the business: -one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without -hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the -palisade to see to the fallen enemy. He was stone -dead--shot through the heart. - -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at -that moment a pistol cracked in the bush, a ball -whistled close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth -stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the -squire and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing -to aim at, it is probable we only wasted powder. Then -we reloaded and turned our attention to poor Tom. - -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I -saw with half an eye that all was over. - -I believe the readiness of our return volley had -scattered the mutineers once more, for we were suffered -without further molestation to get the poor old -gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, -groaning and bleeding, into the log-house. - -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, -complaint, fear, or even acquiescence from the very -beginning of our troubles till now, when we had laid him -down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a Trojan -behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every -order silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of -our party by a score of years; and now, sullen, old, -serviceable servant, it was he that was to die. - -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and -kissed his hand, crying like a child. - -"Be I going, doctor?" he asked. - -"Tom, my man," said I, "you're going home." - -"I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first," -he replied. - -"Tom," said the squire, "say you forgive me, won't you?" - -"Would that be respectful like, from me to you, -squire?" was the answer. "Howsoever, so be it, amen!" - -After a little while of silence, he said he thought -somebody might read a prayer. "It's the custom, sir," -he added apologetically. And not long after, without -another word, he passed away. - -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be -wonderfully swollen about the chest and pockets, had -turned out a great many various stores--the British -colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, -the log-book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a -longish fir-tree lying felled and trimmed in the -enclosure, and with the help of Hunter he had set it up -at the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed -and made an angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had -with his own hand bent and run up the colours. - -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the -log-house and set about counting up the stores as if -nothing else existed. But he had an eye on Tom's passage -for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward -with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - -"Don't you take on, sir," he said, shaking the squire's -hand. "All's well with him; no fear for a hand that's -been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. It -mayn't be good divinity, but it's a fact." - -Then he pulled me aside. - -"Dr. Livesey," he said, "in how many weeks do you and -squire expect the consort?" - -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of -months, that if we were not back by the end of August -Blandly was to send to find us, but neither sooner nor -later. "You can calculate for yourself," I said. - -"Why, yes," returned the captain, scratching his head; -"and making a large allowance, sir, for all the gifts -of Providence, I should say we were pretty close hauled." - -"How do you mean?" I asked. - -"It's a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's -what I mean," replied the captain. "As for powder and -shot, we'll do. But the rations are short, very short-- -so short, Dr. Livesey, that we're perhaps as well -without that extra mouth." - -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot -passed high above the roof of the log-house and plumped -far beyond us in the wood. - -"Oho!" said the captain. "Blaze away! You've little -enough powder already, my lads." - -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball -descended inside the stockade, scattering a cloud of -sand but doing no further damage. - -"Captain," said the squire, "the house is quite -invisible from the ship. It must be the flag they are -aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it in?" - -"Strike my colours!" cried the captain. "No, sir, not I"; -and as soon as he had said the words, I think we all agreed -with him. For it was not only a piece of stout, seamanly, -good feeling; it was good policy besides and showed our -enemies that we despised their cannonade. - -All through the evening they kept thundering away. -Ball after ball flew over or fell short or kicked up -the sand in the enclosure, but they had to fire so high -that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft -sand. We had no ricochet to fear, and though one -popped in through the roof of the log-house and out -again through the floor, we soon got used to that sort -of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - -"There is one good thing about all this," observed the -captain; "the wood in front of us is likely clear. The -ebb has made a good while; our stores should be -uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork. - -Gray and hunter were the first to come forward. Well -armed, they stole out of the stockade, but it proved a -useless mission. The mutineers were bolder than we -fancied or they put more trust in Israel's gunnery. -For four or five of them were busy carrying off our -stores and wading out with them to one of the gigs that -lay close by, pulling an oar or so to hold her steady -against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in -command; and every man of them was now provided with a -musket from some secret magazine of their own. - -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the -beginning of the entry: - - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship's - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner's servants, landsmen--being all that is left - faithful of the ship's company--with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner's servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy-- - -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim -Hawkins' fate. - -A hail on the land side. - -"Somebody hailing us," said Hunter, who was on guard. - -"Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that -you?" came the cries. - -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe -and sound, come climbing over the stockade. - - - - 19 - - Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison - in the Stockade - -AS soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, -stopped me by the arm, and sat down. - -"Now," said he, "there's your friends, sure enough." - -"Far more likely it's the mutineers," I answered. - -"That!" he cried. "Why, in a place like this, where -nobody puts in but gen'lemen of fortune, Silver would -fly the Jolly Roger, you don't make no doubt of that. -No, that's your friends. There's been blows too, and I -reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here -they are ashore in the old stockade, as was made years -and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a -headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were -never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y -Silver--Silver was that genteel." - -"Well," said I, "that may be so, and so be it; all the -more reason that I should hurry on and join my friends." - -"Nay, mate," returned Ben, "not you. You're a good -boy, or I'm mistook; but you're on'y a boy, all told. -Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn't bring me there, -where you're going--not rum wouldn't, till I see your -born gen'leman and gets it on his word of honour. And -you won't forget my words; 'A precious sight (that's -what you'll say), a precious sight more confidence'-- -and then nips him. - -And he pinched me the third time with the same air -of cleverness. - -"And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find -him, Jim. Just wheer you found him today. And him -that comes is to have a white thing in his hand, and -he's to come alone. Oh! And you'll say this: 'Ben -Gunn,' says you, 'has reasons of his own.'" - -"Well," said I, "I believe I understand. You have -something to propose, and you wish to see the squire or -the doctor, and you're to be found where I found you. -Is that all?" - -"And when? says you," he added. "Why, from about noon -observation to about six bells." - -"Good," said I, "and now may I go?" - -"You won't forget?" he inquired anxiously. "Precious -sight, and reasons of his own, says you. Reasons of -his own; that's the mainstay; as between man and man. -Well, then"--still holding me--"I reckon you can go, -Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn't -go for to sell Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn't draw it -from you? No, says you. And if them pirates camp -ashore, Jim, what would you say but there'd be widders -in the morning?" - -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a -cannonball came tearing through the trees and pitched -in the sand not a hundred yards from where we two were -talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his -heels in a different direction. - -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the -island, and balls kept crashing through the woods. I -moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, always -pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying -missiles. But towards the end of the bombardment, -though still I durst not venture in the direction of -the stockade, where the balls fell oftenest, I had -begun, in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and -after a long detour to the east, crept down among the -shore-side trees. - -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and -tumbling in the woods and ruffling the grey surface of -the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and great -tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat -of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - -The HISPANIOLA still lay where she had anchored; but, sure -enough, there was the Jolly Roger--the black flag of piracy ---flying from her peak. Even as I looked, there came another -red flash and another report that sent the echoes clattering, -and one more round-shot whistled through the air. It was the -last of the cannonade. - -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded -the attack. Men were demolishing something with axes -on the beach near the stockade--the poor jolly-boat, I -afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the -river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and -between that point and the ship one of the gigs kept -coming and going, the men, whom I had seen so gloomy, -shouting at the oars like children. But there was a -sound in their voices which suggested rum. - -At length I thought I might return towards the -stockade. I was pretty far down on the low, sandy spit -that encloses the anchorage to the east, and is joined -at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to -my feet, I saw, some distance further down the spit and -rising from among low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty -high, and peculiarly white in colour. It occurred to -me that this might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn -had spoken and that some day or other a boat might be -wanted and I should know where to look for one. - -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the -rear, or shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon -warmly welcomed by the faithful party. - -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. -The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine-- -roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several -places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the -surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, -and under this porch the little spring welled up into -an artificial basin of a rather odd kind--no other than -a great ship's kettle of iron, with the bottom knocked -out, and sunk "to her bearings," as the captain said, -among the sand. - -Little had been left besides the framework of the -house, but in one corner there was a stone slab laid -down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron basket to -contain the fire. - -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the -stockade had been cleared of timber to build the house, -and we could see by the stumps what a fine and lofty -grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had been -washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the -trees; only where the streamlet ran down from the -kettle a thick bed of moss and some ferns and little -creeping bushes were still green among the sand. Very -close around the stockade--too close for defence, they -said--the wood still flourished high and dense, all of -fir on the land side, but towards the sea with a large -admixture of live-oaks. - -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, -whistled through every chink of the rude building and -sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine sand. -There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in -our suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom -of the kettle, for all the world like porridge -beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole in -the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that -found its way out, and the rest eddied about the house -and kept us coughing and piping the eye. - -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied -up in a bandage for a cut he had got in breaking away -from the mutineers and that poor old Tom Redruth, still -unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, under -the Union Jack. - -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have -fallen in the blues, but Captain Smollett was never the -man for that. All hands were called up before him, and -he divided us into watches. The doctor and Gray and I -for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. -Tired though we all were, two were sent out for -firewood; two more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; -the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at the door; -and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping -up our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little -air and to rest his eyes, which were almost smoked out of -his head, and whenever he did so, he had a word for me. - -"That man Smollett," he said once, "is a better man -than I am. And when I say that it means a deal, Jim." - -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then -he put his head on one side, and looked at me. - -"Is this Ben Gunn a man?" he asked. - -"I do not know, sir," said I. "I am not very sure -whether he's sane." - -"If there's any doubt about the matter, he is," returned -the doctor. "A man who has been three years biting his -nails on a desert island, Jim, can't expect to appear as -sane as you or me. It doesn't lie in human nature. Was -it cheese you said he had a fancy for?" - -"Yes, sir, cheese," I answered. - -"Well, Jim," says he, "just see the good that comes of -being dainty in your food. You've seen my snuff-box, -haven't you? And you never saw me take snuff, the -reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of -Parmesan cheese--a cheese made in Italy, very -nutritious. Well, that's for Ben Gunn!" - -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand -and stood round him for a while bare-headed in the -breeze. A good deal of firewood had been got in, but -not enough for the captain's fancy, and he shook his -head over it and told us we "must get back to this -tomorrow rather livelier." Then, when we had eaten our -pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, -the three chiefs got together in a corner to discuss -our prospects. - -It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the -stores being so low that we must have been starved into -surrender long before help came. But our best hope, it -was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they -either hauled down their flag or ran away with the -HISPANIOLA. From nineteen they were already reduced -to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one at least-- -the man shot beside the gun--severely wounded, if he -were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we -were to take it, saving our own lives, with the -extremest care. And besides that, we had two able -allies--rum and the climate. - -As for the first, though we were about half a mile -away, we could hear them roaring and singing late into -the night; and as for the second, the doctor staked his -wig that, camped where they were in the marsh and -unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on -their backs before a week. - -"So," he added, "if we are not all shot down first they'll -be glad to be packing in the schooner. It's always a ship, -and they can get to buccaneering again, I suppose." - -"First ship that ever I lost," said Captain Smollett. - -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to -sleep, which was not till after a great deal of -tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and -increased the pile of firewood by about half as much again -when I was wakened by a bustle and the sound of voices. - -"Flag of truce!" I heard someone say; and then, immediately -after, with a cry of surprise, "Silver himself!" - -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a -loophole in the wall. - - - - 20 - - Silver's Embassy - -SURE enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, -one of them waving a white cloth, the other, no less a -person than Silver himself, standing placidly by. - -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that -I think I ever was abroad in--a chill that pierced into -the marrow. The sky was bright and cloudless overhead, -and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. But -where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still -in shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white -vapour that had crawled during the night out of the -morass. The chill and the vapour taken together told a -poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, -feverish, unhealthy spot. - -"Keep indoors, men," said the captain. "Ten to one -this is a trick." - -Then he hailed the buccaneer. - -"Who goes? Stand, or we fire." - -"Flag of truce," cried Silver. - -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully -out of the way of a treacherous shot, should any be -intended. He turned and spoke to us, "Doctor's watch -on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, if -you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, -all hands to load muskets. Lively, men, and careful." - -And then he turned again to the mutineers. - -"And what do you want with your flag of truce?" he cried. - -This time it was the other man who replied. - -"Cap'n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms," -he shouted. - -"Cap'n Silver! Don't know him. Who's he?" cried the -captain. And we could hear him adding to himself, -"Cap'n, is it? My heart, and here's promotion!" - -Long John answered for himself. "Me, sir. These poor -lads have chosen me cap'n, after your desertion, sir"-- -laying a particular emphasis upon the word "desertion." -"We're willing to submit, if we can come to terms, and -no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap'n -Smollett, to let me safe and sound out of this here -stockade, and one minute to get out o' shot before a -gun is fired." - -"My man," said Captain Smollett, "I have not the slightest -desire to talk to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can -come, that's all. If there's any treachery, it'll be on -your side, and the Lord help you." - -"That's enough, cap'n," shouted Long John cheerily. "A -word from you's enough. I know a gentleman, and you -may lay to that." - -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce -attempting to hold Silver back. Nor was that -wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the captain's -answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped -him on the back as if the idea of alarm had been -absurd. Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over -his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and -skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping -safely to the other side. - -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with -what was going on to be of the slightest use as sentry; -indeed, I had already deserted my eastern loophole and -crept up behind the captain, who had now seated himself -on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his -head in his hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as -it bubbled out of the old iron kettle in the sand. He -was whistling "Come, Lasses and Lads." - -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. -What with the steepness of the incline, the thick tree -stumps, and the soft sand, he and his crutch were as -helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a -man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, -whom he saluted in the handsomest style. He was -tricked out in his best; an immense blue coat, thick -with brass buttons, hung as low as to his knees, and a -fine laced hat was set on the back of his head. - -"Here you are, my man," said the captain, raising his -head. "You had better sit down." - -"You ain't a-going to let me inside, cap'n?" complained -Long John. "It's a main cold morning, to be sure, sir, -to sit outside upon the sand." - -"Why, Silver," said the captain, "if you had pleased to -be an honest man, you might have been sitting in your -galley. It's your own doing. You're either my ship's -cook--and then you were treated handsome--or Cap'n Silver, -a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!" - -"Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, sitting -down as he was bidden on the sand, "you'll have to give -me a hand up again, that's all. A sweet pretty place -you have of it here. Ah, there's Jim! The top of the -morning to you, Jim. Doctor, here's my service. Why, -there you all are together like a happy family, in a -manner of speaking." - -"If you have anything to say, my man, better say it," -said the captain. - -"Right you were, Cap'n Smollett," replied Silver. -"Dooty is dooty, to be sure. Well now, you look here, -that was a good lay of yours last night. I don't deny -it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a -handspike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some -of my people was shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I -was shook myself; maybe that's why I'm here for terms. -But you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by thunder! -We'll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so -on the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the -wind's eye. But I'll tell you I was sober; I was on'y -dog tired; and if I'd awoke a second sooner, I'd 'a -caught you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I -got round to him, not he." - -"Well?" says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would -never have guessed it from his tone. As for me, I -began to have an inkling. Ben Gunn's last words came -back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid -the buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk -together round their fire, and I reckoned up with glee -that we had only fourteen enemies to deal with. - -"Well, here it is," said Silver. "We want that -treasure, and we'll have it--that's our point! You -would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; and -that's yours. You have a chart, haven't you?" - -"That's as may be," replied the captain. - -"Oh, well, you have, I know that," returned Long John. -"You needn't be so husky with a man; there ain't a -particle of service in that, and you may lay to it. -What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant -you no harm, myself." - -"That won't do with me, my man," interrupted the -captain. "We know exactly what you meant to do, and we -don't care, for now, you see, you can't do it." - -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded -to fill a pipe. - -"If Abe Gray--" Silver broke out. - -"Avast there!" cried Mr. Smollett. "Gray told me -nothing, and I asked him nothing; and what's more, I -would see you and him and this whole island blown clean -out of the water into blazes first. So there's my mind -for you, my man, on that." - -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. -He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled -himself together. - -"Like enough," said he. "I would set no limits to what -gentlemen might consider shipshape, or might not, as -the case were. And seein' as how you are about to take -a pipe, cap'n, I'll make so free as do likewise." - -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat -silently smoking for quite a while, now looking each other -in the face, now stopping their tobacco, now leaning forward -to spit. It was as good as the play to see them. - -"Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the -chart to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor -seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You -do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come -aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then -I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to -clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or if that ain't to -your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having old -scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, -you can. We'll divide stores with you, man for man; -and I'll give my affy-davy, as before to speak the -first ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you up. -Now, you'll own that's talking. Handsomer you couldn't -look to get, now you. And I hope"--raising his voice-- -"that all hands in this here block house will overhaul -my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to all." - -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the -ashes of his pipe in the palm of his left hand. - -"Is that all?" he asked. - -"Every last word, by thunder!" answered John. "Refuse -that, and you've seen the last of me but musket-balls." - -"Very good," said the captain. "Now you'll hear me. -If you'll come up one by one, unarmed, I'll engage to -clap you all in irons and take you home to a fair trial -in England. If you won't, my name is Alexander -Smollett, I've flown my sovereign's colours, and I'll -see you all to Davy Jones. You can't find the -treasure. You can't sail the ship--there's not a man -among you fit to sail the ship. You can't fight us-- -Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship's in -irons, Master Silver; you're on a lee shore, and so -you'll find. I stand here and tell you so; and they're -the last good words you'll get from me, for in the name -of heaven, I'll put a bullet in your back when next I -meet you. Tramp, my lad. Bundle out of this, please, -hand over hand, and double quick." - -Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his -head with wrath. He shook the fire out of his pipe. - -"Give me a hand up!" he cried. - -"Not I," returned the captain. - -"Who'll give me a hand up?" he roared. - -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest -imprecations, he crawled along the sand till he got -hold of the porch and could hoist himself again upon -his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - -"There!" he cried. "That's what I think of ye. Before -an hour's out, I'll stove in your old block house like -a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before an -hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them that -die'll be the lucky ones." - -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down -the sand, was helped across the stockade, after four or -five failures, by the man with the flag of truce, and -disappeared in an instant afterwards among the trees. - - - - 21 - - The Attack - -AS soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had -been closely watching him, turned towards the interior -of the house and found not a man of us at his post but -Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry. - -"Quarters!" he roared. And then, as we all slunk back -to our places, "Gray," he said, "I'll put your name in -the log; you've stood by your duty like a seaman. Mr. -Trelawney, I'm surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I thought -you had worn the king's coat! If that was how you served -at Fontenoy, sir, you'd have been better in your berth." - -The doctor's watch were all back at their loopholes, -the rest were busy loading the spare muskets, and -everyone with a red face, you may be certain, and a -flea in his ear, as the saying is. - -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then -he spoke. - -"My lads," said he, "I've given Silver a broadside. I -pitched it in red-hot on purpose; and before the hour's -out, as he said, we shall be boarded. We're -outnumbered, I needn't tell you that, but we fight in -shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought -with discipline. I've no manner of doubt that we can -drub them, if you choose." - -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all -was clear. - -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, -there were only two loopholes; on the south side where -the porch was, two again; and on the north side, five. -There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; -the firewood had been built into four piles--tables, -you might say--one about the middle of each side, and -on each of these tables some ammunition and four loaded -muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders. -In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - -"Toss out the fire," said the captain; "the chill is -past, and we mustn't have smoke in our eyes." - -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. -Trelawney, and the embers smothered among sand. - -"Hawkins hasn't had his breakfast. Hawkins, help -yourself, and back to your post to eat it," continued -Captain Smollett. "Lively, now, my lad; you'll want it -before you've done. Hunter, serve out a round of -brandy to all hands." - -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in -his own mind, the plan of the defence. - -"Doctor, you will take the door," he resumed. "See, -and don't expose yourself; keep within, and fire -through the porch. Hunter, take the east side, there. -Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, -you are the best shot--you and Gray will take this long -north side, with the five loopholes; it's there the -danger is. If they can get up to it and fire in upon -us through our own ports, things would begin to look -dirty. Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at -the shooting; we'll stand by to load and bear a hand." - -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as -the sun had climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell -with all its force upon the clearing and drank up the -vapours at a draught. Soon the sane was baking and the -resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets -and coats were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the -neck and rolled up to the shoulders; and we stood there, -each at his post, in a fever of heat and anxiety. - -An hour passed away. - -"Hang them!" said the captain. "This is as dull as the -doldrums. Gray, whistle for a wind." - -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - -"If you please, sir," said Joyce, "if I see anyone, am -I to fire?" - -"I told you so!" cried the captain. - -"Thank you, sir," returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us -all on the alert, straining ears and eyes--the -musketeers with their pieces balanced in their hands, -the captain out in the middle of the block house with -his mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up -his musket and fired. The report had scarcely died -away ere it was repeated and repeated from without in a -scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of -geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several -bullets struck the log-house, but not one entered; and -as the smoke cleared away and vanished, the stockade -and the woods around it looked as quiet and empty as -before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket- -barrel betrayed the presence of our foes. - -"Did you hit your man?" asked the captain. - -"No, sir," replied Joyce. "I believe not, sir." - -"Next best thing to tell the truth," muttered Captain -Smollett. "Load his gun, Hawkins. How many should say -there were on your side, doctor?" - -"I know precisely," said Dr. Livesey. "Three shots -were fired on this side. I saw the three flashes--two -close together--one farther to the west." - -"Three!" repeated the captain. "And how many on yours, -Mr. Trelawney?" - -But this was not so easily answered. There had come -many from the north--seven by the squire's computation, -eight or nine according to Gray. From the east and -west only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, -therefore, that the attack would be developed from the -north and that on the other three sides we were only to -be annoyed by a show of hostilities. But Captain -Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If the -mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, -they would take possession of any unprotected loophole -and shoot us down like rats in our own stronghold. - -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, -with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from -the woods on the north side and ran straight on the stockade. -At the same moment, the fire was once more opened from the -woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked -the doctor's musket into bits. - -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. -Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men -fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the -outside. But of these, one was evidently more -frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a -crack and instantly disappeared among the trees. - -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good -their footing inside our defences, while from the -shelter of the woods seven or eight men, each evidently -supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though -useless fire on the log-house. - -The four who had boarded made straight before them for -the building, shouting as they ran, and the men among -the trees shouted back to encourage them. Several shots -were fired, but such was the hurry of the marksmen that -not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the -four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at -the middle loophole. - -"At 'em, all hands--all hands!" he roared in a voice -of thunder. - -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter's -musket by the muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, -plucked it through the loophole, and with one stunning -blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. -Meanwhile a third, running unharmed all around the -house, appeared suddenly in the doorway and fell with -his cutlass on the doctor. - -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we -were firing, under cover, at an exposed enemy; now it -was we who lay uncovered and could not return a blow. - -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our -comparative safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes -and reports of pistol-shots, and one loud groan rang -in my ears. - -"Out, lads, out, and fight 'em in the open! -Cutlasses!" cried the captain. - -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the -same time snatching another, gave me a cut across the -knuckles which I hardly felt. I dashed out of the door -into the clear sunlight. Someone was close behind, I -knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing -his assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell -upon him, beat down his guard and sent him sprawling on -his back with a great slash across the face. - -"Round the house, lads! Round the house!" cried the -captain; and even in the hurly-burly, I perceived a -change in his voice. - -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my -cutlass raised, ran round the corner of the house. -Next moment I was face to face with Anderson. He -roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, -flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, -but as the blow still hung impending, leaped in a trice -upon one side, and missing my foot in the soft sand, -rolled headlong down the slope. - -When I had first sallied from the door, the other -mutineers had been already swarming up the palisade to -make an end of us. One man, in a red night-cap, with -his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and -thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the -interval that when I found my feet again all was in the -same posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still -half-way over, another still just showing his head -above the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath -of time, the fight was over and the victory was ours. - -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big -boatswain ere he had time to recover from his last -blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in the very -act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the -pistol still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had -seen, the doctor had disposed of at a blow. Of the -four who had scaled the palisade, one only remained -unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the -field, was now clambering out again with the fear of -death upon him. - -"Fire--fire from the house!" cried the doctor. "And -you, lads, back into cover." - -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the -last boarder made good his escape and disappeared with -the rest into the wood. In three seconds nothing -remained of the attacking party but the five who had -fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of -the palisade. - -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. -The survivors would soon be back where they had left -their muskets, and at any moment the fire might recommence. - -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, -and we saw at a glance the price we had paid for -victory. Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunned; -Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move -again; while right in the centre, the squire was -supporting the captain, one as pale as the other. - -"The captain's wounded," said Mr. Trelawney. - -"Have they run?" asked Mr. Smollett. - -"All that could, you may be bound," returned the doctor; -"but there's five of them will never run again." - -"Five!" cried the captain. "Come, that's better. Five -against three leaves us four to nine. That's better -odds than we had at starting. We were seven to nineteen -then, or thought we were, and that's as bad to bear."* - -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the -man shot by Mr. Trelawney on board the schooner died -that same evening of his wound. But this was, of -course, not known till after by the faithful party. - - - - - - PART FIVE - - My Sea Adventure - - - - 22 - - How My Sea Adventure Began - -THERE was no return of the mutineers--not so much as -another shot out of the woods. They had "got their -rations for that day," as the captain put it, and we -had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul -the wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked -outside in spite of the danger, and even outside we -could hardly tell what we were at, for horror of the -loud groans that reached us from the doctor's patients. - -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only -three still breathed--that one of the pirates who had -been shot at the loophole, Hunter, and Captain -Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good as -dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor's -knife, and Hunter, do what we could, never recovered -consciousness in this world. He lingered all day, -breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his -apoplectic fit, but the bones of his chest had been -crushed by the blow and his skull fractured in falling, -and some time in the following night, without sign or -sound, he went to his Maker. - -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, -but not dangerous. No organ was fatally injured. -Anderson's ball--for it was Job that shot him first-- -had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not -badly; the second had only torn and displaced some -muscles in the calf. He was sure to recover, the -doctor said, but in the meantime, and for weeks to -come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as -speak when he could help it. - -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea- -bite. Doctor Livesey patched it up with plaster and -pulled my ears for me into the bargain. - -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the -captain's side awhile in consultation; and when they -had talked to their hearts' content, it being then a -little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, -girt on a cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with -a musket over his shoulder crossed the palisade on the -north side and set off briskly through the trees. - -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the -block house, to be out of earshot of our officers -consulting; and Gray took his pipe out of his mouth and -fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck -he was at this occurrence. - -"Why, in the name of Davy Jones," said he, "is Dr. -Livesey mad?" - -"Why no," says I. "He's about the last of this crew -for that, I take it." - -"Well, shipmate," said Gray, "mad he may not be; but if -HE'S not, you mark my words, I am." - -"I take it," replied I, "the doctor has his idea; and -if I am right, he's going now to see Ben Gunn." - -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, -the house being stifling hot and the little patch of -sand inside the palisade ablaze with midday sun, I -began to get another thought into my head, which was -not by any means so right. What I began to do was to -envy the doctor walking in the cool shadow of the woods -with the birds about him and the pleasant smell of the -pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes stuck to -the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many -poor dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust -of the place that was almost as strong as fear. - -All the time I was washing out the block house, and -then washing up the things from dinner, this disgust -and envy kept growing stronger and stronger, till at -last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing -me, I took the first step towards my escapade and -filled both pockets of my coat with biscuit. - -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to -do a foolish, over-bold act; but I was determined to do -it with all the precautions in my power. These -biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at -least, from starving till far on in the next day. - -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, -and as I already had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt -myself well supplied with arms. - -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad -one in itself. I was to go down the sandy spit that -divides the anchorage on the east from the open sea, -find the white rock I had observed last evening, and -ascertain whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had -hidden his boat, a thing quite worth doing, as I still -believe. But as I was certain I should not be allowed -to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take French -leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that -was so bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself -wrong. But I was only a boy, and I had made my mind up. - -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable -opportunity. The squire and Gray were busy helping the -captain with his bandages, the coast was clear, I made -a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest -of the trees, and before my absence was observed I was -out of cry of my companions. - -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as -I left but two sound men to guard the house; but like -the first, it was a help towards saving all of us. - -I took my way straight for the east coast of the -island, for I was determined to go down the sea side of -the spit to avoid all chance of observation from the -anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, -although still warm and sunny. As I continued to -thread the tall woods, I could hear from far before me -not only the continuous thunder of the surf, but a -certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which -showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. -Soon cool draughts of air began to reach me, and a few -steps farther I came forth into the open borders of the -grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny to the -horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam -along the beach. - -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. -The sun might blaze overhead, the air be without a -breath, the surface smooth and blue, but still these -great rollers would be running along all the external -coast, thundering and thundering by day and night; and -I scarce believe there is one spot in the island where -a man would be out of earshot of their noise. - -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, -till, thinking I was now got far enough to the south, I -took the cover of some thick bushes and crept warily up -to the ridge of the spit. - -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea -breeze, as though it had the sooner blown itself out by -its unusual violence, was already at an end; it had -been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south and -south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, -under lee of Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when -first we entered it. The HISPANIOLA, in that unbroken -mirror, was exactly portrayed from the truck to the -waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern- -sheets--him I could always recognize--while a couple of -men were leaning over the stern bulwarks, one of them -with a red cap--the very rogue that I had seen some -hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently -they were talking and laughing, though at that -distance--upwards of a mile--I could, of course, hear -no word of what was said. All at once there began the -most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first -startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the -voice of Captain Flint and even thought I could make -out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched -upon her master's wrist. - -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for -shore, and the man with the red cap and his comrade -went below by the cabin companion. - -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind -the Spy-glass, and as the fog was collecting rapidly, -it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw I must lose no -time if I were to find the boat that evening. - -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was -still some eighth of a mile further down the spit, and -it took me a goodish while to get up with it, crawling, -often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost -come when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right -below it there was an exceedingly small hollow of green -turf, hidden by banks and a thick underwood about knee- -deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the centre -of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat- skins, -like what the gipsies carry about with them in England. - -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, -and there was Ben Gunn's boat--home-made if ever -anything was home-made; a rude, lop-sided framework of -tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of goat- -skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely -small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it -could have floated with a full-sized man. There was -one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher -in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons -made, but I have seen one since, and I can give you no -fairer idea of Ben Gunn's boat than by saying it was like -the first and the worst coracle ever made by man. But the -great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for -it was exceedingly light and portable. - -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have -thought I had had enough of truantry for once, but in -the meantime I had taken another notion and become so -obstinately fond of it that I would have carried it -out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett -himself. This was to slip out under cover of the -night, cut the HISPANIOLA adrift, and let her go -ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind -that the mutineers, after their repulse of the morning, -had nothing nearer their hearts than to up anchor and -away to sea; this, I thought, it would be a fine thing -to prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their -watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be -done with little risk. - -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal -of biscuit. It was a night out of ten thousand for my -purpose. The fog had now buried all heaven. As the -last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, absolute -blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, -at last, I shouldered the coracle and groped my way -stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped, there -were but two points visible on the whole anchorage. - -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated -pirates lay carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere -blur of light upon the darkness, indicated the position -of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the ebb-- -her bow was now towards me--the only lights on board -were in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a -reflection on the fog of the strong rays that flowed -from the stern window. - -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade -through a long belt of swampy sand, where I sank -several times above the ankle, before I came to the -edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way -in, with some strength and dexterity, set my coracle, -keel downwards, on the surface. - - - - 23 - - The Ebb-tide Runs - -THE coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was -done with her--was a very safe boat for a person of my -height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a sea- -way; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided -craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made -more leeway than anything else, and turning round and -round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben Gunn -himself has admitted that she was "queer to handle till -you knew her way." - -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every -direction but the one I was bound to go; the most part -of the time we were broadside on, and I am very sure I -never should have made the ship at all but for the -tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide -was still sweeping me down; and there lay the -HISPANIOLA right in the fairway, hardly to be missed. - -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet -blacker than darkness, then her spars and hull began to -take shape, and the next moment, as it seemed (for, the -farther I went, the brisker grew the current of the -ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current -so strong she pulled upon her anchor. All round the -hull, in the blackness, the rippling current bubbled -and chattered like a little mountain stream. One cut -with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go -humming down the tide. - -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection -that a taut hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous -as a kicking horse. Ten to one, if I were so foolhardy -as to cut the HISPANIOLA from her anchor, I and the coracle -would be knocked clean out of the water. - -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not -again particularly favoured me, I should have had to -abandon my design. But the light airs which had begun -blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round -after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was -meditating, a puff came, caught the HISPANIOLA, and -forced her up into the current; and to my great joy, I -felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by -which I held it dip for a second under water. - -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened -it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another, -till the vessel swung only by two. Then I lay quiet, -waiting to sever these last when the strain should be -once more lightened by a breath of wind. - -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from -the cabin, but to say truth, my mind had been so -entirely taken up with other thoughts that I had -scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing -else to do, I began to pay more heed. - -One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands, that -had been Flint's gunner in former days. The other was, -of course, my friend of the red night-cap. Both men -were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still -drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, -with a drunken cry, opened the stern window and threw -out something, which I divined to be an empty bottle. -But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they -were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and -every now and then there came forth such an explosion -as I thought was sure to end in blows. But each time -the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled lower -for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn -passed away without result. - -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire -burning warmly through the shore-side trees. Someone -was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor's song, with a -droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and -seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the -singer. I had heard it on the voyage more than once -and remembered these words: - - "But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five." - -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully -appropriate for a company that had met such cruel -losses in the morning. But, indeed, from what I saw, -all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they -sailed on. - -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew -nearer in the dark; I felt the hawser slacken once -more, and with a good, tough effort, cut the last -fibres through. - -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I -was almost instantly swept against the bows of the -HISPANIOLA. At the same time, the schooner began to -turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, -across the current. - -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to -be swamped; and since I found I could not push the -coracle directly off, I now shoved straight astern. At -length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just -as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a -light cord that was trailing overboard across the stern -bulwarks. Instantly I grasped it. - -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at -first mere instinct, but once I had it in my hands and -found it fast, curiosity began to get the upper hand, -and I determined I should have one look through the -cabin window. - -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I -judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to -about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a -slice of the interior of the cabin. - -By this time the schooner and her little consort were -gliding pretty swiftly through the water; indeed, we had -already fetched up level with the camp-fire. The ship was -talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable -ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got -my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the -watchmen had taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; -and it was only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady -skiff. It showed me Hands and his companion locked together in -deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other's throat. - -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I -was near overboard. I could see nothing for the moment -but these two furious, encrimsoned faces swaying -together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my eyes to -let them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the -whole diminished company about the camp-fire had broken -into the chorus I had heard so often: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were -at that very moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, -when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of the coracle. -At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed to -change her course. The speed in the meantime had -strangely increased. - -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little -ripples, combing over with a sharp, bristling sound and -slightly phosphorescent. The HISPANIOLA herself, a -few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled -along, seemed to stagger in her course, and I saw her -spars toss a little against the blackness of the night; -nay, as I looked longer, I made sure she also was -wheeling to the southward. - -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against -my ribs. There, right behind me, was the glow of the -camp-fire. The current had turned at right angles, -sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the -little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling -higher, ever muttering louder, it went spinning through -the narrows for the open sea. - -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent -yaw, turning, perhaps, through twenty degrees; and -almost at the same moment one shout followed another -from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the -companion ladder and I knew that the two drunkards had -at last been interrupted in their quarrel and awakened -to a sense of their disaster. - -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and -devoutly recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end -of the straits, I made sure we must fall into some bar -of raging breakers, where all my troubles would be ended -speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to die, I could -not bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to -and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with -flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the -next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a -numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even -in the midst of my terrors, until sleep at last -supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay and -dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - - - - 24 - - The Cruise of the Coracle - -IT was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing -at the south-west end of Treasure Island. The sun was -up but was still hid from me behind the great bulk of -the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to -the sea in formidable cliffs. - -Haulbowline Head and Mizzen-mast Hill were at my elbow, -the hill bare and dark, the head bound with cliffs forty -or fifty feet high and fringed with great masses of fallen -rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile to seaward, and it -was my first thought to paddle in and land. - -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen -rocks the breakers spouted and bellowed; loud -reverberations, heavy sprays flying and falling, -succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw -myself, if I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the -rough shore or spending my strength in vain to scale -the beetling crags. - -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of -rock or letting themselves drop into the sea with loud -reports I beheld huge slimy monsters--soft snails, as it -were, of incredible bigness--two or three score of them -together, making the rocks to echo with their barkings. - -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and -entirely harmless. But the look of them, added to the -difficulty of the shore and the high running of the -surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that -landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea -than to confront such perils. - -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, -before me. North of Haulbowline Head, the land runs in -a long way, leaving at low tide a long stretch of -yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes -another cape--Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon -the chart--buried in tall green pines, which descended -to the margin of the sea. - -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that -sets northward along the whole west coast of Treasure -Island, and seeing from my position that I was already -under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline -Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to -land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind -blowing steady and gentle from the south, there was no -contrariety between that and the current, and the -billows rose and fell unbroken. - -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; -but as it was, it is surprising how easily and securely -my little and light boat could ride. Often, as I still -lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above -the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving -close above me; yet the coracle would but bounce a -little, dance as if on springs, and subside on the -other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to -try my skill at paddling. But even a small change in -the disposition of the weight will produce violent changes -in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly moved -before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing -movement, ran straight down a slope of water so steep -that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a spout -of spray, deep into the side of the next wave. - -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back -into my old position, whereupon the coracle seemed to -find her head again and led me as softly as before -among the billows. It was plain she was not to be -interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no -way influence her course, what hope had I left of -reaching land? - -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for -all that. First, moving with all care, I gradually baled -out the coracle with my sea-cap; then, getting my eye once -more above the gunwale, I set myself to study how it was -she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy -mountain it looks from shore or from a vessel's deck, -was for all the world like any range of hills on dry -land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The -coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, -threaded, so to speak, her way through these lower -parts and avoided the steep slopes and higher, toppling -summits of the wave. - -"Well, now," thought I to myself, "it is plain I must -lie where I am and not disturb the balance; but it is -plain also that I can put the paddle over the side and -from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove -or two towards land." No sooner thought upon than -done. There I lay on my elbows in the most trying -attitude, and every now and again gave a weak stroke or -two to turn her head to shore. - -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly -gain ground; and as we drew near the Cape of the Woods, -though I saw I must infallibly miss that point, I had -still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, -indeed, close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops -swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I -should make the next promontory without fail. - -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with -thirst. The glow of the sun from above, its -thousandfold reflection from the waves, the sea-water -that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with -salt, combined to make my throat burn and my brain -ache. The sight of the trees so near at hand had -almost made me sick with longing, but the current had -soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach -of sea opened out, I beheld a sight that changed the -nature of my thoughts. - -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld -the HISPANIOLA under sail. I made sure, of course, -that I should be taken; but I was so distressed for -want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or -sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a -conclusion, surprise had taken entire possession of my -mind and I could do nothing but stare and wonder. - -The HISPANIOLA was under her main-sail and two -jibs, and the beautiful white canvas shone in the sun -like snow or silver. When I first sighted her, all her -sails were drawing; she was lying a course about north- -west, and I presumed the men on board were going round -the island on their way back to the anchorage. -Presently she began to fetch more and more to the -westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and -were going about in chase. At last, however, she fell -right into the wind's eye, was taken dead aback, and -stood there awhile helpless, with her sails shivering. - -"Clumsy fellows," said I; "they must still be drunk as -owls." And I thought how Captain Smollett would have -set them skipping. - -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled -again upon another tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or -so, and brought up once more dead in the wind's eye. -Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and -down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA -sailed by swoops and dashes, and at each repetition -ended as she had begun, with idly flapping canvas. It -became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if -so, where were the men? Either they were dead drunk or -had deserted her, I thought, and perhaps if I could get -on board I might return the vessel to her captain. - -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward -at an equal rate. As for the latter's sailing, it was -so wild and intermittent, and she hung each time so -long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if -she did not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and -paddle, I made sure that I could overhaul her. The -scheme had an air of adventure that inspired me, and -the thought of the water breaker beside the fore -companion doubled my growing courage. - -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another -cloud of spray, but this time stuck to my purpose and -set myself, with all my strength and caution, to paddle -after the unsteered HISPANIOLA. Once I shipped a -sea so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart -fluttering like a bird, but gradually I got into the -way of the thing and guided my coracle among the waves, -with only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash -of foam in my face. - -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see -the brass glisten on the tiller as it banged about, and -still no soul appeared upon her decks. I could not -choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men -were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, -perhaps, and do what I chose with the ship. - -For some time she had been doing the worse thing -possible for me--standing still. She headed nearly due -south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each time she -fell off, her sails partly filled, and these brought -her in a moment right to the wind again. I have said -this was the worst thing possible for me, for helpless -as she looked in this situation, with the canvas cracking -like cannon and the blocks trundling and banging on the -deck, she still continued to run away from me, not only -with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount -of her leeway, which was naturally great. - -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for -some seconds, very low, and the current gradually -turning her, the HISPANIOLA revolved slowly round -her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the -cabin window still gaping open and the lamp over the -table still burning on into the day. The main-sail -hung drooped like a banner. She was stock-still but -for the current. - -For the last little while I had even lost, but now -redoubling my efforts, I began once more to overhaul -the chase. - -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came -again in a clap; she filled on the port tack and was -off again, stooping and skimming like a swallow. - -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was -towards joy. Round she came, till she was broadside on -to me--round still till she had covered a half and then -two thirds and then three quarters of the distance that -separated us. I could see the waves boiling white -under her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me -from my low station in the coracle. - -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had -scarce time to think--scarce time to act and save -myself. I was on the summit of one swell when the -schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was -over my head. I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping -the coracle under water. With one hand I caught the -jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay and -the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a dull -blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon -and struck the coracle and that I was left without -retreat on the HISPANIOLA. - - - - 25 - - I Strike the Jolly Roger - -I HAD scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the -flying jib flapped and filled upon the other tack, with -a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to her keel -under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails still -drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I -lost no time, crawled back along the bowsprit, and -tumbled head foremost on the deck. - -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the main- -sail, which was still drawing, concealed from me a -certain portion of the after-deck. Not a soul was to -be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since -the mutiny, bore the print of many feet, and an empty -bottle, broken by the neck, tumbled to and fro like a -live thing in the scuppers. - -Suddenly the HISPANIOLA came right into the wind. The -jibs behind me cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the -whole ship gave a sickening heave and shudder, and at the -same moment the main-boom swung inboard, the sheet groaning -in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on -his back, as stiff as a handspike, with his arms -stretched out like those of a crucifix and his teeth -showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped -against the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands -lying open before him on the deck, his face as white, -under its tan, as a tallow candle. - -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a -vicious horse, the sails filling, now on one tack, now -on another, and the boom swinging to and fro till the -mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too -there would come a cloud of light sprays over the -bulwark and a heavy blow of the ship's bows against the -swell; so much heavier weather was made of it by this -great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided -coracle, now gone to the bottom of the sea. - -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and -fro, but--what was ghastly to behold--neither his -attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway -disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, -Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and -settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the -farther out, and the whole body canting towards the -stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid -from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear -and the frayed ringlet of one whisker. - -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, -splashes of dark blood upon the planks and began to -feel sure that they had killed each other in their -drunken wrath. - -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm -moment, when the ship was still, Israel Hands turned -partly round and with a low moan writhed himself back -to the position in which I had seen him first. The -moan, which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the -way in which his jaw hung open went right to my heart. -But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from the -apple barrel, all pity left me. - -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - -"Come aboard, Mr. Hands," I said ironically. - -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far -gone to express surprise. All he could do was to utter -one word, "Brandy." - -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging -the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I -slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin. - -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly -fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in -quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mud where -ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading -in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all -painted in clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore -a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles -clinked together in corners to the rolling of the ship. -One of the doctor's medical books lay open on the -table, half of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for -pipelights. In the midst of all this the lamp still -cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and -of the bottles a most surprising number had been drunk -out and thrown away. Certainly, since the mutiny -began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, -for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit, -some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a -piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down -my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the -coxswain's reach, went forward to the water-breaker, -and had a good deep drink of water, and then, and not -till then, gave Hands the brandy. - -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle -from his mouth. - -"Aye," said he, "by thunder, but I wanted some o' that!" - -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - -"Much hurt?" I asked him. - -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - -"If that doctor was aboard," he said, "I'd be right -enough in a couple of turns, but I don't have no manner -of luck, you see, and that's what's the matter with me. -As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is," he added, -indicating the man with the red cap. "He warn't no -seaman anyhow. And where mought you have come from?" - -"Well," said I, "I've come aboard to take possession of -this ship, Mr. Hands; and you'll please regard me as -your captain until further notice." - -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some -of the colour had come back into his cheeks, though he -still looked very sick and still continued to slip out -and settle down as the ship banged about. - -"By the by," I continued, "I can't have these colours, -Mr. Hands; and by your leave, I'll strike 'em. Better -none than these." - -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed -down their cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - -"God save the king!" said I, waving my cap. "And -there's an end to Captain Silver!" - -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while -on his breast. - -"I reckon," he said at last, "I reckon, Cap'n Hawkins, -you'll kind of want to get ashore now. S'pose we talks." - -"Why, yes," says I, "with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say -on." And I went back to my meal with a good appetite. - -"This man," he began, nodding feebly at the corpse "-- -O'Brien were his name, a rank Irelander--this man and -me got the canvas on her, meaning for to sail her back. -Well, HE'S dead now, he is--as dead as bilge; and -who's to sail this ship, I don't see. Without I gives -you a hint, you ain't that man, as far's I can tell. -Now, look here, you gives me food and drink and a old -scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and I'll -tell you how to tail her, and that's about square all -round, I take it." - -"I'll tell you one thing," says I: "I'm not going back -to Captain Kidd's anchorage. I mean to get into North -Inlet and beach her quietly there." - -"To be sure you did," he cried. "Why, I ain't sich an -infernal lubber after all. I can see, can't I? I've -tried my fling, I have, and I've lost, and it's you has -the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven't no -ch'ice, not I! I'd help you sail her up to Execution -Dock, by thunder! So I would." - -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. -We struck our bargain on the spot. In three minutes I -had the HISPANIOLA sailing easily before the wind -along the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of -turning the northern point ere noon and beating down -again as far as North Inlet before high water, when we -might beach her safely and wait till the subsiding tide -permitted us to land. - -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own -chest, where I got a soft silk handkerchief of my -mother's. With this, and with my aid, Hands bound up -the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, -and after he had eaten a little and had a swallow or -two more of the brandy, he began to pick up visibly, -sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, and looked -in every way another man. - -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it -like a bird, the coast of the island flashing by and -the view changing every minute. Soon we were past the -high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, -sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were -beyond that again and had turned the corner of the -rocky hill that ends the island on the north. - -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased -with the bright, sunshiny weather and these different -prospects of the coast. I had now plenty of water and -good things to eat, and my conscience, which had -smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the -great conquest I had made. I should, I think, have had -nothing left me to desire but for the eyes of the -coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck -and the odd smile that appeared continually on his -face. It was a smile that had in it something both of -pain and weakness--a haggard old man's smile; but there -was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of -treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, -and watched, and watched me at my work. - - - - 26 - - Israel Hands - -THE wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. -We could run so much the easier from the north-east corner -of the island to the mouth of the North Inlet. Only, as -we had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till the -tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. -The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good -many trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over -another meal. - -"Cap'n," said he at length with that same uncomfortable -smile, "here's my old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you was -to heave him overboard. I ain't partic'lar as a rule, -and I don't take no blame for settling his hash, but I -don't reckon him ornamental now, do you?" - -"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and -there he lies, for me," said I. - -"This here's an unlucky ship, this HISPANIOLA, -Jim," he went on, blinking. "There's a power of men -been killed in this HISPANIOLA--a sight o' poor -seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to -Bristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. There -was this here O'Brien now--he's dead, ain't he? Well -now, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read and -figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a -dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?" - -"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; -you must know that already," I replied. "O'Brien there -is in another world, and may be watching us." - -"Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate--appears as -if killing parties was a waste of time. Howsomever, -sperrits don't reckon for much, by what I've seen. -I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you've -spoke up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down -into that there cabin and get me a--well, a--shiver my -timbers! I can't hit the name on 't; well, you get me -a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy's too strong -for my head." - -Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural, -and as for the notion of his preferring wine to brandy, -I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was a -pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much was -plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. -His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering to and -fro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now with -a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the time -he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most -guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could have -told that he was bent on some deception. I was prompt -with my answer, however, for I saw where my advantage -lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could -easily conceal my suspicions to the end. - -"Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you have -white or red?" - -"Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, -shipmate," he replied; "so it's strong, and plenty of -it, what's the odds?" - -"All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr. -Hands. But I'll have to dig for it." - -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the -noise I could, slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along -the sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, and -popped my head out of the fore companion. I knew he -would not expect to see me there, yet I took every -precaution possible, and certainly the worst of my -suspicions proved too true. - -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, -and though his leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply -when he moved--for I could hear him stifle a groan--yet -it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himself -across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the -port scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long -knife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hilt -with blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting -forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, and -then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, -trundled back again into his old place against the bulwark. - -This was all that I required to know. Israel could -move about, he was now armed, and if he had been at so -much trouble to get rid of me, it was plain that I was -meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards-- -whether he would try to crawl right across the island -from North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or -whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own -comrades might come first to help him--was, of course, -more than I could say. - -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, -since in that our interests jumped together, and that -was in the disposition of the schooner. We both -desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a -sheltered place, and so that, when the time came, she -could be got off again with as little labour and danger -as might be; and until that was done I considered that -my life would certainly be spared. - -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, -I had not been idle with my body. I had stolen back to -the cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and laid my -hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with this -for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a -bundle and with his eyelids lowered as though he were -too weak to bear the light. He looked up, however, at -my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man -who had done the same thing often, and took a good -swig, with his favourite toast of "Here's luck!" Then -he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a -stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - -"Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't no -knife and hardly strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, -Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed stays! Cut me a quid, -as'll likely be the last, lad, for I'm for my long -home, and no mistake." - -"Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I -was you and thought myself so badly, I would go to my -prayers like a Christian man." - -"Why?" said he. "Now, you tell me why." - -"Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about the -dead. You've broken your trust; you've lived in sin -and lies and blood; there's a man you killed lying at -your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God's -mercy, Mr. Hands, that's why." - -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk -he had hidden in his pocket and designed, in his ill -thoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, took a -great draught of the wine and spoke with the most -unusual solemnity. - -"For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas and -seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and -foul, provisions running out, knives going, and what -not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' -goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead -men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it. And -now, you look here," he added, suddenly changing his -tone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. The -tide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders, -Cap'n Hawkins, and we'll sail slap in and be done with it." - -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the -navigation was delicate, the entrance to this northern -anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east -and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled -to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, -and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, -for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving the -banks, with a certainty and a neatness that were a -pleasure to behold. - -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed -around us. The shores of North Inlet were as thickly -wooded as those of the southern anchorage, but the -space was longer and narrower and more like, what in -truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, -at the southern end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the -last stages of dilapidation. It had been a great -vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to -the injuries of the weather that it was hung about with -great webs of dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it -shore bushes had taken root and now flourished thick -with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us -that the anchorage was calm. - -"Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit for -to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw, -trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a -garding on that old ship." - -"And once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get her -off again?" - -"Why, so," he replied: "you take a line ashore there on -the other side at low water, take a turn about one of -them big pines; bring it back, take a turn around the -capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, all -hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as -sweet as natur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We're -near the bit now, and she's too much way on her. -Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard a -little--steady--steady!" - -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, -till, all of a sudden, he cried, "Now, my hearty, -luff!" And I put the helm hard up, and the -HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the -low, wooded shore. - -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat -interfered with the watch I had kept hitherto, sharply -enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was still so -much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I -had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and -stood craning over the starboard bulwarks and watching -the ripples spreading wide before the bows. I might -have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a -sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my -head. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow -moving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an -instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I looked -round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, -with the dirk in his right hand. - -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, -but while mine was the shrill cry of terror, his was a -roar of fury like a charging bully's. At the same -instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways -towards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, -which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved -my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and -stopped him, for the moment, dead. - -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner -where he had me trapped, with all the deck to dodge -about. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew a -pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had -already turned and was once more coming directly after -me, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but there -followed neither flash nor sound; the priming was -useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my -neglect. Why had not I, long before, reprimed and -reloaded my only weapons? Then I should not have been -as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could -move, his grizzled hair tumbling over his face, and his -face itself as red as a red ensign with his haste and -fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeed -much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. -One thing I saw plainly: I must not simply retreat -before him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into the -bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in -the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of -the blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on -this side of eternity. I placed my palms against the -main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited, -every nerve upon the stretch. - -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a -moment or two passed in feints on his part and -corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game -as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black -Hill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with such -a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I say, it was -a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at it -against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed -my courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself -a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of the -affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it -out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape. - -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA -struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, -and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side -till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees -and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper -holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. - -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us -rolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the dead -red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling -stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my -head came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that -made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the first -afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead -body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deck -no place for running on; I had to find some new way of -escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was -almost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into -the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did -not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck -not half a foot below me as I pursued my upward flight; -and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open and -his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise -and disappointment. - -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in -changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having one -ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, I -proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it -afresh from the beginning. - -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began -to see the dice going against him, and after an obvious -hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into the -shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly -and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and -groans to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had -quietly finished my arrangements before he was much -more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol -in either hand, I addressed him. - -"One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your -brains out! Dead men don't bite, you know," I added -with a chuckle. - -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of -his face that he was trying to think, and the process -was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found -security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or -two, he spoke, his face still wearing the same -expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he -had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else -he remained unmoved. - -"Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and -we'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but for -that there lurch, but I don't have no luck, not I; and -I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, -for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." - -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as -conceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath, -back went his right hand over his shoulder. Something -sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and -then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the -shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain and surprise -of the moment--I scarce can say it was by my own -volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim-- -both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my -hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the -coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged -head first into the water. - - - - 27 - - "Pieces of Eight" - -OWING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out -over the water, and from my perch on the cross-trees I -had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. -Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer -to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He -rose once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood -and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I -could see him lying huddled together on the clean, bright -sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two -whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the -water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying -to rise. But he was dead enough, for all that, being both -shot and drowned, and was food for fish in the very place -where he had designed my slaughter. - -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel -sick, faint, and terrified. The hot blood was running -over my back and chest. The dirk, where it had pinned -my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot -iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that -distressed me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear -without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind -of falling from the cross-trees into that still green -water, beside the body of the coxswain. - -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my -eyes as if to cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came -back again, my pulses quieted down to a more natural time, -and I was once more in possession of myself. - -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but -either it stuck too hard or my nerve failed me, and I -desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, that -very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had -come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; -it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and this the -shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to -be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked -to the mast by my coat and shirt. - -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then -regained the deck by the starboard shrouds. For -nothing in the world would I have again ventured, -shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from -which Israel had so lately fallen. - -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained -me a good deal and still bled freely, but it was neither -deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used -my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, -in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from -its last passenger--the dead man, O'Brien. - -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, -where he lay like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, -life-size, indeed, but how different from life's colour -or life's comeliness! In that position I could easily -have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical -adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the -dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack -of bran and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. -He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off -and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the -splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side -by side, both wavering with the tremulous movement of -the water. O'Brien, though still quite a young man, was -very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the -knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes -steering to and fro over both. - -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just -turned. The sun was within so few degrees of setting -that already the shadow of the pines upon the western -shore began to reach right across the anchorage and -fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had -sprung up, and though it was well warded off by the -hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had -begun to sing a little softly to itself and the idle -sails to rattle to and fro. - -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I -speedily doused and brought tumbling to the deck, but -the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when the -schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and -the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under -water. I thought this made it still more dangerous; -yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to -meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. -The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose -canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as -I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the -extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the -HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. - -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into -shadow--the last rays, I remember, falling through a -glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on the -flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the -tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner -settling more and more on her beam-ends. - -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow -enough, and holding the cut hawser in both hands for a -last security, I let myself drop softly overboard. The -water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was firm and -covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great -spirits, leaving the HISPANIOLA on her side, with her -main-sail trailing wide upon the surface of the bay. -About the same time, the sun went fairly down and the -breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I -returned thence empty-handed. There lay the schooner, -clear at last from buccaneers and ready for our own men -to board and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer my -fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my -achievements. Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my -truantry, but the recapture of the HISPANIOLA was a -clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain -Smollett would confess I had not lost my time. - -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set -my face homeward for the block house and my companions. -I remembered that the most easterly of the rivers which -drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage ran from the two-peaked -hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction -that I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood -was pretty open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had -soon turned the corner of that hill, and not long after -waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse. - -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben -Gunn, the maroon; and I walked more circumspectly, -keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had come nigh -hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between -the two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow -against the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the -island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire. -And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show -himself so careless. For if I could see this radiance, -might it not reach the eyes of Silver himself where he -camped upon the shore among the marshes? - -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do -to guide myself even roughly towards my destination; -the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right -hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and -pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept -tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked -up; a pale glimmer of moonbeams had alighted on the -summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I saw something -broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and -knew the moon had risen. - -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what -remained to me of my journey, and sometimes walking, -sometimes running, impatiently drew near to the -stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that -lies before it, I was not so thoughtless but that I -slacked my pace and went a trifle warily. It would -have been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down -by my own party in mistake. - -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light -began to fall here and there in masses through the more -open districts of the wood, and right in front of me a -glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. -It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little -darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - -At last I came right down upon the borders of the -clearing. The western end was already steeped in moon- -shine; the rest, and the block house itself, still lay -in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks -of light. On the other side of the house an immense -fire had burned itself into clear embers and shed a -steady, red reverberation, contrasted strongly with the -mellow paleness of the moon. There was not a soul -stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a -little terror also. It had not been our way to build -great fires; we were, indeed, by the captain's orders, -somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to fear -that something had gone wrong while I was absent. - -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in -shadow, and at a convenient place, where the darkness -was thickest, crossed the palisade. - -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees -and crawled, without a sound, towards the corner of the -house. As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly and -greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in -itself, and I have often complained of it at other -times, but just then it was like music to hear my -friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their -sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful "All's -well," never fell more reassuringly on my ear. - -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they -kept an infamous bad watch. If it had been Silver and -his lads that were now creeping in on them, not a soul -would have seen daybreak. That was what it was, -thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again I -blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that danger -with so few to mount guard. - -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All -was dark within, so that I could distinguish nothing by -the eye. As for sounds, there was the steady drone of -the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering -or pecking that I could in no way account for. - -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should -lie down in my own place (I thought with a silent chuckle) -and enjoy their faces when they found me in the morning. - -My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper's -leg; and he turned and groaned, but without awaking. - -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth -out of the darkness: - -"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! -Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! and so forth, without -pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny mill. - -Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom -I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, -keeping better watch than any human being, who thus -announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, -clipping tone of the parrot, the sleepers awoke and -sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the voice of Silver -cried, "Who goes?" - -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, -recoiled, and ran full into the arms of a second, who -for his part closed upon and held me tight. - -"Bring a torch, Dick," said Silver when my capture was -thus assured. - -And one of the men left the log-house and presently -returned with a lighted brand. - - - - - - PART SIX - - Captain Silver - - - - 28 - - In the Enemy's Camp - -THE red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of -the block house, showed me the worst of my -apprehensions realized. The pirates were in possession -of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, -there were the pork and bread, as before, and what -tenfold increased my horror, not a sign of any -prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, -and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there -to perish with them. - -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another -man was left alive. Five of them were on their feet, -flushed and swollen, suddenly called out of the first -sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen upon -his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained -bandage round his head told that he had recently been -wounded, and still more recently dressed. I remembered -the man who had been shot and had run back among the woods -in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's -shoulder. He himself, I thought, looked somewhat paler -and more stern than I was used to. He still wore the -fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his -mission, but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed -with clay and torn with the sharp briers of the wood. - -"So," said he, "here's Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! -Dropped in, like, eh? Well, come, I take that friendly." - -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and -began to fill a pipe. - -"Give me a loan of the link, Dick," said he; and then, -when he had a good light, "That'll do, lad," he added; -"stick the glim in the wood heap; and you, gentlemen, -bring yourselves to! You needn't stand up for Mr. -Hawkins; HE'LL excuse you, you may lay to that. -And so, Jim"--stopping the tobacco--"here you were, and -quite a pleasant surprise for poor old John. I see you -were smart when first I set my eyes on you, but this -here gets away from me clean, it do." - -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. -They had set me with my back against the wall, and I -stood there, looking Silver in the face, pluckily -enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with -black despair in my heart. - -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great -composure and then ran on again. - -"Now, you see, Jim, so be as you ARE here," says -he, "I'll give you a piece of my mind. I've always -liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the picter -of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always -wanted you to jine and take your share, and die a -gentleman, and now, my cock, you've got to. Cap'n -Smollett's a fine seaman, as I'll own up to any day, -but stiff on discipline. 'Dooty is dooty,' says he, -and right he is. Just you keep clear of the cap'n. -The doctor himself is gone dead again you--'ungrateful -scamp' was what he said; and the short and the long of -the whole story is about here: you can't go back to -your own lot, for they won't have you; and without you -start a third ship's company all by yourself, which -might be lonely, you'll have to jine with Cap'n Silver." - -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, -and though I partly believed the truth of Silver's -statement, that the cabin party were incensed at me for -my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by -what I heard. - -"I don't say nothing as to your being in our hands," -continued Silver, "though there you are, and you may -lay to it. I'm all for argyment; I never seen good -come out o' threatening. If you like the service, -well, you'll jine; and if you don't, Jim, why, you're -free to answer no--free and welcome, shipmate; and if -fairer can be said by mortal seaman, shiver my sides!" - -"Am I to answer, then?" I asked with a very tremulous -voice. Through all this sneering talk, I was made to -feel the threat of death that overhung me, and my -cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - -"Lad," said Silver, "no one's a-pressing of you. Take -your bearings. None of us won't hurry you, mate; time -goes so pleasant in your company, you see." - -"Well," says I, growing a bit bolder, "if I'm to -choose, I declare I have a right to know what's what, -and why you're here, and where my friends are." - -"Wot's wot?" repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep -growl. "Ah, he'd be a lucky one as knowed that!" - -"You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're -spoke to, my friend," cried Silver truculently to this -speaker. And then, in his first gracious tones, he -replied to me, "Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins," said -he, "in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a -flag of truce. Says he, 'Cap'n Silver, you're sold -out. Ship's gone.' Well, maybe we'd been taking a -glass, and a song to help it round. I won't say no. -Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, -and by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a -pack o' fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if -I tells you that looked the fishiest. 'Well,' says the -doctor, 'let's bargain.' We bargained, him and I, and -here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood -you was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of -speaking, the whole blessed boat, from cross-trees to -kelson. As for them, they've tramped; I don't know -where's they are." - -He drew again quietly at his pipe. - -"And lest you should take it into that head of yours," -he went on, "that you was included in the treaty, -here's the last word that was said: 'How many are you,' -says I, 'to leave?' 'Four,' says he; 'four, and one of -us wounded. As for that boy, I don't know where he is, -confound him,' says he, 'nor I don't much care. We're -about sick of him.' These was his words. - -"Is that all?" I asked. - -"Well, it's all that you're to hear, my son," -returned Silver. - -"And now I am to choose?" - -"And now you are to choose, and you may lay to -that," said Silver. - -"Well," said I, "I am not such a fool but I know pretty -well what I have to look for. Let the worst come to -the worst, it's little I care. I've seen too many die -since I fell in with you. But there's a thing or two I -have to tell you," I said, and by this time I was quite -excited; "and the first is this: here you are, in a bad -way--ship lost, treasure lost, men lost, your whole -business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who did -it--it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we -sighted land, and I heard you, John, and you, Dick -Johnson, and Hands, who is now at the bottom of the -sea, and told every word you said before the hour was -out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her -cable, and it was I that killed the men you had aboard -of her, and it was I who brought her where you'll never -see her more, not one of you. The laugh's on my side; -I've had the top of this business from the first; I no -more fear you than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you -please, or spare me. But one thing I'll say, and no -more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when -you fellows are in court for piracy, I'll save you all -I can. It is for you to choose. Kill another and do -yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness to -save you from the gallows." - -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to -my wonder, not a man of them moved, but all sat staring -at me like as many sheep. And while they were still -staring, I broke out again, "And now, Mr. Silver," I -said, "I believe you're the best man here, and if -things go to the worst, I'll take it kind of you to let -the doctor know the way I took it." - -"I'll bear it in mind," said Silver with an accent so -curious that I could not, for the life of me, decide -whether he were laughing at my request or had been -favourably affected by my courage. - -"I'll put one to that," cried the old mahogany-faced -seaman--Morgan by name--whom I had seen in Long John's -public-house upon the quays of Bristol. "It was him -that knowed Black Dog." - -"Well, and see here," added the sea-cook. "I'll put -another again to that, by thunder! For it was this -same boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. First -and last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!" - -"Then here goes!" said Morgan with an oath. - -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had -been twenty. - -"Avast, there!" cried Silver. "Who are you, Tom -Morgan? Maybe you thought you was cap'n here, perhaps. -By the powers, but I'll teach you better! Cross me, -and you'll go where many a good man's gone before you, -first and last, these thirty year back--some to the -yard-arm, shiver my timbers, and some by the board, and -all to feed the fishes. There's never a man looked me -between the eyes and seen a good day a'terwards, Tom -Morgan, you may lay to that." - -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - -"Tom's right," said one. - -"I stood hazing long enough from one," added another. -"I'll be hanged if I'll be hazed by you, John Silver." - -"Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with ME?" -roared Silver, bending far forward from his -position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing in his -right hand. "Put a name on what you're at; you ain't -dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I -lived this many years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock -his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You -know the way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by your -account. Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that -dares, and I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch -and all, before that pipe's empty." - -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - -"That's your sort, is it?" he added, returning his pipe -to his mouth. "Well, you're a gay lot to look at, -anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain't. P'r'aps -you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n -here by 'lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best -man by a long sea-mile. You won't fight, as gentlemen -o' fortune should; then, by thunder, you'll obey, and -you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen -a better boy than that. He's more a man than any pair -of rats of you in this here house, and what I say is -this: let me see him that'll lay a hand on him--that's -what I say, and you may lay to it." - -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up -against the wall, my heart still going like a sledge- -hammer, but with a ray of hope now shining in my bosom. -Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, his -pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had -been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and -he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers. They, on -their part, drew gradually together towards the far end of -the block house, and the low hiss of their whispering sounded -in my ear continuously, like a stream. One after another, -they would look up, and the red light of the torch would -fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not -towards me, it was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. - -"You seem to have a lot to say," remarked Silver, -spitting far into the air. "Pipe up and let me hear -it, or lay to." - -"Ax your pardon, sir," returned one of the men; "you're -pretty free with some of the rules; maybe you'll kindly -keep an eye upon the rest. This crew's dissatisfied; -this crew don't vally bullying a marlin-spike; this -crew has its rights like other crews, I'll make so free -as that; and by your own rules, I take it we can talk -together. I ax your pardon, sir, acknowledging you for -to be captaing at this present; but I claim my right, -and steps outside for a council." - -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, -ill-looking, yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, -stepped coolly towards the door and disappeared out of -the house. One after another the rest followed his -example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding -some apology. "According to rules," said one. -"Forecastle council," said Morgan. And so with one -remark or another all marched out and left Silver and -me alone with the torch. - -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - -"Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins," he said in a steady -whisper that was no more than audible, "you're within -half a plank of death, and what's a long sight worse, -of torture. They're going to throw me off. But, you -mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn't -mean to; no, not till you spoke up. I was about -desperate to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into -the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says -to myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins'll -stand by you. You're his last card, and by the living -thunder, John, he's yours! Back to back, says I. You -save your witness, and he'll save your neck!" - -I began dimly to understand. - -"You mean all's lost?" I asked. - -"Aye, by gum, I do!" he answered. "Ship gone, neck gone ---that's the size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim -Hawkins, and seen no schooner--well, I'm tough, but I gave -out. As for that lot and their council, mark me, they're -outright fools and cowards. I'll save your life--if so be -as I can--from them. But, see here, Jim--tit for tat--you -save Long John from swinging." - -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was -asking--he, the old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - -"What I can do, that I'll do," I said. - -"It's a bargain!" cried Long John. "You speak up -plucky, and by thunder, I've a chance!" - -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among -the firewood, and took a fresh light to his pipe. - -"Understand me, Jim," he said, returning. "I've a head -on my shoulders, I have. I'm on squire's side now. I -know you've got that ship safe somewheres. How you -done it, I don't know, but safe it is. I guess Hands -and O'Brien turned soft. I never much believed in -neither of THEM. Now you mark me. I ask no questions, -nor I won't let others. I know when a game's up, I do; -and I know a lad that's staunch. Ah, you that's young-- -you and me might have done a power of good together!" - -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - -"Will you taste, messmate?" he asked; and when I had -refused: "Well, I'll take a drain myself, Jim," said -he. "I need a caulker, for there's trouble on hand. -And talking o' trouble, why did that doctor give me the -chart, Jim?" - -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw -the needlessness of further questions. - -"Ah, well, he did, though," said he. "And there's -something under that, no doubt--something, surely, -under that, Jim--bad or good." - -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his -great fair head like a man who looks forward to the worst. - - - - 29 - - The Black Spot Again - -THE council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when -one of them re-entered the house, and with a repetition -of the same salute, which had in my eyes an ironical -air, begged for a moment's loan of the torch. Silver -briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, -leaving us together in the dark. - -"There's a breeze coming, Jim," said Silver, who had by -this time adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone. - -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. -The embers of the great fire had so far burned -themselves out and now glowed so low and duskily that I -understood why these conspirators desired a torch. -About half-way down the slope to the stockade, they -were collected in a group; one held the light, another -was on his knees in their midst, and I saw the blade of -an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in -the moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat -stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of this last. -I could just make out that he had a book as well as a -knife in his hand, and was still wondering how anything -so incongruous had come in their possession when the -kneeling figure rose once more to his feet and the whole -party began to move together towards the house. - -"Here they come," said I; and I returned to my former -position, for it seemed beneath my dignity that they -should find me watching them. - -"Well, let 'em come, lad--let 'em come," said Silver -cheerily. "I've still a shot in my locker." - -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled -together just inside, pushed one of their number -forward. In any other circumstances it would have been -comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set -down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in -front of him. - -"Step up, lad," cried Silver. "I won't eat you. Hand -it over, lubber. I know the rules, I do; I won't hurt -a depytation." - -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more -briskly, and having passed something to Silver, from -hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly back again to -his companions. - -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - -"The black spot! I thought so," he observed. "Where -might you have got the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, -now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and cut this out of -a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" - -"Ah, there!" said Morgan. "There! Wot did I say? No -good'll come o' that, I said." - -"Well, you've about fixed it now, among you," continued -Silver. "You'll all swing now, I reckon. What soft- -headed lubber had a Bible?" - -"It was Dick," said one. - -"Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers," said -Silver. "He's seen his slice of luck, has Dick, and -you may lay to that." - -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - -"Belay that talk, John Silver," he said. "This crew -has tipped you the black spot in full council, as in -dooty bound; just you turn it over, as in dooty bound, -and see what's wrote there. Then you can talk." - -"Thanky, George," replied the sea-cook. "You always -was brisk for business, and has the rules by heart, -George, as I'm pleased to see. Well, what is it, -anyway? Ah! 'Deposed'--that's it, is it? Very pretty -wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o' -write, George? Why, you was gettin' quite a leadin' -man in this here crew. You'll be cap'n next, I -shouldn't wonder. Just oblige me with that torch -again, will you? This pipe don't draw." - -"Come, now," said George, "you don't fool this crew no -more. You're a funny man, by your account; but you're -over now, and you'll maybe step down off that barrel -and help vote." - -"I thought you said you knowed the rules," returned -Silver contemptuously. "Leastways, if you don't, I do; -and I wait here--and I'm still your cap'n, mind--till -you outs with your grievances and I reply; in the -meantime, your black spot ain't worth a biscuit. After -that, we'll see." - -"Oh," replied George, "you don't be under no kind of -apprehension; WE'RE all square, we are. First, -you've made a hash of this cruise--you'll be a bold man -to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o' -this here trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I -dunno, but it's pretty plain they wanted it. Third, -you wouldn't let us go at them upon the march. Oh, we -see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, -that's what's wrong with you. And then, fourth, -there's this here boy." - -"Is that all?" asked Silver quietly. - -"Enough, too," retorted George. "We'll all swing and -sun-dry for your bungling." - -"Well now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints; -one after another I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' -this cruise, did I? Well now, you all know what I -wanted, and you all know if that had been done that -we'd 'a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as -ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and full of -good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by -thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as -was the lawful cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the -day we landed and began this dance? Ah, it's a fine -dance--I'm with you there--and looks mighty like a -hornpipe in a rope's end at Execution Dock by London -town, it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, -and Hands, and you, George Merry! And you're the last -above board of that same meddling crew; and you have -the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n -over me--you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! -But this tops the stiffest yarn to nothing." - -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George -and his late comrades that these words had not been -said in vain. - -"That's for number one," cried the accused, wiping the -sweat from his brow, for he had been talking with a -vehemence that shook the house. "Why, I give you my -word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense -nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers -was that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' -fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade." - -"Go on, John," said Morgan. "Speak up to the others." - -"Ah, the others!" returned John. "They're a nice lot, -ain't they? You say this cruise is bungled. Ah! By -gum, if you could understand how bad it's bungled, you -would see! We're that near the gibbet that my neck's -stiff with thinking on it. You've seen 'em, maybe, -hanged in chains, birds about 'em, seamen p'inting 'em -out as they go down with the tide. 'Who's that?' says -one. 'That! Why, that's John Silver. I knowed him -well,' says another. And you can hear the chains a- -jangle as you go about and reach for the other buoy. -Now, that's about where we are, every mother's son of -us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and other -ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about -number four, and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, -isn't he a hostage? Are we a-going to waste a hostage? -No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I -shouldn't wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And -number three? Ah, well, there's a deal to say to -number three. Maybe you don't count it nothing to have -a real college doctor to see you every day--you, John, -with your head broke--or you, George Merry, that had -the ague shakes upon you not six hours agone, and has -your eyes the colour of lemon peel to this same moment -on the clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn't know -there was a consort coming either? But there is, and -not so long till then; and we'll see who'll be glad to -have a hostage when it comes to that. And as for -number two, and why I made a bargain--well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it--on your knees -you came, you was that downhearted--and you'd have -starved too if I hadn't--but that's a trifle! You look -there--that's why!" - -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I -instantly recognized--none other than the chart on -yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I had -found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain's -chest. Why the doctor had given it to him was more -than I could fancy. - -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of -the chart was incredible to the surviving mutineers. -They leaped upon it like cats upon a mouse. It went -from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by -the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with -which they accompanied their examination, you would -have thought, not only they were fingering the very -gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in safety. - -"Yes," said one, "that's Flint, sure enough. J. F., and -a score below, with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever." - -"Mighty pretty," said George. "But how are we to get -away with it, and us no ship." - -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with -a hand against the wall: "Now I give you warning, -George," he cried. "One more word of your sauce, and -I'll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I -know? You had ought to tell me that--you and the rest, -that lost me my schooner, with your interference, burn -you! But not you, you can't; you hain't got the -invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and -shall, George Merry, you may lay to that." - -"That's fair enow," said the old man Morgan. - -"Fair! I reckon so," said the sea-cook. "You lost the -ship; I found the treasure. Who's the better man at -that? And now I resign, by thunder! Elect whom you -please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it." - -"Silver!" they cried. "Barbecue forever! Barbecue -for cap'n!" - -"So that's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. "George, -I reckon you'll have to wait another turn, friend; and -lucky for you as I'm not a revengeful man. But that -was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? -'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck -and spoiled his Bible, and that's about all." - -"It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?" growled -Dick, who was evidently uneasy at the curse he had -brought upon himself. - -"A Bible with a bit cut out!" returned Silver -derisively. "Not it. It don't bind no more'n a -ballad-book." - -"Don't it, though?" cried Dick with a sort of joy. -"Well, I reckon that's worth having too." - -"Here, Jim--here's a cur'osity for you," said Silver, -and he tossed me the paper. - -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One -side was blank, for it had been the last leaf; the -other contained a verse or two of Revelation--these -words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my -mind: "Without are dogs and murderers." The printed -side had been blackened with wood ash, which already -began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank -side had been written with the same material the one -word "Depposed." I have that curiosity beside me at -this moment, but not a trace of writing now remains -beyond a single scratch, such as a man might make with -his thumb-nail. - -That was the end of the night's business. Soon after, -with a drink all round, we lay down to sleep, and the -outside of Silver's vengeance was to put George Merry -up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he -should prove unfaithful. - -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows -I had matter enough for thought in the man whom I had -slain that afternoon, in my own most perilous position, -and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw Silver -now engaged upon--keeping the mutineers together with -one hand and grasping with the other after every means, -possible and impossible, to make his peace and save his -miserable life. He himself slept peacefully and snored -aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he was, -to think on the dark perils that environed and the -shameful gibbet that awaited him. - - - - 30 - - On Parole - -I WAS wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could -see even the sentinel shake himself together from where -he had fallen against the door-post--by a clear, hearty -voice hailing us from the margin of the wood: - -"Block house, ahoy!" it cried. "Here's the doctor." - -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the -sound, yet my gladness was not without admixture. I -remembered with confusion my insubordinate and stealthy -conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me--among -what companions and surrounded by what dangers--I felt -ashamed to look him in the face. - -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly -come; and when I ran to a loophole and looked out, I -saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to the -mid-leg in creeping vapour. - -"You, doctor! Top o' the morning to you, sir!" cried -Silver, broad awake and beaming with good nature in a -moment. "Bright and early, to be sure; and it's the -early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. -George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. -Livesey over the ship's side. All a-doin' well, your -patients was--all well and merry." - -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch -under his elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house ---quite the old John in voice, manner, and expression. - -"We've quite a surprise for you too, sir," he -continued. "We've a little stranger here--he! he! A -noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit and taut -as a fiddle; slep' like a supercargo, he did, right -alongside of John--stem to stem we was, all night." - -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and -pretty near the cook, and I could hear the alteration -in his voice as he said, "Not Jim?" - -"The very same Jim as ever was," says Silver. - -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, -and it was some seconds before he seemed able to move on. - -"Well, well," he said at last, "duty first and pleasure -afterwards, as you might have said yourself, Silver. -Let us overhaul these patients of yours." - -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and -with one grim nod to me proceeded with his work among -the sick. He seemed under no apprehension, though he -must have known that his life, among these treacherous -demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his -patients as if he were paying an ordinary professional -visit in a quiet English family. His manner, I -suppose, reacted on the men, for they behaved to him as -if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship's -doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. - -"You're doing well, my friend," he said to the fellow -with the bandaged head, "and if ever any person had a -close shave, it was you; your head must be as hard as -iron. Well, George, how goes it? You're a pretty -colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside -down. Did you take that medicine? Did he take that -medicine, men?" - -"Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough," returned Morgan. - -"Because, you see, since I am mutineers' doctor, or -prison doctor as I prefer to call it," says Doctor -Livesey in his pleasantest way, "I make it a point of -honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless -him!) and the gallows." - -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home- -thrust in silence. - -"Dick don't feel well, sir," said one. - -"Don't he?" replied the doctor. "Well, step up here, -Dick, and let me see your tongue. No, I should be -surprised if he did! The man's tongue is fit to -frighten the French. Another fever." - -"Ah, there," said Morgan, "that comed of sp'iling Bibles." - -"That comes--as you call it--of being arrant asses," -retorted the doctor, "and not having sense enough to -know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a -vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable-- -though of course it's only an opinion--that you'll all -have the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out -of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, -I'm surprised at you. You're less of a fool than many, -take you all round; but you don't appear to me to have -the rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. - -"Well," he added after he had dosed them round and they -had taken his prescriptions, with really laughable humility, -more like charity schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers -and pirates--"well, that's done for today. And now I should -wish to have a talk with that boy, please." - -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering -over some bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of -the doctor's proposal he swung round with a deep flush -and cried "No!" and swore. - -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - -"Si-lence!" he roared and looked about him positively -like a lion. "Doctor," he went on in his usual tones, -"I was a-thinking of that, knowing as how you had a -fancy for the boy. We're all humbly grateful for your -kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes -the drugs down like that much grog. And I take it I've -found a way as'll suit all. Hawkins, will you give me -your word of honour as a young gentleman--for a young -gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of -honour not to slip your cable?" - -I readily gave the pledge required. - -"Then, doctor," said Silver, "you just step outside o' -that stockade, and once you're there I'll bring the boy -down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn through -the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our dooties -to the squire and Cap'n Smollett." - -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but -Silver's black looks had restrained, broke out -immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver was -roundly accused of playing double--of trying to make a -separate peace for himself, of sacrificing the -interests of his accomplices and victims, and, in one -word, of the identical, exact thing that he was doing. -It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could -not imagine how he was to turn their anger. But he was -twice the man the rest were, and his last night's -victory had given him a huge preponderance on their -minds. He called them all the fools and dolts you can -imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the -doctor, fluttered the chart in their faces, asked them -if they could afford to break the treaty the very day -they were bound a-treasure-hunting. - -"No, by thunder!" he cried. "It's us must break the -treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon -that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy." - -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out -upon his crutch, with his hand on my shoulder, leaving -them in a disarray, and silenced by his volubility -rather than convinced. - -"Slow, lad, slow," he said. "They might round upon us -in a twinkle of an eye if we was seen to hurry." - -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand -to where the doctor awaited us on the other side of the -stockade, and as soon as we were within easy speaking -distance Silver stopped. - -"You'll make a note of this here also, doctor," says -he, "and the boy'll tell you how I saved his life, and -were deposed for it too, and you may lay to that. -Doctor, when a man's steering as near the wind as me-- -playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his -body, like--you wouldn't think it too much, mayhap, to -give him one good word? You'll please bear in mind -it's not my life only now--it's that boy's into the -bargain; and you'll speak me fair, doctor, and give me -a bit o' hope to go on, for the sake of mercy." - -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had -his back to his friends and the block house; his cheeks -seemed to have fallen in, his voice trembled; never was -a soul more dead in earnest. - -"Why, John, you're not afraid?" asked Dr. Livesey. - -"Doctor, I'm no coward; no, not I--not SO much!" -and he snapped his fingers. "If I was I wouldn't say -it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the shakes upon me -for the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never -seen a better man! And you'll not forget what I done -good, not any more than you'll forget the bad, I know. -And I step aside--see here--and leave you and Jim -alone. And you'll put that down for me too, for it's a -long stretch, is that!" - -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was -out of earshot, and there sat down upon a tree-stump -and began to whistle, spinning round now and again upon -his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and -the doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they -went to and fro in the sand between the fire--which -they were busy rekindling--and the house, from which -they brought forth pork and bread to make the breakfast. - -"So, Jim," said the doctor sadly, "here you are. As -you have brewed, so shall you drink, my boy. Heaven -knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you, but -this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when -Captain Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; -and when he was ill and couldn't help it, by George, it -was downright cowardly!" - -I will own that I here began to weep. "Doctor," I -said, "you might spare me. I have blamed myself -enough; my life's forfeit anyway, and I should have -been dead by now if Silver hadn't stood for me; and -doctor, believe this, I can die--and I dare say I -deserve it--but what I fear is torture. If they come -to torture me--" - -"Jim," the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite -changed, "Jim, I can't have this. Whip over, and we'll -run for it." - -"Doctor," said I, "I passed my word." - -"I know, I know," he cried. "We can't help that, Jim, -now. I'll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame -and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. -Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it -like antelopes." - -"No," I replied; "you know right well you wouldn't do -the thing yourself--neither you nor squire nor captain; -and no more will I. Silver trusted me; I passed my -word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me -finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a -word of where the ship is, for I got the ship, part by -luck and part by risking, and she lies in North Inlet, -on the southern beach, and just below high water. At -half tide she must be high and dry." - -"The ship!" exclaimed the doctor. - -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard -me out in silence. - -"There is a kind of fate in this," he observed when I -had done. "Every step, it's you that saves our lives; -and do you suppose by any chance that we are going to -let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my -boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn--the -best deed that ever you did, or will do, though you -live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and talking of Ben -Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!" -he cried. "Silver! I'll give you a piece of advice," -he continued as the cook drew near again; "don't you be -in any great hurry after that treasure." - -"Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain't," said -Silver. "I can only, asking your pardon, save my life -and the boy's by seeking for that treasure; and you may -lay to that." - -"Well, Silver," replied the doctor, "if that is so, I'll -go one step further: look out for squalls when you find it." - -"Sir," said Silver, "as between man and man, that's too -much and too little. What you're after, why you left -the block house, why you given me that there chart, I -don't know, now, do I? And yet I done your bidding -with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, -this here's too much. If you won't tell me what you -mean plain out, just say so and I'll leave the helm." - -"No," said the doctor musingly; "I've no right to say -more; it's not my secret, you see, Silver, or, I give -you my word, I'd tell it you. But I'll go as far with -you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I'll have my -wig sorted by the captain or I'm mistaken! And first, -I'll give you a bit of hope; Silver, if we both get -alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best to save -you, short of perjury." - -Silver's face was radiant. "You couldn't say more, I'm -sure, sir, not if you was my mother," he cried. - -"Well, that's my first concession," added the doctor. -"My second is a piece of advice: keep the boy close -beside you, and when you need help, halloo. I'm off to -seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I -speak at random. Good-bye, Jim." - -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the -stockade, nodded to Silver, and set off at a brisk pace -into the wood. - - - - 31 - - The Treasure-hunt--Flint's Pointer - -"JIM," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved your -life, you saved mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen -the doctor waving you to run for it--with the tail of -my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. -Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hope -I had since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, -Jim, we're to go in for this here treasure-hunting, with -sealed orders too, and I don't like it; and you and me -must stick close, back to back like, and we'll save our -necks in spite o' fate and fortune." - -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast -was ready, and we were soon seated here and there about -the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had lit a -fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot -that they could only approach it from the windward, and -even there not without precaution. In the same -wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three -times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an -empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which -blazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. I -never in my life saw men so careless of the morrow; -hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their -way of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping -sentries, though they were bold enough for a brush and -be done with it, I could see their entire unfitness for -anything like a prolonged campaign. - -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his -shoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness. -And this the more surprised me, for I thought he had -never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - -"Aye, mates," said he, "it's lucky you have Barbecue to -think for you with this here head. I got what I wanted, -I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where they have -it, I don't know yet; but once we hit the treasure, we'll -have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us that -has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand." - -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot -bacon; thus he restored their hope and confidence, and, -I more than suspect, repaired his own at the same time. - -"As for hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk, -I guess, with them he loves so dear. I've got my piece -o' news, and thanky to him for that; but it's over and -done. I'll take him in a line when we go treasure- -hunting, for we'll keep him like so much gold, in case -of accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we -got the ship and treasure both and off to sea like -jolly companions, why then we'll talk Mr. Hawkins over, -we will, and we'll give him his share, to be sure, for -all his kindness." - -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. -For my part, I was horribly cast down. Should the -scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, -already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt -it. He had still a foot in either camp, and there was -no doubt he would prefer wealth and freedom with the -pirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was the -best he had to hope on our side. - -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced -to keep his faith with Dr. Livesey, even then what -danger lay before us! What a moment that would be when -the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty and -he and I should have to fight for dear life--he a cripple -and I a boy--against five strong and active seamen! - -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still -hung over the behaviour of my friends, their -unexplained desertion of the stockade, their -inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to -understand, the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Look -out for squalls when you find it," and you will readily -believe how little taste I found in my breakfast and -with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors -on the quest for treasure. - -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see -us--all in soiled sailor clothes and all but me armed -to the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about him--one -before and one behind--besides the great cutlass at his -waist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed -coat. To complete his strange appearance, Captain -Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds -and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about -my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook, -who held the loose end of the rope, now in his free -hand, now between his powerful teeth. For all the -world, I was led like a dancing bear. - -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying -picks and shovels--for that had been the very first -necessary they brought ashore from the HISPANIOLA-- -others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the -midday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our -stock, and I could see the truth of Silver's words the -night before. Had he not struck a bargain with the doctor, -he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been -driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their -hunting. Water would have been little to their taste; a -sailor is not usually a good shot; and besides all that, -when they were so short of eatables, it was not likely -they would be very flush of powder. - -Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellow -with the broken head, who should certainly have kept in -shadow--and straggled, one after another, to the beach, -where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore trace -of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken -thwart, and both in their muddy and unbailed condition. -Both were to be carried along with us for the sake of -safety; and so, with our numbers divided between them, -we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the -chart. The red cross was, of course, far too large to -be a guide; and the terms of the note on the back, as -you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, -the reader may remember, thus: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - Ten feet. - -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right -before us the anchorage was bounded by a plateau from -two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the north -the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass and -rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy -eminence called the Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of the -plateau was dotted thickly with pine-trees of varying -height. Every here and there, one of a different -species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its -neighbours, and which of these was the particular "tall -tree" of Captain Flint could only be decided on the -spot, and by the readings of the compass. - -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the -boats had picked a favourite of his own ere we were -half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his shoulders -and bidding them wait till they were there. - -We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to weary -the hands prematurely, and after quite a long passage, -landed at the mouth of the second river--that which -runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, -bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope -towards the plateau. - -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, -marish vegetation greatly delayed our progress; but by -little and little the hill began to steepen and become -stony under foot, and the wood to change its character -and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a -most pleasant portion of the island that we were now -approaching. A heavy-scented broom and many flowering -shrubs had almost taken the place of grass. Thickets -of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with -the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and -the first mingled their spice with the aroma of the -others. The air, besides, was fresh and stirring, and -this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. - -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, -shouting and leaping to and fro. About the centre, and -a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed--I -tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, -among the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I -had to lend him a hand, or he must have missed his -footing and fallen backward down the hill. - -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were -approaching the brow of the plateau when the man upon -the farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in terror. -Shout after shout came from him, and the others began -to run in his direction. - -"He can't 'a found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurrying -past us from the right, "for that's clean a-top." - -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it -was something very different. At the foot of a pretty -big pine and involved in a green creeper, which had even -partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton -lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I -believe a chill struck for a moment to every heart. - -"He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder than -the rest, had gone up close and was examining the rags -of clothing. "Leastways, this is good sea-cloth." - -"Aye, aye," said Silver; "like enough; you wouldn't -look to find a bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of -a way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't in natur'." - -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to -fancy that the body was in a natural position. But for -some disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that had -fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had -gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly -straight--his feet pointing in one direction, his -hands, raised above his head like a diver's, pointing -directly in the opposite. - -"I've taken a notion into my old numbskull," observed -Silver. "Here's the compass; there's the tip-top p'int -o' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a tooth. Just -take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones." - -It was done. The body pointed straight in the -direction of the island, and the compass read duly -E.S.E. and by E. - -"I thought so," cried the cook; "this here is a -p'inter. Right up there is our line for the Pole Star -and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it don't -make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of -HIS jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was -alone here; he killed 'em, every man; and this one he -hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my -timbers! They're long bones, and the hair's been -yellow. Aye, that would be Allardyce. You mind -Allardyce, Tom Morgan?" - -"Aye, aye," returned Morgan; "I mind him; he owed me -money, he did, and took my knife ashore with him." - -"Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'n -lying round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; -and the birds, I guess, would leave it be." - -"By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver. - -"There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, still -feeling round among the bones; "not a copper doit nor a -baccy box. It don't look nat'ral to me." - -"No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; "not nat'ral, -nor not nice, says you. Great guns! Messmates, but if -Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for you and -me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what -they are now." - -"I saw him dead with these here deadlights," said -Morgan. "Billy took me in. There he laid, with penny- -pieces on his eyes." - -"Dead--aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said -the fellow with the bandage; "but if ever sperrit -walked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he died -bad, did Flint!" - -"Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged, -and now he hollered for the rum, and now he sang. -'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; and I tell you -true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was -main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old -song comin' out as clear as clear--and the death-haul -on the man already." - -"Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead, -and he don't walk, that I know; leastways, he won't -walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a -cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons." - -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and -the staring daylight, the pirates no longer ran -separate and shouting through the wood, but kept side -by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of the -dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - - - - 32 - - The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees - -PARTLY from the damping influence of this alarm, partly -to rest Silver and the sick folk, the whole party sat -down as soon as they had gained the brow of the ascent. - -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, -this spot on which we had paused commanded a wide -prospect on either hand. Before us, over the tree- -tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with -surf; behind, we not only looked down upon the -anchorage and Skeleton Island, but saw--clear across -the spit and the eastern lowlands--a great field of -open sea upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spy- -glass, here dotted with single pines, there black with -precipices. There was no sound but that of the distant -breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of -countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, -upon the sea; the very largeness of the view increased -the sense of solitude. - -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - -"There are three 'tall trees'" said he, "about in the right -line from Skeleton Island. 'Spy-glass shoulder,' I take it, -means that lower p'int there. It's child's play to find the -stuff now. I've half a mind to dine first." - -"I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. "Thinkin' o' -Flint--I think it were--as done me." - -"Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead," -said Silver. - -"He were an ugly devil," cried a third pirate with a -shudder; "that blue in the face too!" - -"That was how the rum took him," added Merry. "Blue! -Well, I reckon he was blue. That's a true word." - -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon -this train of thought, they had spoken lower and lower, -and they had almost got to whispering by now, so that -the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence -of the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the -trees in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice -struck up the well-known air and words: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the -pirates. The colour went from their six faces like -enchantment; some leaped to their feet, some clawed -hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - -"It's Flint, by ----!" cried Merry. - -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began--broken off, -you would have said, in the middle of a note, as though -someone had laid his hand upon the singer's mouth. Coming -through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the green tree-tops, -I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the effect -on my companions was the stranger. - -"Come," said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to -get the word out; "this won't do. Stand by to go -about. This is a rum start, and I can't name the -voice, but it's someone skylarking--someone that's -flesh and blood, and you may lay to that." - -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the -colour to his face along with it. Already the others -had begun to lend an ear to this encouragement and were -coming a little to themselves, when the same voice -broke out again--not this time singing, but in a faint -distant hail that echoed yet fainter among the clefts -of the Spy-glass. - -"Darby M'Graw," it wailed--for that is the word that -best describes the sound--"Darby M'Graw! Darby -M'Graw!" again and again and again; and then rising a -little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: -"Fetch aft the rum, Darby!" - -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes -starting from their heads. Long after the voice had died -away they still stared in silence, dreadfully, before them. - -"That fixes it!" gasped one. "Let's go." - -"They was his last words," moaned Morgan, "his last -words above board." - -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had -been well brought up, had Dick, before he came to sea -and fell among bad companions. - -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth -rattle in his head, but he had not yet surrendered. - -"Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby," he -muttered; "not one but us that's here." And then, -making a great effort: "Shipmates," he cried, "I'm here -to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man or -devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, -by the powers, I'll face him dead. There's seven -hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a mile from -here. When did ever a gentleman o' fortune show his -stern to that much dollars for a boozy old seaman with -a blue mug--and him dead too?" - -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his -followers, rather, indeed, of growing terror at the -irreverence of his words. - -"Belay there, John!" said Merry. "Don't you -cross a sperrit." - -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They -would have run away severally had they dared; but fear -kept them together, and kept them close by John, as if -his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty -well fought his weakness down. - -"Sperrit? Well, maybe," he said. "But there's one -thing not clear to me. There was an echo. Now, no man -ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what's he -doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That -ain't in natur', surely?" - -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can -never tell what will affect the superstitious, and to -my wonder, George Merry was greatly relieved. - -"Well, that's so," he said. "You've a head upon your -shoulders, John, and no mistake. 'Bout ship, mates! -This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do believe. And -come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I grant -you, but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It -was liker somebody else's voice now--it was liker--" - -"By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared Silver. - -"Aye, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his -knees. "Ben Gunn it were!" - -"It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asked Dick. -"Ben Gunn's not here in the body any more'n Flint." - -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - -"Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn," cried Merry; "dead or -alive, nobody minds him." - -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and -how the natural colour had revived in their faces. -Soon they were chatting together, with intervals of -listening; and not long after, hearing no further -sound, they shouldered the tools and set forth again, -Merry walking first with Silver's compass to keep them -on the right line with Skeleton Island. He had said -the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him -as he went, with fearful glances; but he found no -sympathy, and Silver even joked him on his precautions. - -"I told you," said he--"I told you you had sp'iled your -Bible. If it ain't no good to swear by, what do you -suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that!" and he -snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his crutch. - -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon -plain to me that the lad was falling sick; hastened by -heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the -fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing -swiftly higher. - -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way -lay a little downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau -tilted towards the west. The pines, great and small, -grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg -and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. -Striking, as we did, pretty near north-west across the -island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer under the -shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, looked -ever wider over that western bay where I had once -tossed and trembled in the oracle. - -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the -bearings proved the wrong one. So with the second. The -third rose nearly two hundred feet into the air above a -clump of underwood--a giant of a vegetable, with a red -column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in -which a company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous -far to sea both on the east and west and might have been -entered as a sailing mark upon the chart. - -But it was not its size that now impressed my -companions; it was the knowledge that seven hundred -thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere buried below its -spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they -drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. -Their eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew -speedier and lighter; their whole soul was found up in -that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and -pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. - -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils -stood out and quivered; he cursed like a madman when -the flies settled on his hot and shiny countenance; he -plucked furiously at the line that held me to him and -from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly -look. Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, -and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate -nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten: his -promise and the doctor's warning were both things of -the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize -upon the treasure, find and board the HISPANIOLA -under cover of night, cut every honest throat about -that island, and sail away as he had at first intended, -laden with crimes and riches. - -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me -to keep up with the rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. -Now and again I stumbled, and it was then that Silver -plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his -murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and -now brought up the rear, was babbling to himself both -prayers and curses as his fever kept rising. This also -added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, I was haunted -by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted on -that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face ---he who died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink-- -had there, with his own hand, cut down his six accomplices. -This grove that was now so peaceful must then have rung with -cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe -I heard it ringing still. - -We were now at the margin of the thicket. - -"Huzza, mates, all together!" shouted Merry; and the -foremost broke into a run. - -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. -A low cry arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging away -with the foot of his crutch like one possessed; and next -moment he and I had come also to a dead halt. - -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for -the sides had fallen in and grass had sprouted on the -bottom. In this were the shaft of a pick broken in two -and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around. -On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, -the name WALRUS--the name of Flint's ship. - -All was clear to probation. The CACHE had been found -and rifled; the seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! - - - - 33 - - The Fall of a Chieftain - -THERE never was such an overturn in this world. Each -of these six men was as though he had been struck. But -with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. Every -thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a -racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a -single second, dead; and he kept his head, found his -temper, and changed his plan before the others had had -time to realize the disappointment. - -"Jim," he whispered, "take that, and stand by for trouble." - -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, -and in a few steps had put the hollow between us two -and the other five. Then he looked at me and nodded, -as much as to say, "Here is a narrow corner," as, -indeed, I thought it was. His looks were not quite -friendly, and I was so revolted at these constant -changes that I could not forbear whispering, "So you've -changed sides again." - -There was no time left for him to answer in. The -buccaneers, with oaths and cries, began to leap, one -after another, into the pit and to dig with their fingers, -throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found a -piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. -It was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand -among them for a quarter of a minute. - -"Two guineas!" roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. -"That's your seven hundred thousand pounds, is it? -You're the man for bargains, ain't you? You're him -that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!" - -"Dig away, boys," said Silver with the coolest insolence; -"you'll find some pig-nuts and I shouldn't wonder." - -"Pig-nuts!" repeated Merry, in a scream. "Mates, do -you hear that? I tell you now, that man there knew it -all along. Look in the face of him and you'll see it -wrote there." - -"Ah, Merry," remarked Silver, "standing for cap'n -again? You're a pushing lad, to be sure." - -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry's favour. -They began to scramble out of the excavation, darting -furious glances behind them. One thing I observed, -which looked well for us: they all got out upon the -opposite side from Silver. - -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the -other, the pit between us, and nobody screwed up high -enough to offer the first blow. Silver never moved; he -watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as -cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - -"Mates," says he, "there's two of them alone there; -one's the old cripple that brought us all here and -blundered us down to this; the other's that cub that I -mean to have the heart of. Now, mates--" - -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant -to lead a charge. But just then--crack! crack! crack!-- -three musket-shots flashed out of the thicket. Merry -tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the man with -the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his -length upon his side, where he lay dead, but still -twitching; and the other three turned and ran for it -with all their might. - -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels -of a pistol into the struggling Merry, and as the man -rolled up his eyes at him in the last agony, "George," -said he, "I reckon I settled you." - -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined -us, with smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - -"Forward!" cried the doctor. "Double quick, my lads. -We must head 'em off the boats." - -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging -through the bushes to the chest. - -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. -The work that man went through, leaping on his crutch -till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, was -work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the -doctor. As it was, he was already thirty yards behind -us and on the verge of strangling when we reached the -brow of the slope. - -"Doctor," he hailed, "see there! No hurry!" - -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of -the plateau, we could see the three survivors still running -in the same direction as they had started, right for Mizzen- -mast Hill. We were already between them and the boats; and -so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, mopping his -face, came slowly up with us. - -"Thank ye kindly, doctor," says he. "You came in in -about the nick, I guess, for me and Hawkins. And so -it's you, Ben Gunn!" he added. "Well, you're a nice -one, to be sure." - -"I'm Ben Gunn, I am," replied the maroon, wriggling -like an eel in his embarrassment. "And," he added, -after a long pause, "how do, Mr. Silver? Pretty well, -I thank ye, says you." - -"Ben, Ben," murmured Silver, "to think as you've done me!" - -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes -deserted, in their flight, by the mutineers, and then -as we proceeded leisurely downhill to where the boats -were lying, related in a few words what had taken -place. It was a story that profoundly interested -Silver; and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the -hero from beginning to end. - -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, -had found the skeleton--it was he that had rifled it; -he had found the treasure; he had dug it up (it was the -haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the -excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many -weary journeys, from the foot of the tall pine to a -cave he had on the two-pointed hill at the north-east -angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in -safety since two months before the arrival of the HISPANIOLA. - -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the -afternoon of the attack, and when next morning he saw -the anchorage deserted, he had gone to Silver, given -him the chart, which was now useless--given him the -stores, for Ben Gunn's cave was well supplied with -goats' meat salted by himself--given anything and -everything to get a chance of moving in safety from the -stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of -malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - -"As for you, Jim," he said, "it went against my heart, -but I did what I thought best for those who had stood -by their duty; and if you were not one of these, whose -fault was it?" - -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the -horrid disappointment he had prepared for the -mutineers, he had run all the way to the cave, and -leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray -and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across -the island to be at hand beside the pine. Soon, -however, he saw that our party had the start of him; -and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched -in front to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to -him to work upon the superstitions of his former -shipmates, and he was so far successful that Gray and -the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before -the arrival of the treasure-hunters. - -"Ah," said Silver, "it were fortunate for me that I had -Hawkins here. You would have let old John be cut to -bits, and never given it a thought, doctor." - -"Not a thought," replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, -with the pick-axe, demolished one of them, and then we -all got aboard the other and set out to go round by sea -for North Inlet. - -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he -was almost killed already with fatigue, was set to an oar, -like the rest of us, and we were soon skimming swiftly over -a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the straits and doubled -the south-east corner of the island, round which, four days -ago, we had towed the HISPANIOLA. - -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the -black mouth of Ben Gunn's cave and a figure standing by -it, leaning on a musket. It was the squire, and we -waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in -which the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North -Inlet, what should we meet but the HISPANIOLA, -cruising by herself? The last flood had lifted her, -and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, -as in the southern anchorage, we should never have -found her more, or found her stranded beyond help. As -it was, there was little amiss beyond the wreck of the -main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in -a fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round -again to Rum Cove, the nearest point for Ben Gunn's -treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned -with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to -pass the night on guard. - -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of -the cave. At the top, the squire met us. To me he was -cordial and kind, saying nothing of my escapade either -in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite -salute he somewhat flushed. - -"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain -and imposter--a monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I -am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not. But -the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like mill-stones." - -"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting. - -"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "It is a -gross dereliction of my duty. Stand back." - -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, -airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear -water, overhung with ferns. The floor was sand. -Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far -corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I -beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals built of -bars of gold. That was Flint's treasure that we had -come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives -of seventeen men from the HISPANIOLA. How many it -had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what -good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking -the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame -and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. -Yet there were still three upon that island--Silver, -and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn--who had each taken his -share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to -share in the reward. - -"Come in, Jim," said the captain. "You're a good boy in -your line, Jim, but I don't think you and me'll go to sea -again. You're too much of the born favourite for me. Is -that you, John Silver? What brings you here, man?" - -"Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver. - -"Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said. - -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my -friends around me; and what a meal it was, with Ben -Gunn's salted goat and some delicacies and a bottle of -old wine from the HISPANIOLA. Never, I am sure, -were people gayer or happier. And there was Silver, -sitting back almost out of the firelight, but eating -heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was -wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter--the same -bland, polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - - - - 34 - - And Last - -THE next morning we fell early to work, for the -transportation of this great mass of gold near a mile -by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat to -the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small a -number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon -the island did not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on -the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us against -any sudden onslaught, and we thought, besides, they had had -more than enough of fighting. - -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben -Gunn came and went with the boat, while the rest during -their absences piled treasure on the beach. Two of the -bars, slung in a rope's end, made a good load for a -grown man--one that he was glad to walk slowly with. -For my part, as I was not much use at carrying, I was -kept busy all day in the cave packing the minted money -into bread-bags. - -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard -for the diversity of coinage, but so much larger and so -much more varied that I think I never had more pleasure -than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, -Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double -guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all -the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange -Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of -string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square -pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to -wear them round your neck--nearly every variety of -money in the world must, I think, have found a place in -that collection; and for number, I am sure they were -like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping -and my fingers with sorting them out. - -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a -fortune had been stowed aboard, but there was another -fortune waiting for the morrow; and all this time we -heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - -At last--I think it was on the third night--the doctor -and I were strolling on the shoulder of the hill where -it overlooks the lowlands of the isle, when, from out -the thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise -between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch -that reached our ears, followed by the former silence. - -"Heaven forgive them," said the doctor; "'tis -the mutineers!" - -"All drunk, sir," struck in the voice of Silver -from behind us. - -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, -and in spite of daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself -once more as quite a privileged and friendly dependent. -Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these -slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on -trying to ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, -none treated him better than a dog, unless it was Ben -Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old -quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to -thank him for; although for that matter, I suppose, I -had reason to think even worse of him than anybody -else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery -upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly -that the doctor answered him. - -"Drunk or raving," said he. - -"Right you were, sir," replied Silver; "and precious -little odds which, to you and me." - -"I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane -man," returned the doctor with a sneer, "and so my -feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But if I -were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain -one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should -leave this camp, and at whatever risk to my own -carcass, take them the assistance of my skill." - -"Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong," quoth -Silver. "You would lose your precious life, and you -may lay to that. I'm on your side now, hand and glove; -and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let -alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But -these men down there, they couldn't keep their word-- -no, not supposing they wished to; and what's more, they -couldn't believe as you could." - -"No," said the doctor. "You're the man to keep your -word, we know that." - -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three -pirates. Only once we heard a gunshot a great way off -and supposed them to be hunting. A council was held, -and it was decided that we must desert them on the island ---to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the -strong approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder -and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few medicines, and -some other necessaries, tools, clothing, a spare sail, a -fathom or two of rope, and by the particular desire of the -doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - -That was about our last doing on the island. Before -that, we had got the treasure stowed and had shipped -enough water and the remainder of the goat meat in case -of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we weighed -anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood -out of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain -had flown and fought under at the palisade. - -The three fellows must have been watching us closer -than we thought for, as we soon had proved. For coming -through the narrows, we had to lie very near the -southern point, and there we saw all three of them -kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms -raised in supplication. It went to all our hearts, I -think, to leave them in that wretched state; but we -could not risk another mutiny; and to take them home -for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of -kindness. The doctor hailed them and told them of the -stores we had left, and where they were to find them. -But they continued to call us by name and appeal to us, -for God's sake, to be merciful and not leave them to -die in such a place. - -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and -was now swiftly drawing out of earshot, one of them--I -know not which it was--leapt to his feet with a hoarse -cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent a shot -whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail. - -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and -when next I looked out they had disappeared from the -spit, and the spit itself had almost melted out of -sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the -end of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, -the highest rock of Treasure Island had sunk into the -blue round of sea. - -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to -bear a hand--only the captain lying on a mattress in -the stern and giving his orders, for though greatly -recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her -head for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we -could not risk the voyage home without fresh hands; and -as it was, what with baffling winds and a couple of -fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most -beautiful land-locked gulf, and were immediately -surrounded by shore boats full of Negroes and Mexican -Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and vegetables -and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of -so many good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), -the taste of the tropical fruits, and above all the -lights that began to shine in the town made a most -charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the -island; and the doctor and the squire, taking me along -with them, went ashore to pass the early part of the -night. Here they met the captain of an English man-of- -war, fell in talk with him, went on board his ship, -and, in short, had so agreeable a time that day was -breaking when we came alongside the HISPANIOLA. - -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on -board he began, with wonderful contortions, to make us -a confession. Silver was gone. The maroon had -connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, -and he now assured us he had only done so to preserve -our lives, which would certainly have been forfeit if -"that man with the one leg had stayed aboard." But -this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone empty- -handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and -had removed one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps -three or four hundred guineas, to help him on his -further wanderings. - -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on -board, made a good cruise home, and the HISPANIOLA -reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was beginning to -think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of -those who had sailed returned with her. "Drink and the -devil had done for the rest," with a vengeance, -although, to be sure, we were not quite in so bad a -case as that other ship they sang about: - - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. - -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used -it wisely or foolishly, according to our natures. -Captain Smollett is now retired from the sea. Gray not -only saved his money, but being suddenly smit with the -desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is -now mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship, -married besides, and the father of a family. As for -Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he spent or -lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen -days, for he was back begging on the twentieth. Then -he was given a lodge to keep, exactly as he had feared -upon the island; and he still lives, a great favourite, -though something of a butt, with the country boys, and -a notable singer in church on Sundays and saints' days. - -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable -seafaring man with one leg has at last gone clean out -of my life; but I dare say he met his old Negress, and -perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain -Flint. It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his -chances of comfort in another world are very small. - -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I -know, where Flint buried them; and certainly they shall -lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring -me back again to that accursed island; and the worst -dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf -booming about its coasts or start upright in bed with -the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my -ears: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Treasure Island - - - - diff --git a/old/old/treas10.zip b/old/old/treas10.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 192698d..0000000 --- a/old/old/treas10.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old/treas11.txt b/old/old/treas11.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d6087c9..0000000 --- a/old/old/treas11.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9114 +0,0 @@ -Please take a look at the important information in this header. -We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an -electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* - -Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and -further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* - - - - - -*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Treasure Island* - - - -Treasure Island -by Robert Louis Stevenson - - - - - TREASURE ISLAND - - To - S.L.O., - an American gentleman - in accordance with whose classic taste - the following narrative has been designed, - it is now, in return for numerous delightful hours, - and with the kindest wishes, - dedicated - by his affectionate friend, the author. - - - - - TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER - - If sailor tales to sailor tunes, - Storm and adventure, heat and cold, - If schooners, islands, and maroons, - And buccaneers, and buried gold, - And all the old romance, retold - Exactly in the ancient way, - Can please, as me they pleased of old, - The wiser youngsters of today: - - --So be it, and fall on! If not, - If studious youth no longer crave, - His ancient appetites forgot, - Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, - Or Cooper of the wood and wave: - So be it, also! And may I - And all my pirates share the grave - Where these and their creations lie! - - - - - CONTENTS - - PART ONE - The Old Buccaneer - - 1. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE ADMIRAL BENBOW 11 - 2. BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS . . . . 17 - 3. THE BLACK SPOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 4. THE SEA-CHEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 - 5. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN . . . . . . . 36 - 6. THE CAPTAIN'S PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . 41 - - PART TWO - The Sea Cook - - 7. I GO TO BRISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 - 8. AT THE SIGN OF THE SPY-GLASS . . . . . . 54 - 9. POWDER AND ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - 10. THE VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 - 11. WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL . . . . 70 - 12. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 - - PART THREE - My Shore Adventure - - 13. HOW MY SHORE ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . 82 - 14. THE FIRST BLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 - 15. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . 93 - - PART FOUR - The Stockade - - 16. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED . . . . . . 100 - 17. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - THE JOLLY-BOAT'S LAST TRIP . . . . . . 105 - 18. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: - END OF THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHTING . . . 109 - 19. NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: - THE GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE . . . . . 114 - 20. SILVER'S EMBASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 - 21. THE ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 - - PART FIVE - My Sea Adventure - - 22. HOW MY SEA ADVENTURE BEGAN . . . . . . . 132 - 23. THE EBB-TIDE RUNS . . . . . . . . . . . 138 - 24. THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE . . . . . . . 143 - 25. I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER . . . . . . . . 148 - 26. ISRAEL HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 - 27. "PIECES OF EIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . 161 - - PART SIX - Captain Silver - - 28. IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP . . . . . . . . . . 168 - 29. THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN . . . . . . . . . . 176 - 30. ON PAROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 - 31. THE TREASURE-HUNT--FLINT'S POINTER . . . 189 - 32. THE TREASURE-HUNT--THE VOICE AMONG - THE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 - 33. THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN . . . . . . . . 201 - 34. AND LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 - - - - - - TREASURE ISLAND - - - - PART ONE - - The Old Buccaneer - - - - 1 - - The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow - - -SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these -gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole -particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning -to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the -island, and that only because there is still treasure not -yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ -and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral -Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut -first took up his lodging under our roof. - -I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came -plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following -behind him in a hand-barrow--a tall, strong, heavy, -nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the -shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and -scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut -across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him -looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he -did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that -he sang so often afterwards: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have -been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he -rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike -that he carried, and when my father appeared, called -roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought -to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering -on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs -and up at our signboard. - -"This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a -pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?" - -My father told him no, very little company, the more -was the pity. - -"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. -Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled the -barrow; "bring up alongside and help up my chest. I'll -stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum -and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up -there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? -You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're at-- -there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on -the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked -through that," says he, looking as fierce as a -commander. - -And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he -spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who sailed -before the mast, but seemed like a mate or skipper -accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who -came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down -the morning before at the Royal George, that he had -inquired what inns there were along the coast, and -hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as -lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of -residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest. - -He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung -round the cove or upon the cliffs with a brass -telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the -parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very -strong. Mostly he would not speak when spoken to, only -look up sudden and fierce and blow through his nose -like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came about -our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when -he came back from his stroll he would ask if any -seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we -thought it was the want of company of his own kind that -made him ask this question, but at last we began to see -he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put -up at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, -making by the coast road for Bristol) he would look in -at him through the curtained door before he entered the -parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a -mouse when any such was present. For me, at least, -there was no secret about the matter, for I was, in a -way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one -day and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of -every month if I would only keep my "weather-eye open -for a seafaring man with one leg" and let him know the -moment he appeared. Often enough when the first of the -month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he -would only blow through his nose at me and stare me down, -but before the week was out he was sure to think better -of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and repeat his orders -to look out for "the seafaring man with one leg." - -How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely -tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shook the -four corners of the house and the surf roared along the -cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand -forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now -the leg would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; -now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had never -had but the one leg, and that in the middle of his -body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge -and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether -I paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny piece, in -the shape of these abominable fancies. - -But though I was so terrified by the idea of the -seafaring man with one leg, I was far less afraid of -the captain himself than anybody else who knew him. -There were nights when he took a deal more rum and -water than his head would carry; and then he would -sometimes sit and sing his wicked, old, wild sea-songs, -minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses -round and force all the trembling company to listen to -his stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I -have heard the house shaking with "Yo-ho-ho, and a -bottle of rum," all the neighbours joining in for dear -life, with the fear of death upon them, and each -singing louder than the other to avoid remark. For in -these fits he was the most overriding companion ever -known; he would slap his hand on the table for silence -all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a -question, or sometimes because none was put, and so he -judged the company was not following his story. Nor -would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had -drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed. - -His stories were what frightened people worst of all. -Dreadful stories they were--about hanging, and walking -the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry Tortugas, and -wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own -account he must have lived his life among some of the -wickedest men that God ever allowed upon the sea, and -the language in which he told these stories shocked our -plain country people almost as much as the crimes that -he described. My father was always saying the inn -would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming -there to be tyrannized over and put down, and sent -shivering to their beds; but I really believe his -presence did us good. People were frightened at the -time, but on looking back they rather liked it; it was -a fine excitement in a quiet country life, and there -was even a party of the younger men who pretended to -admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog" and a "real -old salt" and such like names, and saying there was the -sort of man that made England terrible at sea. - -In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us, for he kept -on staying week after week, and at last month after month, -so that all the money had been long exhausted, and still -my father never plucked up the heart to insist on having -more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through -his nose so loudly that you might say he roared, and stared -my poor father out of the room. I have seen him wringing -his hands after such a rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance -and the terror he lived in must have greatly hastened his -early and unhappy death. - -All the time he lived with us the captain made no change -whatever in his dress but to buy some stockings from a -hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having fallen down, -he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a great -annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his -coat, which he patched himself upstairs in his room, and -which, before the end, was nothing but patches. He never -wrote or received a letter, and he never spoke with any -but the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, -only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us -had ever seen open. - -He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, -when my poor father was far gone in a decline that took -him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon to see -the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and -went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse -should come down from the hamlet, for we had no -stabling at the old Benbow. I followed him in, and I -remember observing the contrast the neat, bright -doctor, with his powder as white as snow and his bright, -black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish -country folk, and above all, with that filthy, heavy, -bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting, far gone -in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he--the -captain, that is--began to pipe up his eternal song: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -At first I had supposed "the dead man's chest" to be -that identical big box of his upstairs in the front -room, and the thought had been mingled in my nightmares -with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this -time we had all long ceased to pay any particular -notice to the song; it was new, that night, to nobody -but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did not -produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a -moment quite angrily before he went on with his talk to -old Taylor, the gardener, on a new cure for the -rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually -brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his -hand upon the table before him in a way we all knew to -mean silence. The voices stopped at once, all but Dr. -Livesey's; he went on as before speaking clear and kind -and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or -two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped -his hand again, glared still harder, and at last broke -out with a villainous, low oath, "Silence, there, -between decks!" - -"Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and -when the ruffian had told him, with another oath, that -this was so, "I have only one thing to say to you, sir," -replies the doctor, "that if you keep on drinking rum, -the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!" - -The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his -feet, drew and opened a sailor's clasp-knife, and -balancing it open on the palm of his hand, threatened -to pin the doctor to the wall. - -The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him as -before, over his shoulder and in the same tone of -voice, rather high, so that all the room might hear, -but perfectly calm and steady: "If you do not put that -knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my -honour, you shall hang at the next assizes." - -Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the -captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon, and -resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog. - -"And now, sir," continued the doctor, "since I now know -there's such a fellow in my district, you may count I'll -have an eye upon you day and night. I'm not a doctor only; -I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint -against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like -tonight's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted -down and routed out of this. Let that suffice." - -Soon after, Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door and he -rode away, but the captain held his peace that evening, -and for many evenings to come. - - - - 2 - - Black Dog Appears and Disappears - - -IT was not very long after this that there occurred the -first of the mysterious events that rid us at last of -the captain, though not, as you will see, of his -affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard -frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first -that my poor father was little likely to see the -spring. He sank daily, and my mother and I had all the -inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough without -paying much regard to our unpleasant guest. - -It was one January morning, very early--a pinching, -frosty morning--the cove all grey with hoar-frost, the -ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still low -and only touching the hilltops and shining far to -seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual and -set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under the -broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope -under his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I -remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as -he strode off, and the last sound I heard of him as he -turned the big rock was a loud snort of indignation, as -though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey. - -Well, mother was upstairs with father and I was laying -the breakfast-table against the captain's return when -the parlour door opened and a man stepped in on whom I -had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy -creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand, and -though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a -fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men, -with one leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled -me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the -sea about him too. - -I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would -take rum; but as I was going out of the room to fetch it, -he sat down upon a table and motioned me to draw near. I -paused where I was, with my napkin in my hand. - -"Come here, sonny," says he. "Come nearer here." - -I took a step nearer. - -"Is this here table for my mate Bill?" he asked with a -kind of leer. - -I told him I did not know his mate Bill, and this was for -a person who stayed in our house whom we called the captain. - -"Well," said he, "my mate Bill would be called the -captain, as like as not. He has a cut on one cheek and -a mighty pleasant way with him, particularly in drink, -has my mate Bill. We'll put it, for argument like, that -your captain has a cut on one cheek--and we'll put it, if -you like, that that cheek's the right one. Ah, well! I -told you. Now, is my mate Bill in this here house?" - -I told him he was out walking. - -"Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?" - -And when I had pointed out the rock and told him how -the captain was likely to return, and how soon, and -answered a few other questions, "Ah," said he, "this'll -be as good as drink to my mate Bill." - -The expression of his face as he said these words was -not at all pleasant, and I had my own reasons for -thinking that the stranger was mistaken, even supposing -he meant what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I -thought; and besides, it was difficult to know what to -do. The stranger kept hanging about just inside the -inn door, peering round the corner like a cat waiting -for a mouse. Once I stepped out myself into the road, -but he immediately called me back, and as I did not -obey quick enough for his fancy, a most horrible change -came over his tallowy face, and he ordered me in with -an oath that made me jump. As soon as I was back again -he returned to his former manner, half fawning, half -sneering, patted me on the shoulder, told me I was a -good boy and he had taken quite a fancy to me. "I have -a son of my own," said he, "as like you as two blocks, -and he's all the pride of my 'art. But the great thing -for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you -had sailed along of Bill, you wouldn't have stood there -to be spoke to twice--not you. That was never Bill's -way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. And here, -sure enough, is my mate Bill, with a spy-glass under -his arm, bless his old 'art, to be sure. You and me'll -just go back into the parlour, sonny, and get behind -the door, and we'll give Bill a little surprise--bless -his 'art, I say again." - -So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the -parlour and put me behind him in the corner so that we -were both hidden by the open door. I was very uneasy -and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather added to -my fears to observe that the stranger was certainly -frightened himself. He cleared the hilt of his cutlass -and loosened the blade in the sheath; and all the time -we were waiting there he kept swallowing as if he felt -what we used to call a lump in the throat. - -At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind him, -without looking to the right or left, and marched straight -across the room to where his breakfast awaited him. - -"Bill," said the stranger in a voice that I thought he -had tried to make bold and big. - -The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us; all -the brown had gone out of his face, and even his nose -was blue; he had the look of a man who sees a ghost, or -the evil one, or something worse, if anything can be; -and upon my word, I felt sorry to see him all in a -moment turn so old and sick. - -"Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old shipmate, -Bill, surely," said the stranger. - -The captain made a sort of gasp. - -"Black Dog!" said he. - -"And who else?" returned the other, getting more at his -ease. "Black Dog as ever was, come for to see his old -shipmate Billy, at the Admiral Benbow inn. Ah, Bill, -Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I -lost them two talons," holding up his mutilated hand. - -"Now, look here," said the captain; "you've run me -down; here I am; well, then, speak up; what is it?" - -"That's you, Bill," returned Black Dog, "you're in the -right of it, Billy. I'll have a glass of rum from this -dear child here, as I've took such a liking to; and -we'll sit down, if you please, and talk square, like -old shipmates." - -When I returned with the rum, they were already seated -on either side of the captain's breakfast-table--Black -Dog next to the door and sitting sideways so as to have -one eye on his old shipmate and one, as I thought, on -his retreat. - -He bade me go and leave the door wide open. "None of -your keyholes for me, sonny," he said; and I left them -together and retired into the bar. - -"For a long time, though I certainly did my best to -listen, I could hear nothing but a low gattling; but at -last the voices began to grow higher, and I could pick -up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain. - -"No, no, no, no; and an end of it!" he cried once. And -again, "If it comes to swinging, swing all, say I." - -Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of -oaths and other noises--the chair and table went over in -a lump, a clash of steel followed, and then a cry of pain, -and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and -the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and -the former streaming blood from the left shoulder. Just -at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last -tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to -the chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard -of Admiral Benbow. You may see the notch on the lower side -of the frame to this day. - -That blow was the last of the battle. Once out upon -the road, Black Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a -wonderful clean pair of heels and disappeared over the -edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for -his part, stood staring at the signboard like a -bewildered man. Then he passed his hand over his eyes -several times and at last turned back into the house. - -"Jim," says he, "rum"; and as he spoke, he reeled a little, -and caught himself with one hand against the wall. - -"Are you hurt?" cried I. - -"Rum," he repeated. "I must get away from here. Rum! Rum!" - -I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all -that had fallen out, and I broke one glass and fouled -the tap, and while I was still getting in my own way, I -heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld -the captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same -instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting, came -running downstairs to help me. Between us we raised his -head. He was breathing very loud and hard, but his eyes -were closed and his face a horrible colour. - -"Dear, deary me," cried my mother, "what a disgrace -upon the house! And your poor father sick!" - -In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help the -captain, nor any other thought but that he had got his -death-hurt in the scuffle with the stranger. I got the -rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat, but -his teeth were tightly shut and his jaws as strong as iron. -It was a happy relief for us when the door opened and Doctor -Livesey came in, on his visit to my father. - -"Oh, doctor," we cried, "what shall we do? Where is he wounded?" - -"Wounded? A fiddle-stick's end!" said the doctor. "No -more wounded than you or I. The man has had a stroke, -as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, just you run -upstairs to your husband and tell him, if possible, -nothing about it. For my part, I must do my best to -save this fellow's trebly worthless life; Jim, you get -me a basin." - -When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already -ripped up the captain's sleeve and exposed his great -sinewy arm. It was tattooed in several places. -"Here's luck," "A fair wind," and "Billy Bones his -fancy," were very neatly and clearly executed on the -forearm; and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of -a gallows and a man hanging from it--done, as I -thought, with great spirit. - -"Prophetic," said the doctor, touching this picture -with his finger. "And now, Master Billy Bones, if that -be your name, we'll have a look at the colour of your -blood. Jim," he said, "are you afraid of blood?" - -"No, sir," said I. - -"Well, then," said he, "you hold the basin"; and with -that he took his lancet and opened a vein. - -A great deal of blood was taken before the captain -opened his eyes and looked mistily about him. First he -recognized the doctor with an unmistakable frown; then -his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. But -suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise -himself, crying, "Where's Black Dog?" - -"There is no Black Dog here," said the doctor, "except -what you have on your own back. You have been drinking -rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; -and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged -you headforemost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones--" - -"That's not my name," he interrupted. - -"Much I care," returned the doctor. "It's the name of -a buccaneer of my acquaintance; and I call you by it -for the sake of shortness, and what I have to say to -you is this; one glass of rum won't kill you, but if -you take one you'll take another and another, and I -stake my wig if you don't break off short, you'll die-- -do you understand that?--die, and go to your own place, -like the man in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. -I'll help you to your bed for once." - -Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him -upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell -back on the pillow as if he were almost fainting. - -"Now, mind you," said the doctor, "I clear my -conscience--the name of rum for you is death." - -And with that he went off to see my father, taking me -with him by the arm. - -"This is nothing," he said as soon as he had closed the -door. "I have drawn blood enough to keep him quiet -awhile; he should lie for a week where he is--that is -the best thing for him and you; but another stroke -would settle him." - - - - 3 - - The Black Spot - -ABOUT noon I stopped at the captain's door with some -cooling drinks and medicines. He was lying very much -as we had left him, only a little higher, and he seemed -both weak and excited. - -"Jim," he said, "you're the only one here that's worth -anything, and you know I've been always good to you. -Never a month but I've given you a silver fourpenny for -yourself. And now you see, mate, I'm pretty low, and -deserted by all; and Jim, you'll bring me one noggin of -rum, now, won't you, matey?" - -"The doctor--" I began. - -But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice -but heartily. "Doctors is all swabs," he said; "and -that doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring -men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping -round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving -like the sea with earthquakes--what to the doctor know -of lands like that?--and I lived on rum, I tell you. -It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and -if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a -lee shore, my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that doctor -swab"; and he ran on again for a while with curses. -"Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges," he continued in the -pleading tone. "I can't keep 'em still, not I. I -haven't had a drop this blessed day. That doctor's a -fool, I tell you. If I don't have a drain o' rum, Jim, -I'll have the horrors; I seen some on 'em already. -I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as -plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, -I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll raise Cain. -Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn't hurt me. -I'll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim." - -He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me -for my father, who was very low that day and needed quiet; -besides, I was reassured by the doctor's words, now quoted -to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe. - -"I want none of your money," said I, "but what you owe -my father. I'll get you one glass, and no more." - -When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and -drank it out. - -"Aye, aye," said he, "that's some better, sure enough. -And now, matey, did that doctor say how long I was to -lie here in this old berth?" - -"A week at least," said I. - -"Thunder!" he cried. "A week! I can't do that; they'd -have the black spot on me by then. The lubbers is -going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment; -lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to -nail what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, -now, I want to know? But I'm a saving soul. I never -wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; and -I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll -shake out another reef, matey, and daddle 'em again." - -As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with -great difficulty, holding to my shoulder with a grip -that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs like -so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were -in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the -voice in which they were uttered. He paused when he -had got into a sitting position on the edge. - -"That doctor's done me," he murmured. "My ears is -singing. Lay me back." - -Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again -to his former place, where he lay for a while silent. - -"Jim," he said at length, "you saw that seafaring man today?" - -"Black Dog?" I asked. - -"Ah! Black Dog," says he. "HE'S a bad un; but there's -worse that put him on. Now, if I can't get away nohow, -and they tip me the black spot, mind you, it's my old -sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse--you can, -can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to-- -well, yes, I will!--to that eternal doctor swab, and -tell him to pipe all hands--magistrates and sich--and -he'll lay 'em aboard at the Admiral Benbow--all old -Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I -was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm -the on'y one as knows the place. He gave it me at -Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, -you see. But you won't peach unless they get the black -spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a -seafaring man with one leg, Jim--him above all." - -"But what is the black spot, captain?" I asked. - -"That's a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get -that. But you keep your weather-eye open, Jim, and -I'll share with you equals, upon my honour." - -He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; -but soon after I had given him his medicine, which he -took like a child, with the remark, "If ever a seaman -wanted drugs, it's me," he fell at last into a heavy, -swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should -have done had all gone well I do not know. Probably I -should have told the whole story to the doctor, for I -was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of -his confessions and make an end of me. But as things -fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that -evening, which put all other matters on one side. Our -natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the -arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn -to be carried on in the meanwhile kept me so busy that -I had scarcely time to think of the captain, far less -to be afraid of him. - -He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his -meals as usual, though he ate little and had more, I am -afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped -himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through -his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night -before the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was -shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him -singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he -was, we were all in the fear of death for him, and the -doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles -away and was never near the house after my father's -death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he -seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. -He clambered up and down stairs, and went from the -parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes put -his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to -the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and -fast like a man on a steep mountain. He never -particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had -as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper -was more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, -more violent than ever. He had an alarming way now -when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it -bare before him on the table. But with all that, he -minded people less and seemed shut up in his own -thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to -our extreme wonder, he piped up to a different air, a -king of country love-song that he must have learned in -his youth before he had begun to follow the sea. - -So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and -about three o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty -afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, -full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw -someone drawing slowly near along the road. He was -plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick -and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; -and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore -a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him -appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a -more dreadful-looking figure. He stopped a little from -the inn, and raising his voice in an odd sing-song, -addressed the air in front of him, "Will any kind friend -inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight -of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native country, -England--and God bless King George!--where or in what part -of this country he may now be?" - -"You are at the Admiral Benbow, Black Hill Cove, my -good man," said I. - -"I hear a voice," said he, "a young voice. Will you give -me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in?" - -I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, -eyeless creature gripped it in a moment like a vise. I -was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, but -the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single -action of his arm. - -"Now, boy," he said, "take me in to the captain." - -"Sir," said I, "upon my word I dare not." - -"Oh," he sneered, "that's it! Take me in straight or -I'll break your arm." - -And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. - -"Sir," said I, "it is for yourself I mean. The captain -is not what he used to be. He sits with a drawn -cutlass. Another gentleman--" - -"Come, now, march," interrupted he; and I never heard a -voice so cruel, and cold, and ugly as that blind man's. -It cowed me more than the pain, and I began to obey him -at once, walking straight in at the door and towards -the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, -dazed with rum. The blind man clung close to me, -holding me in one iron fist and leaning almost more of -his weight on me than I could carry. "Lead me straight -up to him, and when I'm in view, cry out, 'Here's a -friend for you, Bill.' If you don't, I'll do this," -and with that he gave me a twitch that I thought would -have made me faint. Between this and that, I was so -utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my -terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, -cried out the words he had ordered in a trembling voice. - -The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the -rum went out of him and left him staring sober. The -expression of his face was not so much of terror as of -mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do -not believe he had enough force left in his body. - -"Now, Bill, sit where you are," said the beggar. "If I -can't see, I can hear a finger stirring. Business is -business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his left -hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right." - -We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass -something from the hollow of the hand that held his -stick into the palm of the captain's, which closed upon -it instantly. - -"And now that's done," said the blind man; and at the words -he suddenly left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy -and nimbleness, skipped out of the parlour and into the road, -where, as I still stood motionless, I could hear his stick -go tap-tap-tapping into the distance. - -It was some time before either I or the captain seemed -to gather our senses, but at length, and about at the -same moment, I released his wrist, which I was still -holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply -into the palm. - -"Ten o'clock!" he cried. "Six hours. We'll do them -yet," and he sprang to his feet. - -Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his -throat, stood swaying for a moment, and then, with a -peculiar sound, fell from his whole height face -foremost to the floor. - -I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste -was all in vain. The captain had been struck dead by -thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to -understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, -though of late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as -I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of tears. -It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of -the first was still fresh in my heart. - - - - 4 - - The Sea-chest - -I LOST no time, of course, in telling my mother all -that I knew, and perhaps should have told her long -before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult and -dangerous position. Some of the man's money--if he had -any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely -that our captain's shipmates, above all the two -specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, -would be inclined to give up their booty in payment of -the dead man's debts. The captain's order to mount at -once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my -mother alone and unprotected, which was not to be -thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for either of -us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of -coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the -clock, filled us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to -our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and -what between the dead body of the captain on the -parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind -beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there -were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my -skin for terror. Something must speedily be resolved -upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth -together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No -sooner said than done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran -out at once in the gathering evening and the frosty fog. - -The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out -of view, on the other side of the next cove; and what -greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction -from that whence the blind man had made his appearance -and whither he had presumably returned. We were not -many minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped -to lay hold of each other and hearken. But there was -no unusual sound--nothing but the low wash of the -ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood. - -It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, -and I shall never forget how much I was cheered to see -the yellow shine in doors and windows; but that, as it -proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get -in that quarter. For--you would have thought men would -have been ashamed of themselves--no soul would consent -to return with us to the Admiral Benbow. The more we -told of our troubles, the more--man, woman, and child-- -they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of -Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well -enough known to some there and carried a great weight -of terror. Some of the men who had been to field-work -on the far side of the Admiral Benbow remembered, -besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, -and taking them to be smugglers, to have bolted away; -and one at least had seen a little lugger in what we -called Kitt's Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a -comrade of the captain's was enough to frighten them to -death. And the short and the long of the matter was, -that while we could get several who were willing enough -to ride to Dr. Livesey's, which lay in another -direction, not one would help us to defend the inn. - -They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, -on the other hand, a great emboldener; and so when each -had said his say, my mother made them a speech. She -would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to -her fatherless boy; "If none of the rest of you dare," -she said, "Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we -came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken- -hearted men. We'll have that chest open, if we die for -it. And I'll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, to -bring back our lawful money in." - -Of course I said I would go with my mother, and of course -they all cried out at our foolhardiness, but even then -not a man would go along with us. All they would do was -to give me a loaded pistol lest we were attacked, and to -promise to have horses ready saddled in case we were -pursued on our return, while one lad was to ride forward -to the doctor's in search of armed assistance. - -My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in -the cold night upon this dangerous venture. A full -moon was beginning to rise and peered redly through the -upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, -for it was plain, before we came forth again, that all -would be as bright as day, and our departure exposed to -the eyes of any watchers. We slipped along the hedges, -noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to -increase our terrors, till, to our relief, the door of -the Admiral Benbow had closed behind us. - -I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted for -a moment in the dark, alone in the house with the dead -captain's body. Then my mother got a candle in the -bar, and holding each other's hands, we advanced into -the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back, -with his eyes open and one arm stretched out. - -"Draw down the blind, Jim," whispered my mother; "they -might come and watch outside. And now," said she when -I had done so, "we have to get the key off THAT; and -who's to touch it, I should like to know!" and she gave -a kind of sob as she said the words. - -I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to -his hand there was a little round of paper, blackened -on the one side. I could not doubt that this was the -BLACK SPOT; and taking it up, I found written on -the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short -message: "You have till ten tonight." - -"He had till ten, Mother," said I; and just as I said -it, our old clock began striking. This sudden noise -startled us shockingly; but the news was good, for it -was only six. - -"Now, Jim," she said, "that key." - -I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few small coins, -a thimble, and some thread and big needles, a piece of pigtail -tobacco bitten away at the end, his gully with the crooked -handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder box were all that they -contained, and I began to despair. - -"Perhaps it's round his neck," suggested my mother. - -Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt -at the neck, and there, sure enough, hanging to a bit -of tarry string, which I cut with his own gully, we -found the key. At this triumph we were filled with -hope and hurried upstairs without delay to the little -room where he had slept so long and where his box had -stood since the day of his arrival. - -It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside, -the initial "B" burned on the top of it with a hot -iron, and the corners somewhat smashed and broken as by -long, rough usage. - -"Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock -was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back the -lid in a twinkling. - -A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the -interior, but nothing was to be seen on the top except -a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and -folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. -Under that, the miscellany began--a quadrant, a tin -canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very -handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish -watch and some other trinkets of little value and -mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted -with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells. -I have often wondered since why he should have carried -about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, -and hunted life. - -In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but -the silver and the trinkets, and neither of these were -in our way. Underneath there was an old boat-cloak, -whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My -mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay -before us, the last things in the chest, a bundle tied -up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas -bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold. - -"I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman," said -my mother. "I'll have my dues, and not a farthing -over. Hold Mrs. Crossley's bag." And she began to -count over the amount of the captain's score from the -sailor's bag into the one that I was holding. - -It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were -of all countries and sizes--doubloons, and louis d'ors, -and guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know not what -besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, -too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these -only that my mother knew how to make her count. - -When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my -hand upon her arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty -air a sound that brought my heart into my mouth--the -tap-tapping of the blind man's stick upon the frozen -road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding -our breath. Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and -then we could hear the handle being turned and the bolt -rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; and then -there was a long time of silence both within and -without. At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our -indescribable joy and gratitude, died slowly away again -until it ceased to be heard. - -"Mother," said I, "take the whole and let's be going," -for I was sure the bolted door must have seemed -suspicious and would bring the whole hornet's nest -about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had -bolted it, none could tell who had never met that -terrible blind man. - -But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent -to take a fraction more than was due to her and was -obstinately unwilling to be content with less. It was -not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her -rights and she would have them; and she was still -arguing with me when a little low whistle sounded a -good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and more -than enough, for both of us. - -"I'll take what I have," she said, jumping to her feet. - -"And I'll take this to square the count," said I, -picking up the oilskin packet. - -Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving -the candle by the empty chest; and the next we had -opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not -started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly -dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the -high ground on either side; and it was only in the -exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that -a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the first -steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the -hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we -must come forth into the moonlight. Nor was this all, -for the sound of several footsteps running came already -to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, -a light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing -showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern. - -"My dear," said my mother suddenly, "take the money and -run on. I am going to faint." - -This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. -How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbours; how I -blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, -for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We -were just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I -helped her, tottering as she was, to the edge of the -bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on -my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to -do it at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but -I managed to drag her down the bank and a little way -under the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the -bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below -it. So there we had to stay--my mother almost entirely -exposed and both of us within earshot of the inn. - - - - 5 - - The Last of the Blind Man - -MY curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, -for I could not remain where I was, but crept back to -the bank again, whence, sheltering my head behind a -bush of broom, I might command the road before our -door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began -to arrive, seven or eight of them, running hard, their -feet beating out of time along the road and the man -with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran -together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through -the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the -blind beggar. The next moment his voice showed me that -I was right. - -"Down with the door!" he cried. - -"Aye, aye, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was -made upon the Admiral Benbow, the lantern-bearer -following; and then I could see them pause, and hear -speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were -surprised to find the door open. But the pause was -brief, for the blind man again issued his commands. -His voice sounded louder and higher, as if he were -afire with eagerness and rage. - -"In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay. - -Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on -the road with the formidable beggar. There was a -pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a voice -shouting from the house, "Bill's dead." - -But the blind man swore at them again for their delay. - -"Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest -of you aloft and get the chest," he cried. - -I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so -that the house must have shook with it. Promptly -afterwards, fresh sounds of astonishment arose; the -window of the captain's room was thrown open with a -slam and a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out -into the moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed -the blind beggar on the road below him. - -"Pew," he cried, "they've been before us. Someone's -turned the chest out alow and aloft." - -"Is it there?" roared Pew. - -"The money's there." - -The blind man cursed the money. - -"Flint's fist, I mean," he cried. - -"We don't see it here nohow," returned the man. - -"Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind -man again. - -At that another fellow, probably him who had remained -below to search the captain's body, came to the door of -the inn. "Bill's been overhauled a'ready," said he; -"nothin' left." - -"It's these people of the inn--it's that boy. I wish I -had put his eyes out!" cried the blind man, Pew. -"There were no time ago--they had the door bolted when -I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em." - -"Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the -fellow from the window. - -"Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated -Pew, striking with his stick upon the road. - -Then there followed a great to-do through all our old -inn, heavy feet pounding to and fro, furniture thrown -over, doors kicked in, until the very rocks re-echoed -and the men came out again, one after another, on the -road and declared that we were nowhere to be found. -And just the same whistle that had alarmed my mother -and myself over the dead captain's money was once more -clearly audible through the night, but this time twice -repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's trumpet, -so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault, but I now -found that it was a signal from the hillside towards the -hamlet, and from its effect upon the buccaneers, a signal -to warn them of approaching danger. - -"There's Dirk again," said one. "Twice! We'll have to -budge, mates." - -"Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. "Dirk was a fool and a -coward from the first--you wouldn't mind him. They -must be close by; they can't be far; you have your -hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, -shiver my soul," he cried, "if I had eyes!" - -This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of -the fellows began to look here and there among the -lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half an -eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest -stood irresolute on the road. - -"You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you -hang a leg! You'd be as rich as kings if you could -find it, and you know it's here, and you stand there -skulking. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill, and -I did it--a blind man! And I'm to lose my chance for you! -I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when -I might be rolling in a coach! If you had the pluck of a -weevil in a biscuit you would catch them still." - -"Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloons!" grumbled one. - -"They might have hid the blessed thing," said another. -"Take the Georges, Pew, and don't stand here squalling." - -Squalling was the word for it; Pew's anger rose so high -at these objections till at last, his passion -completely taking the upper hand, he struck at them -right and left in his blindness and his stick sounded -heavily on more than one. - -These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind -miscreant, threatened him in horrid terms, and tried in -vain to catch the stick and wrest it from his grasp. - -This quarrel was the saving of us, for while it was -still raging, another sound came from the top of the -hill on the side of the hamlet--the tramp of horses -galloping. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, -flash and report, came from the hedge side. And that -was plainly the last signal of danger, for the -buccaneers turned at once and ran, separating in every -direction, one seaward along the cove, one slant across -the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a -sign of them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, -whether in sheer panic or out of revenge for his ill -words and blows I know not; but there he remained -behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and -groping and calling for his comrades. Finally he took -a wrong turn and ran a few steps past me, towards the -hamlet, crying, "Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," and other -names, "you won't leave old Pew, mates--not old Pew!" - -Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four -or five riders came in sight in the moonlight and swept -at full gallop down the slope. - -At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and -ran straight for the ditch, into which he rolled. But -he was on his feet again in a second and made another -dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest -of the coming horses. - -The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went -Pew with a cry that rang high into the night; and the -four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by. He -fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face -and moved no more. - -I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were -pulling up, at any rate, horrified at the accident; and -I soon saw what they were. One, tailing out behind the -rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to Dr. -Livesey's; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had -met by the way, and with whom he had had the -intelligence to return at once. Some news of the -lugger in Kitt's Hole had found its way to Supervisor -Dance and set him forth that night in our direction, -and to that circumstance my mother and I owed our -preservation from death. - -Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we -had carried her up to the hamlet, a little cold water -and salts and that soon brought her back again, and she -was none the worse for her terror, though she still -continued to deplore the balance of the money. In the -meantime the supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, -to Kitt's Hole; but his men had to dismount and grope -down the dingle, leading, and sometimes supporting, -their horses, and in continual fear of ambushes; so it -was no great matter for surprise that when they got -down to the Hole the lugger was already under way, -though still close in. He hailed her. A voice -replied, telling him to keep out of the moonlight or he -would get some lead in him, and at the same time a -bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon after, the -lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr. Dance -stood there, as he said, "like a fish out of water," -and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B---- to -warn the cutter. "And that," said he, "is just about -as good as nothing. They've got off clean, and there's -an end. Only," he added, "I'm glad I trod on Master -Pew's corns," for by this time he had heard my story. - -I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you -cannot imagine a house in such a state of smash; the -very clock had been thrown down by these fellows in -their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and -though nothing had actually been taken away except the -captain's money-bag and a little silver from the till, -I could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. Dance -could make nothing of the scene. - -"They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what -in fortune were they after? More money, I suppose?" - -"No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. "In fact, -sir, I believe I have the thing in my breast pocket; -and to tell you the truth, I should like to get it put -in safety." - -"To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. "I'll take -it, if you like." - -"I thought perhaps Dr. Livesey--" I began. - -"Perfectly right," he interrupted very cheerily, -"perfectly right--a gentleman and a magistrate. And, -now I come to think of it, I might as well ride round -there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's -dead, when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's -dead, you see, and people will make it out against an -officer of his Majesty's revenue, if make it out they -can. Now, I'll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I'll -take you along." - -I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back -to the hamlet where the horses were. By the time I had -told mother of my purpose they were all in the saddle. - -"Dogger," said Mr. Dance, "you have a good horse; take -up this lad behind you." - -As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt, -the supervisor gave the word, and the party struck out -at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. Livesey's house. - - - - 6 - - The Captain's Papers - -WE rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. -Livesey's door. The house was all dark to the front. - -Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger -gave me a stirrup to descend by. The door was opened -almost at once by the maid. - -"Is Dr. Livesey in?" I asked. - -No, she said, he had come home in the afternoon but had gone -up to the hall to dine and pass the evening with the squire. - -"So there we go, boys," said Mr. Dance. - -This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount, -but ran with Dogger's stirrup-leather to the lodge -gates and up the long, leafless, moonlit avenue to -where the white line of the hall buildings looked on -either hand on great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance -dismounted, and taking me along with him, was admitted -at a word into the house. - -The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us -at the end into a great library, all lined with -bookcases and busts upon the top of them, where the -squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either -side of a bright fire. - -I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was a -tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion, -and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened -and reddened and lined in his long travels. His -eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this -gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you would say, -but quick and high. - -"Come in, Mr. Dance," says he, very stately and condescending. - -"Good evening, Dance," says the doctor with a nod. -"And good evening to you, friend Jim. What good wind -brings you here?" - -The supervisor stood up straight and stiff and told his -story like a lesson; and you should have seen how the -two gentlemen leaned forward and looked at each other, -and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. -When they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr. -Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried -"Bravo!" and broke his long pipe against the grate. -Long before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will -remember, was the squire's name) had got up from his -seat and was striding about the room, and the doctor, -as if to hear the better, had taken off his powdered -wig and sat there looking very strange indeed with his -own close-cropped black poll. - -At last Mr. Dance finished the story. - -"Mr. Dance," said the squire, "you are a very noble -fellow. And as for riding down that black, atrocious -miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, like -stamping on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, -I perceive. Hawkins, will you ring that bell? Mr. -Dance must have some ale." - -"And so, Jim," said the doctor, "you have the thing -that they were after, have you?" - -"Here it is, sir," said I, and gave him the oilskin packet. - -The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were -itching to open it; but instead of doing that, he put -it quietly in the pocket of his coat. - -"Squire," said he, "when Dance has had his ale he must, -of course, be off on his Majesty's service; but I mean -to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at my house, and with -your permission, I propose we should have up the cold -pie and let him sup." - -"As you will, Livesey," said the squire; "Hawkins has -earned better than cold pie." - -So a big pigeon pie was brought in and put on a -sidetable, and I made a hearty supper, for I was as -hungry as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further -complimented and at last dismissed. - -"And now, squire," said the doctor. - -"And now, Livesey," said the squire in the same breath. - -"One at a time, one at a time," laughed Dr. Livesey. -"You have heard of this Flint, I suppose?" - -"Heard of him!" cried the squire. "Heard of him, you -say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. -Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The Spaniards were so -prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was -sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his -top-sails with these eyes, off Trinidad, and the -cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put -back--put back, sir, into Port of Spain." - -"Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said the -doctor. "But the point is, had he money?" - -"Money!" cried the squire. "Have you heard the story? -What were these villains after but money? What do they -care for but money? For what would they risk their -rascal carcasses but money?" - -"That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. "But -you are so confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that -I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is this: -Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to -where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure -amount to much?" - -"Amount, sir!" cried the squire. "It will amount to -this: If we have the clue you talk about, I fit out a -ship in Bristol dock, and take you and Hawkins here -along, and I'll have that treasure if I search a year." - -"Very well," said the doctor. "Now, then, if Jim is -agreeable, we'll open the packet"; and he laid it -before him on the table. - -The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get -out his instrument case and cut the stitches with his -medical scissors. It contained two things--a book and -a sealed paper. - -"First of all we'll try the book," observed the doctor. - -The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder as -he opened it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me to -come round from the side-table, where I had been -eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first -page there were only some scraps of writing, such as a -man with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or -practice. One was the same as the tattoo mark, "Billy -Bones his fancy"; then there was "Mr. W. Bones, mate," -"No more rum," "Off Palm Key he got itt," and some -other snatches, mostly single words and unintelligible. -I could not help wondering who it was that had "got -itt," and what "itt" was that he got. A knife in his -back as like as not. - -"Not much instruction there," said Dr. Livesey as he -passed on. - -The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious -series of entries. There was a date at one end of the -line and at the other a sum of money, as in common -account-books, but instead of explanatory writing, only -a varying number of crosses between the two. On the -12th of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy -pounds had plainly become due to someone, and there was -nothing but six crosses to explain the cause. In a few -cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, -as "Offe Caraccas," or a mere entry of latitude and -longitude, as "62o 17' 20", 19o 2' 40"." - -The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount -of the separate entries growing larger as time went on, -and at the end a grand total had been made out after -five or six wrong additions, and these words appended, -"Bones, his pile." - -"I can't make head or tail of this," said Dr. Livesey. - -"The thing is as clear as noonday," cried the squire. -"This is the black-hearted hound's account-book. These -crosses stand for the names of ships or towns that they -sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel's share, -and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added -something clearer. 'Offe Caraccas,' now; you see, here -was some unhappy vessel boarded off that coast. God -help the poor souls that manned her--coral long ago." - -"Right!" said the doctor. "See what it is to be a -traveller. Right! And the amounts increase, you see, -as he rose in rank." - -There was little else in the volume but a few bearings -of places noted in the blank leaves towards the end and -a table for reducing French, English, and Spanish -moneys to a common value. - -"Thrifty man!" cried the doctor. "He wasn't the one to -be cheated." - -"And now," said the squire, "for the other." - -The paper had been sealed in several places with a -thimble by way of seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that -I had found in the captain's pocket. The doctor opened -the seals with great care, and there fell out the map -of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, -names of hills and bays and inlets, and every -particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a -safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine -miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like -a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked -harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked "The -Spy-glass." There were several additions of a later -date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on -the north part of the island, one in the southwest--and -beside this last, in the same red ink, and in a small, -neat hand, very different from the captain's tottery -characters, these words: "Bulk of treasure here." - -Over on the back the same hand had written this further -information: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - - Ten feet. - - The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find - it by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms - south of the black crag with the face on it. - - The arms are easy found, in the sand-hill, N. - point of north inlet cape, bearing E. and a - quarter N. - J.F. - -That was all; but brief as it was, and to me -incomprehensible, it filled the squire and Dr. Livesey -with delight. - -"Livesey," said the squire, "you will give up this -wretched practice at once. Tomorrow I start for -Bristol. In three weeks' time--three weeks!--two -weeks--ten days--we'll have the best ship, sir, and the -choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin- -boy. You'll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, -Livesey, are ship's doctor; I am admiral. We'll take -Redruth, Joyce, and Hunter. We'll have favourable -winds, a quick passage, and not the least difficulty in -finding the spot, and money to eat, to roll in, to play -duck and drake with ever after." - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "I'll go with you; and -I'll go bail for it, so will Jim, and be a credit to -the undertaking. There's only one man I'm afraid of." - -"And who's that?" cried the squire. "Name the dog, sir!" - -"You," replied the doctor; "for you cannot hold your -tongue. We are not the only men who know of this -paper. These fellows who attacked the inn tonight-- -bold, desperate blades, for sure--and the rest who -stayed aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not -far off, are, one and all, through thick and thin, -bound that they'll get that money. We must none of us -go alone till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick -together in the meanwhile; you'll take Joyce and Hunter -when you ride to Bristol, and from first to last, not -one of us must breathe a word of what we've found." - -"Livesey," returned the squire, "you are always in the -right of it. I'll be as silent as the grave." - - - - - - PART TWO - - The Sea-cook - - - - 7 - - I Go to Bristol - -IT was longer than the squire imagined ere we were -ready for the sea, and none of our first plans--not -even Dr. Livesey's, of keeping me beside him--could be -carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to -London for a physician to take charge of his practice; -the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on -at the hall under the charge of old Redruth, the -gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams -and the most charming anticipations of strange islands -and adventures. I brooded by the hour together over -the map, all the details of which I well remembered. -Sitting by the fire in the housekeeper's room, I -approached that island in my fancy from every possible -direction; I explored every acre of its surface; I -climbed a thousand times to that tall hill they call -the Spy-glass, and from the top enjoyed the most -wonderful and changing prospects. Sometimes the isle -was thick with savages, with whom we fought, sometimes -full of dangerous animals that hunted us, but in all my -fancies nothing occurred to me so strange and tragic as -our actual adventures. - -So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a -letter addressed to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, -"To be opened, in the case of his absence, by Tom -Redruth or young Hawkins." Obeying this order, we -found, or rather I found--for the gamekeeper was a poor -hand at reading anything but print--the following -important news: - - Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17-- - - Dear Livesey--As I do not know whether you - are at the hall or still in London, I send this in - double to both places. - The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at - anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a - sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two - hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. - I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who - has proved himself throughout the most surprising - trump. The admirable fellow literally slaved in - my interest, and so, I may say, did everyone in - Bristol, as soon as they got wind of the port we - sailed for--treasure, I mean. - -"Redruth," said I, interrupting the letter, "Dr. -Livesey will not like that. The squire has been -talking, after all." - -"Well, who's a better right?" growled the gamekeeper. -"A pretty rum go if squire ain't to talk for Dr. -Livesey, I should think." - -At that I gave up all attempts at commentary and read -straight on: - - Blandly himself found the HISPANIOLA, and - by the most admirable management got her for the - merest trifle. There is a class of men in Bristol - monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. They go - the length of declaring that this honest creature - would do anything for money, that the HISPANIOLA - belonged to him, and that he sold it me absurdly - high--the most transparent calumnies. None of them - dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship. - So far there was not a hitch. The - workpeople, to be sure--riggers and what not--were - most annoyingly slow; but time cured that. It was - the crew that troubled me. - I wished a round score of men--in case of - natives, buccaneers, or the odious French--and I - had the worry of the deuce itself to find so much - as half a dozen, till the most remarkable stroke - of fortune brought me the very man that I - required. - I was standing on the dock, when, by the - merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found - he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew - all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his - health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to - get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that - morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. - I was monstrously touched--so would you have - been--and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the - spot to be ship's cook. Long John Silver, he is - called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as - a recommendation, since he lost it in his - country's service, under the immortal Hawke. He - has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the abominable - age we live in! - Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, - but it was a crew I had discovered. Between - Silver and myself we got together in a few days a - company of the toughest old salts imaginable--not - pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of - the most indomitable spirit. I declare we could - fight a frigate. - Long John even got rid of two out of the six - or seven I had already engaged. He showed me in a - moment that they were just the sort of fresh-water - swabs we had to fear in an adventure of - importance. - I am in the most magnificent health and - spirits, eating like a bull, sleeping like a tree, - yet I shall not enjoy a moment till I hear my old - tarpaulins tramping round the capstan. Seaward, - ho! Hang the treasure! It's the glory of the sea - that has turned my head. So now, Livesey, come - post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me. - Let young Hawkins go at once to see his - mother, with Redruth for a guard; and then both - come full speed to Bristol. - John Trelawney - - Postscript--I did not tell you that Blandly, - who, by the way, is to send a consort after us if - we don't turn up by the end of August, had found - an admirable fellow for sailing master--a stiff - man, which I regret, but in all other respects a - treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very - competent man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I - have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things - shall go man-o'-war fashion on board the good ship - HISPANIOLA. - I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of - substance; I know of my own knowledge that he has - a banker's account, which has never been - overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn; - and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old - bachelors like you and I may be excused for - guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the - health, that sends him back to roving. - J. T. - - P.P.S.--Hawkins may stay one night with his - mother. - J. T. - -You can fancy the excitement into which that letter put -me. I was half beside myself with glee; and if ever I -despised a man, it was old Tom Redruth, who could do -nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the under- -gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him; -but such was not the squire's pleasure, and the squire's -pleasure was like law among them all. Nobody but old -Redruth would have dared so much as even to grumble. - -The next morning he and I set out on foot for the -Admiral Benbow, and there I found my mother in good -health and spirits. The captain, who had so long been -a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the -wicked cease from troubling. The squire had had -everything repaired, and the public rooms and the sign -repainted, and had added some furniture--above all a -beautiful armchair for mother in the bar. He had found -her a boy as an apprentice also so that she should not -want help while I was gone. - -It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the -first time, my situation. I had thought up to that -moment of the adventures before me, not at all of the -home that I was leaving; and now, at sight of this clumsy -stranger, who was to stay here in my place beside my -mother, I had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I -led that boy a dog's life, for as he was new to the work, -I had a hundred opportunities of setting him right and -putting him down, and I was not slow to profit by them. - -The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, -Redruth and I were afoot again and on the road. I said -good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had lived since -I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow--since he -was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last -thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode -along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut -cheek, and his old brass telescope. Next moment we had -turned the corner and my home was out of sight. - -The mail picked us up about dusk at the Royal George on -the heath. I was wedged in between Redruth and a stout -old gentleman, and in spite of the swift motion and the -cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from the -very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down -dale through stage after stage, for when I was awakened -at last it was by a punch in the ribs, and I opened my -eyes to find that we were standing still before a large -building in a city street and that the day had already -broken a long time. - -"Where are we?" I asked. - -"Bristol," said Tom. "Get down." - -Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn far -down the docks to superintend the work upon the -schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and our way, to -my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the -great multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and -nations. In one, sailors were singing at their work, -in another there were men aloft, high over my head, -hanging to threads that seemed no thicker than a -spider's. Though I had lived by the shore all my life, -I seemed never to have been near the sea till then. -The smell of tar and salt was something new. I saw the -most wonderful figureheads, that had all been far over -the ocean. I saw, besides, many old sailors, with -rings in their ears, and whiskers curled in ringlets, -and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering, clumsy sea- -walk; and if I had seen as many kings or archbishops I -could not have been more delighted. - -And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with -a piping boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, -bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasure! - -While I was still in this delightful dream, we came -suddenly in front of a large inn and met Squire -Trelawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in stout -blue cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his -face and a capital imitation of a sailor's walk. - -"Here you are," he cried, "and the doctor came last night -from London. Bravo! The ship's company complete!" - -"Oh, sir," cried I, "when do we sail?" - -"Sail!" says he. "We sail tomorrow!" - - - - 8 - - At the Sign of the Spy-glass - -WHEN I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note -addressed to John Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, -and told me I should easily find the place by following -the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for a -little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set -off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the -ships and seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of -people and carts and bales, for the dock was now at its -busiest, until I found the tavern in question. - -It was a bright enough little place of entertainment. -The sign was newly painted; the windows had neat red -curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. There was a -street on each side and an open door on both, which -made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in -spite of clouds of tobacco smoke. - -The customers were mostly seafaring men, and they talked -so loudly that I hung at the door, almost afraid to enter. - -As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at -a glance I was sure he must be Long John. His left leg -was cut off close by the hip, and under the left -shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with -wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. -He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a -ham--plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. -Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, -whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a -merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more -favoured of his guests. - -Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention -of Long John in Squire Trelawney's letter I had taken a -fear in my mind that he might prove to be the very one- -legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old -Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. -I had seen the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind -man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was -like--a very different creature, according to me, from -this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord. - -I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, -and walked right up to the man where he stood, propped -on his crutch, talking to a customer. - -"Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note. - -"Yes, my lad," said he; "such is my name, to be sure. And -who may you be?" And then as he saw the squire's letter, -he seemed to me to give something almost like a start. - -"Oh!" said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. "I -see. You are our new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you." - -And he took my hand in his large firm grasp. - -Just then one of the customers at the far side rose -suddenly and made for the door. It was close by him, -and he was out in the street in a moment. But his -hurry had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at -glance. It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two -fingers, who had come first to the Admiral Benbow. - -"Oh," I cried, "stop him! It's Black Dog!" - -"I don't care two coppers who he is," cried Silver. "But -he hasn't paid his score. Harry, run and catch him." - -One of the others who was nearest the door leaped up -and started in pursuit. - -"If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score," -cried Silver; and then, relinquishing my hand, "Who did -you say he was?" he asked. "Black what?" - -"Dog, sir," said I. Has Mr. Trelawney not told you of -the buccaneers? He was one of them." - -"So?" cried Silver. "In my house! Ben, run and help -Harry. One of those swabs, was he? Was that you -drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here." - -The man whom he called Morgan--an old, grey-haired, -mahogany-faced sailor--came forward pretty sheepishly, -rolling his quid. - -"Now, Morgan," said Long John very sternly, "you never -clapped your eyes on that Black--Black Dog before, did -you, now?" - -"Not I, sir," said Morgan with a salute. - -"You didn't know his name, did you?" - -"No, sir." - -"By the powers, Tom Morgan, it's as good for you!" -exclaimed the landlord. "If you had been mixed up with -the like of that, you would never have put another foot -in my house, you may lay to that. And what was he -saying to you?" - -"I don't rightly know, sir," answered Morgan. - -"Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a blessed -dead-eye?" cried Long John. "Don't rightly know, don't -you! Perhaps you don't happen to rightly know who you was -speaking to, perhaps? Come, now, what was he jawing--v'yages, -cap'ns, ships? Pipe up! What was it?" - -"We was a-talkin' of keel-hauling," answered Morgan. - -"Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, -too, and you may lay to that. Get back to your place -for a lubber, Tom." - -And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added -to me in a confidential whisper that was very flattering, -as I thought, "He's quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y -stupid. And now," he ran on again, aloud, "let's see--Black -Dog? No, I don't know the name, not I. Yet I kind of think -I've--yes, I've seen the swab. He used to come here with a -blind beggar, he used." - -"That he did, you may be sure," said I. "I knew that -blind man too. His name was Pew." - -"It was!" cried Silver, now quite excited. "Pew! That -were his name for certain. Ah, he looked a shark, he -did! If we run down this Black Dog, now, there'll be -news for Cap'n Trelawney! Ben's a good runner; few -seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, -hand over hand, by the powers! He talked o' keel- -hauling, did he? I'LL keel-haul him!" - -All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was -stumping up and down the tavern on his crutch, slapping -tables with his hand, and giving such a show of -excitement as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge -or a Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been -thoroughly reawakened on finding Black Dog at the Spy- -glass, and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was too -deep, and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the -time the two men had come back out of breath and -confessed that they had lost the track in a crowd, and -been scolded like thieves, I would have gone bail for -the innocence of Long John Silver. - -"See here, now, Hawkins," said he, "here's a blessed -hard thing on a man like me, now, ain't it? There's -Cap'n Trelawney--what's he to think? Here I have this -confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house -drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells me of -it plain; and here I let him give us all the slip -before my blessed deadlights! Now, Hawkins, you do me -justice with the cap'n. You're a lad, you are, but -you're as smart as paint. I see that when you first -come in. Now, here it is: What could I do, with this -old timber I hobble on? When I was an A B master -mariner I'd have come up alongside of him, hand over -hand, and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I -would; but now--" - -And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw -dropped as though he had remembered something. - -"The score!" he burst out. "Three goes o' rum! Why, -shiver my timbers, if I hadn't forgotten my score!" - -And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down -his cheeks. I could not help joining, and we laughed together, -peal after peal, until the tavern rang again. - -"Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!" he said at -last, wiping his cheeks. "You and me should get on -well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I should be rated -ship's boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This -won't do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I'll put on my -old cockerel hat, and step along of you to Cap'n -Trelawney, and report this here affair. For mind you, -it's serious, young Hawkins; and neither you nor me's -come out of it with what I should make so bold as to -call credit. Nor you neither, says you; not smart-- -none of the pair of us smart. But dash my buttons! -That was a good un about my score." - -And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that -though I did not see the joke as he did, I was again -obliged to join him in his mirth. - -On our little walk along the quays, he made himself the -most interesting companion, telling me about the -different ships that we passed by, their rig, tonnage, -and nationality, explaining the work that was going -forward--how one was discharging, another taking in -cargo, and a third making ready for sea--and every now -and then telling me some little anecdote of ships or -seamen or repeating a nautical phrase till I had -learned it perfectly. I began to see that here was one -of the best of possible shipmates. - -When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey were -seated together, finishing a quart of ale with a toast -in it, before they should go aboard the schooner on a -visit of inspection. - -Long John told the story from first to last, with a -great deal of spirit and the most perfect truth. "That -was how it were, now, weren't it, Hawkins?" he would -say, now and again, and I could always bear him -entirely out. - -The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got -away, but we all agreed there was nothing to be done, -and after he had been complimented, Long John took up -his crutch and departed. - -"All hands aboard by four this afternoon," shouted the -squire after him. - -"Aye, aye, sir," cried the cook, in the passage. - -"Well, squire," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't put much -faith in your discoveries, as a general thing; but I -will say this, John Silver suits me." - -"The man's a perfect trump," declared the squire. - -"And now," added the doctor, "Jim may come on board -with us, may he not?" - -"To be sure he may," says squire. "Take your hat, -Hawkins, and we'll see the ship." - - - - 9 - - Powder and Arms - -THE HISPANIOLA lay some way out, and we went under -the figureheads and round the sterns of many other -ships, and their cables sometimes grated underneath our -keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, -we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we -stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old -sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He and -the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon -observed that things were not the same between Mr. -Trelawney and the captain. - -This last was a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with -everything on board and was soon to tell us why, for we -had hardly got down into the cabin when a sailor -followed us. - -"Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you," said he. - -"I am always at the captain's orders. Show him in," -said the squire. - -The captain, who was close behind his messenger, -entered at once and shut the door behind him. - -"Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All -well, I hope; all shipshape and seaworthy?" - -"Well, sir," said the captain, "better speak plain, I -believe, even at the risk of offence. I don't like -this cruise; I don't like the men; and I don't like my -officer. That's short and sweet." - -"Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" inquired the -squire, very angry, as I could see. - -"I can't speak as to that, sir, not having seen her -tried," said the captain. "She seems a clever craft; -more I can't say." - -"Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, -either?" says the squire. - -But here Dr. Livesey cut in. - -"Stay a bit," said he, "stay a bit. No use of such -questions as that but to produce ill feeling. The -captain has said too much or he has said too little, and -I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his -words. You don't, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?" - -"I was engaged, sir, on what we call sealed orders, to -sail this ship for that gentleman where he should bid -me," said the captain. "So far so good. But now I -find that every man before the mast knows more than I -do. I don't call that fair, now, do you?" - -"No," said Dr. Livesey, "I don't." - -"Next," said the captain, "I learn we are going after -treasure--hear it from my own hands, mind you. Now, -treasure is ticklish work; I don't like treasure voyages -on any account, and I don't like them, above all, when -they are secret and when (begging your pardon, Mr. -Trelawney) the secret has been told to the parrot." - -"Silver's parrot?" asked the squire. - -"It's a way of speaking," said the captain. "Blabbed, -I mean. It's my belief neither of you gentlemen know -what you are about, but I'll tell you my way of it-- -life or death, and a close run." - -"That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough," -replied Dr. Livesey. "We take the risk, but we are not -so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you say you don't -like the crew. Are they not good seamen?" - -"I don't like them, sir," returned Captain Smollett. -"And I think I should have had the choosing of my own -hands, if you go to that." - -"Perhaps you should," replied the doctor. "My friend -should, perhaps, have taken you along with him; but the -slight, if there be one, was unintentional. And you -don't like Mr. Arrow?" - -"I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman, but he's -too free with the crew to be a good officer. A mate -should keep himself to himself--shouldn't drink with -the men before the mast!" - -"Do you mean he drinks?" cried the squire. - -"No, sir," replied the captain, "only that he's too familiar." - -"Well, now, and the short and long of it, captain?" -asked the doctor. "Tell us what you want." - -"Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this cruise?" - -"Like iron," answered the squire. - -"Very good," said the captain. "Then, as you've heard -me very patiently, saying things that I could not -prove, hear me a few words more. They are putting the -powder and the arms in the fore hold. Now, you have a -good place under the cabin; why not put them there?-- -first point. Then, you are bringing four of your own -people with you, and they tell me some of them are to -be berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here -beside the cabin?--second point." - -"Any more?" asked Mr. Trelawney. - -"One more," said the captain. "There's been too much -blabbing already." - -"Far too much," agreed the doctor. - -"I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued -Captain Smollett: "that you have a map of an island, -that there's crosses on the map to show where treasure -is, and that the island lies--" And then he named the -latitude and longitude exactly. - -"I never told that," cried the squire, "to a soul!" - -"The hands know it, sir," returned the captain. - -"Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins," cried -the squire. - -"It doesn't much matter who it was," replied the -doctor. And I could see that neither he nor the -captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney's -protestations. Neither did I, to be sure, he was so -loose a talker; yet in this case I believe he was -really right and that nobody had told the situation of -the island. - -"Well, gentlemen," continued the captain, "I don't know -who has this map; but I make it a point, it shall be -kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise I -would ask you to let me resign." - -"I see," said the doctor. "You wish us to keep this -matter dark and to make a garrison of the stern part of -the ship, manned with my friend's own people, and -provided with all the arms and powder on board. In -other words, you fear a mutiny." - -"Sir," said Captain Smollett, "with no intention to -take offence, I deny your right to put words into my -mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified in going to -sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for -Mr. Arrow, I believe him thoroughly honest; some of the -men are the same; all may be for what I know. But I am -responsible for the ship's safety and the life of every -man Jack aboard of her. I see things going, as I -think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain -precautions or let me resign my berth. And that's all." - -"Captain Smollett," began the doctor with a smile, "did -ever you hear the fable of the mountain and the mouse? -You'll excuse me, I dare say, but you remind me of that -fable. When you came in here, I'll stake my wig, you -meant more than this." - -"Doctor," said the captain, "you are smart. When I -came in here I meant to get discharged. I had no -thought that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word." - -"No more I would," cried the squire. "Had Livesey not -been here I should have seen you to the deuce. As it -is, I have heard you. I will do as you desire, but I -think the worse of you." - -"That's as you please, sir," said the captain. "You'll -find I do my duty." - -And with that he took his leave. - -"Trelawney," said the doctor, "contrary to all my -notions, I believed you have managed to get two honest -men on board with you--that man and John Silver." - -"Silver, if you like," cried the squire; "but as for -that intolerable humbug, I declare I think his conduct -unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English." - -"Well," says the doctor, "we shall see." - -When we came on deck, the men had begun already to take -out the arms and powder, yo-ho-ing at their work, while -the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by superintending. - -The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The whole -schooner had been overhauled; six berths had been made -astern out of what had been the after-part of the main -hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to the -galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the port -side. It had been originally meant that the captain, -Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, and the squire -were to occupy these six berths. Now Redruth and I -were to get two of them and Mr. Arrow and the captain -were to sleep on deck in the companion, which had been -enlarged on each side till you might almost have called -it a round-house. Very low it was still, of course; -but there was room to swing two hammocks, and even the -mate seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, -perhaps, had been doubtful as to the crew, but that is -only guess, for as you shall hear, we had not long the -benefit of his opinion. - -We were all hard at work, changing the powder and the -berths, when the last man or two, and Long John along -with them, came off in a shore-boat. - -The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness, -and as soon as he saw what was doing, "So ho, mates!" -says he. "What's this?" - -"We're a-changing of the powder, Jack," answers one. - -"Why, by the powers," cried Long John, "if we do, we'll -miss the morning tide!" - -"My orders!" said the captain shortly. "You may go -below, my man. Hands will want supper." - -"Aye, aye, sir," answered the cook, and touching his -forelock, he disappeared at once in the direction of -his galley. - -"That's a good man, captain," said the doctor. - -"Very likely, sir," replied Captain Smollett. "Easy -with that, men--easy," he ran on, to the fellows who -were shifting the powder; and then suddenly observing -me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long -brass nine, "Here you, ship's boy," he cried, "out o' -that! Off with you to the cook and get some work." - -And then as I was hurrying off I heard him say, quite loudly, -to the doctor, "I'll have no favourites on my ship." - -I assure you I was quite of the squire's way of -thinking, and hated the captain deeply. - - - - 10 - - The Voyage - -ALL that night we were in a great bustle getting things -stowed in their place, and boatfuls of the squire's -friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, coming off to wish -him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a -night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; -and I was dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the -boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew began to man -the capstan-bars. I might have been twice as weary, -yet I would not have left the deck, all was so new and -interesting to me--the brief commands, the shrill note -of the whistle, the men bustling to their places in the -glimmer of the ship's lanterns. - -"Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave," cried one voice. - -"The old one," cried another. - -"Aye, aye, mates," said Long John, who was standing by, -with his crutch under his arm, and at once broke out in -the air and words I knew so well: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--" - -And then the whole crew bore chorus:-- - - "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -And at the third "Ho!" drove the bars before them with -a will. - -Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to the old -Admiral Benbow in a second, and I seemed to hear the voice -of the captain piping in the chorus. But soon the anchor -was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at the bows; -soon the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping -to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to -snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her -voyage to the Isle of Treasure. - -I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was -fairly prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship, -the crew were capable seamen, and the captain -thoroughly understood his business. But before we came -the length of Treasure Island, two or three things had -happened which require to be known. - -Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than the -captain had feared. He had no command among the men, -and people did what they pleased with him. But that -was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two -at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red -cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of -drunkenness. Time after time he was ordered below in -disgrace. Sometimes he fell and cut himself; sometimes -he lay all day long in his little bunk at one side of -the companion; sometimes for a day or two he would be -almost sober and attend to his work at least passably. - -In the meantime, we could never make out where he got -the drink. That was the ship's mystery. Watch him as -we pleased, we could do nothing to solve it; and when -we asked him to his face, he would only laugh if he -were drunk, and if he were sober deny solemnly that he -ever tasted anything but water. - -He was not only useless as an officer and a bad -influence amongst the men, but it was plain that at this -rate he must soon kill himself outright, so nobody was -much surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with -a head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more. - -"Overboard!" said the captain. "Well, gentlemen, that -saves the trouble of putting him in irons." - -But there we were, without a mate; and it was -necessary, of course, to advance one of the men. The -boatswain, Job Anderson, was the likeliest man aboard, -and though he kept his old title, he served in a way as -mate. Mr. Trelawney had followed the sea, and his -knowledge made him very useful, for he often took a watch -himself in easy weather. And the coxswain, Israel Hands, -was a careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who could be -trusted at a pinch with almost anything. - -He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and so -the mention of his name leads me on to speak of our -ship's cook, Barbecue, as the men called him. - -Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round -his neck, to have both hands as free as possible. It -was something to see him wedge the foot of the crutch -against a bulkhead, and propped against it, yielding to -every movement of the ship, get on with his cooking -like someone safe ashore. Still more strange was it to -see him in the heaviest of weather cross the deck. He -had a line or two rigged up to help him across the -widest spaces--Long John's earrings, they were called; -and he would hand himself from one place to another, -now using the crutch, now trailing it alongside by the -lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. Yet -some of the men who had sailed with him before -expressed their pity to see him so reduced. - -"He's no common man, Barbecue," said the coxswain to -me. "He had good schooling in his young days and can -speak like a book when so minded; and brave--a lion's -nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him grapple -four and knock their heads together--him unarmed." - -All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a -way of talking to each and doing everybody some -particular service. To me he was unweariedly kind, and -always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as -clean as a new pin, the dishes hanging up burnished and -his parrot in a cage in one corner. - -"Come away, Hawkins," he would say; "come and have a -yarn with John. Nobody more welcome than yourself, my -son. Sit you down and hear the news. Here's Cap'n -Flint--I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous -buccaneer--here's Cap'n Flint predicting success to our -v'yage. Wasn't you, cap'n?" - -And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, "Pieces -of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" till you -wondered that it was not out of breath, or till John -threw his handkerchief over the cage. - -"Now, that bird," he would say, "is, maybe, two hundred -years old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if -anybody's seen more wickedness, it must be the devil -himself. She's sailed with England, the great Cap'n -England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at -Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. -She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. -It's there she learned 'Pieces of eight,' and little -wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, -Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the viceroy of the -Indies out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you -would think she was a babby. But you smelt powder-- -didn't you, cap'n?" - -"Stand by to go about," the parrot would scream. - -"Ah, she's a handsome craft, she is," the cook would say, -and give her sugar from his pocket, and then the bird -would peck at the bars and swear straight on, passing -belief for wickedness. "There," John would add, "you -can't touch pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here's this -poor old innocent bird o' mine swearing blue fire, and -none the wiser, you may lay to that. She would swear the -same, in a manner of speaking, before chaplain." And John -would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had that made -me think he was the best of men. - -In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were -still on pretty distant terms with one another. The -squire made no bones about the matter; he despised the -captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when -he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and -not a word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, -that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew, that -some of them were as brisk as he wanted to see and all -had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken -a downright fancy to her. "She'll lie a point nearer -the wind than a man has a right to expect of his own -married wife, sir. But," he would add, "all I say is, -we're not home again, and I don't like the cruise." - -The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and -down the deck, chin in air. - -"A trifle more of that man," he would say, "and I -shall explode." - -We had some heavy weather, which only proved the -qualities of the HISPANIOLA. Every man on board -seemed well content, and they must have been hard to -please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief -there was never a ship's company so spoiled since Noah -put to sea. Double grog was going on the least excuse; -there was duff on odd days, as, for instance, if the -squire heard it was any man's birthday, and always a -barrel of apples standing broached in the waist for -anyone to help himself that had a fancy. - -"Never knew good come of it yet," the captain said to -Dr. Livesey. "Spoil forecastle hands, make devils. -That's my belief." - -But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall -hear, for if it had not been for that, we should have -had no note of warning and might all have perished by -the hand of treachery. - -This was how it came about. - -We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island -we were after--I am not allowed to be more plain--and -now we were running down for it with a bright lookout -day and night. It was about the last day of our -outward voyage by the largest computation; some time -that night, or at latest before noon of the morrow, we -should sight the Treasure Island. We were heading -S.S.W. and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. -The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her -bowsprit now and then with a whiff of spray. All was -drawing alow and aloft; everyone was in the bravest -spirits because we were now so near an end of the first -part of our adventure. - -Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over and -I was on my way to my berth, it occurred to me that I -should like an apple. I ran on deck. The watch was -all forward looking out for the island. The man at the -helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling -away gently to himself, and that was the only sound -excepting the swish of the sea against the bows and -around the sides of the ship. - -In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there -was scarce an apple left; but sitting down there in the -dark, what with the sound of the waters and the rocking -movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep or was -on the point of doing so when a heavy man sat down with -rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as he leaned -his shoulders against it, and I was just about to jump -up when the man began to speak. It was Silver's voice, -and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have -shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling -and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for -from these dozen words I understood that the lives of all -the honest men aboard depended upon me alone. - - - - 11 - - What I Heard in the Apple Barrel - -"NO, not I," said Silver. "Flint was cap'n; I was -quartermaster, along of my timber leg. The same -broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his deadlights. -It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of -college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but -he was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, -at Corso Castle. That was Roberts' men, that was, and -comed of changing names to their ships--ROYAL -FORTUNE and so on. Now, what a ship was christened, -so let her stay, I says. So it was with the CASSANDRA, -as brought us all safe home from Malabar, -after England took the viceroy of the Indies; so it was -with the old WALRUS, Flint's old ship, as I've seen -amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold." - -"Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on -board, and evidently full of admiration. "He was the -flower of the flock, was Flint!" - -"Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. -"I never sailed along of him; first with England, then -with Flint, that's my story; and now here on my own -account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine -hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after -Flint. That ain't bad for a man before the mast--all -safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's saving does -it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men -now? I dunno. Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em -aboard here, and glad to get the duff--been begging -before that, some on 'em. Old Pew, as had lost his -sight, and might have thought shame, spends twelve -hundred pound in a year, like a lord in Parliament. -Where is he now? Well, he's dead now and under hatches; -but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, the -man was starving! He begged, and he stole, and he cut -throats, and starved at that, by the powers!" - -"Well, it ain't much use, after all," said the -young seaman. - -"'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, -nor nothing," cried Silver. "But now, you look here: -you're young, you are, but you're as smart as paint. I -see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to -you like a man." - -You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old -rogue addressing another in the very same words of flattery -as he had used to myself. I think, if I had been able, that -I would have killed him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran -on, little supposing he was overheard. - -"Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives -rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink -like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is done, why, -it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of -farthings in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum -and a good fling, and to sea again in their shirts. -But that's not the course I lay. I puts it all away, -some here, some there, and none too much anywheres, by -reason of suspicion. I'm fifty, mark you; once back -from this cruise, I set up gentleman in earnest. Time -enough too, says you. Ah, but I've lived easy in the -meantime, never denied myself o' nothing heart desires, -and slep' soft and ate dainty all my days but when at -sea. And how did I begin? Before the mast, like you!" - -"Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, -ain't it? You daren't show face in Bristol after this." - -"Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver derisively. - -"At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his companion. - -"It were," said the cook; "it were when we weighed anchor. -But my old missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is -sold, lease and goodwill and rigging; and the old girl's off -to meet me. I would tell you where, for I trust you, but -it'd make jealousy among the mates." - -"And can you trust your missis?" asked the other. - -"Gentlemen of fortune," returned the cook, "usually -trusts little among themselves, and right they are, you may -lay to it. But I have a way with me, I have. When a mate -brings a slip on his cable--one as knows me, I mean--it -won't be in the same world with old John. There was some -that was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; -but Flint his own self was feared of me. Feared he was, and -proud. They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint's; the -devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with them. -Well now, I tell you, I'm not a boasting man, and you seen -yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, -LAMBS wasn't the word for Flint's old buccaneers. Ah, you may -be sure of yourself in old John's ship." - -"Well, I tell you now," replied the lad, "I didn't half -a quarter like the job till I had this talk with you, -John; but there's my hand on it now." - -"And a brave lad you were, and smart too," answered -Silver, shaking hands so heartily that all the barrel -shook, "and a finer figurehead for a gentleman of -fortune I never clapped my eyes on." - -By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of -their terms. By a "gentleman of fortune" they plainly -meant neither more nor less than a common pirate, and -the little scene that I had overheard was the last act -in the corruption of one of the honest hands--perhaps of -the last one left aboard. But on this point I was soon -to be relieved, for Silver giving a little whistle, a -third man strolled up and sat down by the party. - -"Dick's square," said Silver. - -"Oh, I know'd Dick was square," returned the voice of the -coxswain, Israel Hands. "He's no fool, is Dick." And he -turned his quid and spat. "But look here," he went on, -"here's what I want to know, Barbecue: how long are we -a-going to stand off and on like a blessed bumboat? I've -had a'most enough o' Cap'n Smollett; he's hazed me long -enough, by thunder! I want to go into that cabin, I do. -I want their pickles and wines, and that." - -"Israel," said Silver, "your head ain't much account, -nor ever was. But you're able to hear, I reckon; -leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, here's what I -say: you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and -you'll speak soft, and you'll keep sober till I give -the word; and you may lay to that, my son." - -"Well, I don't say no, do I?" growled the coxswain. -"What I say is, when? That's what I say." - -"When! By the powers!" cried Silver. "Well now, if -you want to know, I'll tell you when. The last moment -I can manage, and that's when. Here's a first-rate -seaman, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. -Here's this squire and doctor with a map and such--I -don't know where it is, do I? No more do you, says -you. Well then, I mean this squire and doctor shall -find the stuff, and help us to get it aboard, by the -powers. Then we'll see. If I was sure of you all, -sons of double Dutchmen, I'd have Cap'n Smollett -navigate us half-way back again before I struck." - -"Why, we're all seamen aboard here, I should think," -said the lad Dick. - -"We're all forecastle hands, you mean," snapped Silver. "We -can steer a course, but who's to set one? That's what all you -gentlemen split on, first and last. If I had my way, I'd have -Cap'n Smollett work us back into the trades at least; then we'd -have no blessed miscalculations and a spoonful of water a day. -But I know the sort you are. I'll finish with 'em at the -island, as soon's the blunt's on board, and a pity it is. But -you're never happy till you're drunk. Split my sides, I've a -sick heart to sail with the likes of you!" - -"Easy all, Long John," cried Israel. "Who's a-crossin' -of you?" - -"Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen -laid aboard? And how many brisk lads drying in the sun -at Execution Dock?" cried Silver. "And all for this -same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a -thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on'y lay -your course, and a p'int to windward, you would ride in -carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You'll -have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang." - -"Everybody knowed you was a kind of a chapling, John; -but there's others as could hand and steer as well as -you," said Israel. "They liked a bit o' fun, they did. -They wasn't so high and dry, nohow, but took their -fling, like jolly companions every one." - -"So?" says Silver. "Well, and where are they now? Pew -was that sort, and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, -and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they was a sweet -crew, they was! On'y, where are they?" - -"But," asked Dick, "when we do lay 'em athwart, what -are we to do with 'em, anyhow?" - -"There's the man for me!" cried the cook admiringly. -"That's what I call business. Well, what would you -think? Put 'em ashore like maroons? That would have -been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much -pork? That would have been Flint's, or Billy Bones's." - -"Billy was the man for that," said Israel. "'Dead men -don't bite,' says he. Well, he's dead now hisself; he -knows the long and short on it now; and if ever a rough -hand come to port, it was Billy." - -"Right you are," said Silver; "rough and ready. But -mark you here, I'm an easy man--I'm quite the -gentleman, says you; but this time it's serious. Dooty -is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I'm in -Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don't want none of -these sea-lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked -for, like the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; -but when the time comes, why, let her rip!" - -"John," cries the coxswain, "you're a man!" - -"You'll say so, Israel when you see," said Silver. -"Only one thing I claim--I claim Trelawney. I'll wring -his calf's head off his body with these hands, Dick!" -he added, breaking off. "You just jump up, like a -sweet lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like." - -You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have -leaped out and run for it if I had found the strength, -but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I heard Dick -begin to rise, and then someone seemingly stopped him, -and the voice of Hands exclaimed, "Oh, stow that! -Don't you get sucking of that bilge, John. Let's have -a go of the rum." - -"Dick," said Silver, "I trust you. I've a gauge on the -keg, mind. There's the key; you fill a pannikin and -bring it up." - -Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself -that this must have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong -waters that destroyed him. - -Dick was gone but a little while, and during his -absence Israel spoke straight on in the cook's ear. It -was but a word or two that I could catch, and yet I -gathered some important news, for besides other scraps -that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was -audible: "Not another man of them'll jine." Hence -there were still faithful men on board. - -When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took -the pannikin and drank--one "To luck," another with a -"Here's to old Flint," and Silver himself saying, in a -kind of song, "Here's to ourselves, and hold your luff, -plenty of prizes and plenty of duff." - -Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the -barrel, and looking up, I found the moon had risen and -was silvering the mizzen-top and shining white on the -luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time the -voice of the lookout shouted, "Land ho!" - - - - 12 - - Council of War - -THERE was a great rush of feet across the deck. I -could hear people tumbling up from the cabin and the -forecastle, and slipping in an instant outside my -barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double -towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in -time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the -weather bow. - -There all hands were already congregated. A belt of -fog had lifted almost simultaneously with the -appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of us -we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, -and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, -whose peak was still buried in the fog. All three -seemed sharp and conical in figure. - -So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet -recovered from my horrid fear of a minute or two -before. And then I heard the voice of Captain Smollett -issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple -of points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that -would just clear the island on the east. - -"And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted -home, "has any one of you ever seen that land ahead?" - -"I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a -trader I was cook in." - -"The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I -fancy?" asked the captain. - -"Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a -main place for pirates once, and a hand we had on board -knowed all their names for it. That hill to the -nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three -hills in a row running south'ard--fore, main, and -mizzen, sir. But the main--that's the big un, with the -cloud on it--they usually calls the Spy-glass, by -reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the -anchorage cleaning, for it's there they cleaned their -ships, sir, asking your pardon." - -"I have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. "See if -that's the place." - -Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the -chart, but by the fresh look of the paper I knew he was -doomed to disappointment. This was not the map we -found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy, -complete in all things--names and heights and -soundings--with the single exception of the red crosses -and the written notes. Sharp as must have been his -annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. - -"Yes, sir," said he, "this is the spot, to be sure, and -very prettily drawed out. Who might have done that, I -wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I reckon. Aye, -here it is: 'Capt. Kidd's Anchorage'--just the name my -shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs -along the south, and then away nor'ard up the west -coast. Right you was, sir," says he, "to haul your -wind and keep the weather of the island. Leastways, if -such was your intention as to enter and careen, and -there ain't no better place for that in these waters." - -"Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. "I'll ask -you later on to give us a help. You may go." - -I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed -his knowledge of the island, and I own I was half- -frightened when I saw him drawing nearer to myself. He -did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his -council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this -time taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and -power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he -laid his hand upon my arm. - -"Ah," says he, "this here is a sweet spot, this island-- -a sweet spot for a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe, -and you'll climb trees, and you'll hunt goats, you will; -and you'll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself. -Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my -timber leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young and -have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When you want to -go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he'll -put up a snack for you to take along." - -And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the -shoulder, he hobbled off forward and went below. - -Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were -talking together on the quarter-deck, and anxious as I -was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them -openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts -to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to -his side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave -to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon -as I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard, I -broke immediately, "Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain -and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence -to send for me. I have terrible news." - -The doctor changed countenance a little, but next -moment he was master of himself. - -"Thank you, Jim," said he quite loudly, "that was all I -wanted to know," as if he had asked me a question. - -And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the -other two. They spoke together for a little, and -though none of them started, or raised his voice, or so -much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey -had communicated my request, for the next thing that I -heard was the captain giving an order to Job Anderson, -and all hands were piped on deck. - -"My lads," said Captain Smollett, "I've a word to say -to you. This land that we have sighted is the place we -have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, being a very -open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked -me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that -every man on board had done his duty, alow and aloft, -as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and -the doctor are going below to the cabin to drink YOUR -health and luck, and you'll have grog served out -for you to drink OUR health and luck. I'll tell -you what I think of this: I think it handsome. And if -you think as I do, you'll give a good sea-cheer for the -gentleman that does it." - -The cheer followed--that was a matter of course; but it -rang out so full and hearty that I confess I could hardly -believe these same men were plotting for our blood. - -"One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long John -when the first had subsided. - -And this also was given with a will. - -On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and -not long after, word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins -was wanted in the cabin. - -I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle -of Spanish wine and some raisins before them, and the -doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, and that, -I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern -window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could -see the moon shining behind on the ship's wake. - -"Now, Hawkins," said the squire, "you have something to -say. Speak up." - -I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, -told the whole details of Silver's conversation. -Nobody interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one -of the three of them make so much as a movement, but -they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. - -"Jim," said Dr. Livesey, "take a seat." - -And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured -me out a glass of wine, filled my hands with raisins, -and all three, one after the other, and each with a -bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for -my luck and courage. - -"Now, captain," said the squire, "you were right, and I -was wrong. I own myself an ass, and I await your orders." - -"No more an ass than I, sir," returned the captain. "I -never heard of a crew that meant to mutiny but what -showed signs before, for any man that had an eye in his -head to see the mischief and take steps according. But -this crew," he added, "beats me." - -"Captain," said the doctor, "with your permission, -that's Silver. A very remarkable man." - -"He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir," -returned the captain. "But this is talk; this don't -lead to anything. I see three or four points, and with -Mr. Trelawney's permission, I'll name them." - -"You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," -says Mr. Trelawney grandly. - -"First point," began Mr. Smollett. "We must go on, -because we can't turn back. If I gave the word to go -about, they would rise at once. Second point, we have -time before us--at least until this treasure's found. -Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's -got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I -propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying -is, and come to blows some fine day when they least -expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home -servants, Mr. Trelawney?" - -"As upon myself," declared the squire. - -"Three," reckoned the captain; "ourselves make seven, -counting Hawkins here. Now, about the honest hands?" - -"Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor; "those -he had picked up for himself before he lit on Silver." - -"Nay," replied the squire. "Hands was one of mine." - -"I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the captain. - -"And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke out -the squire. "Sir, I could find it in my heart to blow -the ship up." - -"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, "the best that I -can say is not much. We must lay to, if you please, -and keep a bright lookout. It's trying on a man, I -know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But -there's no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, -and whistle for a wind, that's my view." - -"Jim here," said the doctor, "can help us more than -anyone. The men are not shy with him, and Jim is a -noticing lad." - -"Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the squire. - -I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt -altogether helpless; and yet, by an odd train of -circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety came. -In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only -seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could -rely; and out of these seven one was a boy, so that the -grown men on our side were six to their nineteen. - - - - - - PART THREE - - My Shore Adventure - - - - 13 - - How My Shore Adventure Began - -THE appearance of the island when I came on deck next -morning was altogether changed. Although the breeze -had now utterly ceased, we had made a great deal of way -during the night and were now lying becalmed about half -a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. -Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the -surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by -streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, and by -many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the -others--some singly, some in clumps; but the general -colouring was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear -above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. All were -strangely shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was by three -or four hundred feet the tallest on the island, was -likewise the strangest in configuration, running up -sheer from almost every side and then suddenly cut off -at the top like a pedestal to put a statue on. - -The HISPANIOLA was rolling scuppers under in the -ocean swell. The booms were tearing at the blocks, the -rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole ship -creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I -had to cling tight to the backstay, and the world -turned giddily before my eyes, for though I was a good -enough sailor when there was way on, this standing -still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing -I never learned to stand without a qualm or so, above -all in the morning, on an empty stomach. - -Perhaps it was this--perhaps it was the look of the -island, with its grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone -spires, and the surf that we could both see and hear -foaming and thundering on the steep beach--at least, -although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore -birds were fishing and crying all around us, and you -would have thought anyone would have been glad to get -to land after being so long at sea, my heart sank, as -the saying is, into my boots; and from the first look -onward, I hated the very thought of Treasure Island. - -We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was -no sign of any wind, and the boats had to be got out -and manned, and the ship warped three or four miles -round the corner of the island and up the narrow -passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I -volunteered for one of the boats, where I had, of -course, no business. The heat was sweltering, and the -men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in -command of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in -order, he grumbled as loud as the worst. - -"Well," he said with an oath, "it's not forever." - -I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day -the men had gone briskly and willingly about their -business; but the very sight of the island had relaxed -the cords of discipline. - -All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and -conned the ship. He knew the passage like the palm of -his hand, and though the man in the chains got -everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John -never hesitated once. - -"There's a strong scour with the ebb," he said, "and -this here passage has been dug out, in a manner of -speaking, with a spade." - -We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart, -about a third of a mile from each shore, the mainland -on one side and Skeleton Island on the other. The -bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent -up clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods, -but in less than a minute they were down again and all -was once more silent. - -The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods, -the trees coming right down to high-water mark, the -shores mostly flat, and the hilltops standing round at -a distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one -there. Two little rivers, or rather two swamps, -emptied out into this pond, as you might call it; and -the foliage round that part of the shore had a kind of -poisonous brightness. From the ship we could see -nothing of the house or stockade, for they were quite -buried among trees; and if it had not been for the -chart on the companion, we might have been the first -that had ever anchored there since the island arose out -of the seas. - -There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that -of the surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and -against the rocks outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung -over the anchorage--a smell of sodden leaves and rotting -tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing, -like someone tasting a bad egg. - -"I don't know about treasure," he said, "but I'll stake -my wig there's fever here." - -If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the -boat, it became truly threatening when they had come -aboard. They lay about the deck growling together in -talk. The slightest order was received with a black -look and grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the -honest hands must have caught the infection, for there -was not one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, it was -plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud. - -And it was not only we of the cabin party who perceived -the danger. Long John was hard at work going from -group to group, spending himself in good advice, and as -for example no man could have shown a better. He -fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility; -he was all smiles to everyone. If an order were given, -John would be on his crutch in an instant, with the -cheeriest "Aye, aye, sir!" in the world; and when there -was nothing else to do, he kept up one song after -another, as if to conceal the discontent of the rest. - -Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this -obvious anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst. - -We held a council in the cabin. - -"Sir," said the captain, "if I risk another order, the -whole ship'll come about our ears by the run. You see, -sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, do I not? Well, -if I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I -don't, Silver will see there's something under that, and -the game's up. Now, we've only one man to rely on." - -"And who is that?" asked the squire. - -"Silver, sir," returned the captain; "he's as anxious -as you and I to smother things up. This is a tiff; -he'd soon talk 'em out of it if he had the chance, and -what I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let's -allow the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why -we'll fight the ship. If they none of them go, well -then, we hold the cabin, and God defend the right. If -some go, you mark my words, sir, Silver'll bring 'em -aboard again as mild as lambs." - -It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to all -the sure men; Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into -our confidence and received the news with less surprise -and a better spirit than we had looked for, and then the -captain went on deck and addressed the crew. - -"My lads," said he, "we've had a hot day and are all -tired and out of sorts. A turn ashore'll hurt nobody-- -the boats are still in the water; you can take the gigs, -and as many as please may go ashore for the afternoon. -I'll fire a gun half an hour before sundown." - -I believe the silly fellows must have thought they -would break their shins over treasure as soon as they -were landed, for they all came out of their sulks in a -moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a far- -away hill and sent the birds once more flying and -squalling round the anchorage. - -The captain was too bright to be in the way. He -whipped out of sight in a moment, leaving Silver to -arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he did -so. Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as -have pretended not to understand the situation. It was -as plain as day. Silver was the captain, and a mighty -rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands--and I -was soon to see it proved that there were such on -board--must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, -I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were -disaffected by the example of the ringleaders--only -some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in -the main, could neither be led nor driven any further. -It is one thing to be idle and skulk and quite another -to take a ship and murder a number of innocent men. - -At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows -were to stay on board, and the remaining thirteen, -including Silver, began to embark. - -Then it was that there came into my head the first of -the mad notions that contributed so much to save our -lives. If six men were left by Silver, it was plain -our party could not take and fight the ship; and since -only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin -party had no present need of my assistance. It occurred -to me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over -the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest -boat, and almost at the same moment she shoved off. - -No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, "Is -that you, Jim? Keep your head down." But Silver, from -the other boat, looked sharply over and called out to -know if that were me; and from that moment I began to -regret what I had done. - -The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, -having some start and being at once the lighter and the -better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, and the -bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had -caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into -the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest were -still a hundred yards behind. - -"Jim, Jim!" I heard him shouting. - -But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, -and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose -till I could run no longer. - - - - 14 - - The First Blow - -I WAS so pleased at having given the slip to Long John -that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with -some interest on the strange land that I was in. - -I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, -bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, swampy trees; and I had -now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of -undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted -with a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, -not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the foliage, -like willows. On the far side of the open stood one of -the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining -vividly in the sun. - -I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. -The isle was uninhabited; my shipmates I had left -behind, and nothing lived in front of me but dumb -brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among -the trees. Here and there were flowering plants, -unknown to me; here and there I saw snakes, and one -raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me -with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little -did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy and that the -noise was the famous rattle. - -Then I came to a long thicket of these oaklike trees-- -live, or evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they -should be called--which grew low along the sand like -brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage -compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from -the top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and -growing taller as it went, until it reached the margin -of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest of -the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. -The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the -outline of the Spy-glass trembled through the haze. - -All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among -the bulrushes; a wild duck flew up with a quack, -another followed, and soon over the whole surface of -the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and -circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my -shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the -fen. Nor was I deceived, for soon I heard the very -distant and low tones of a human voice, which, as I -continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. - -This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover -of the nearest live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, -as silent as a mouse. - -Another voice answered, and then the first voice, which -I now recognized to be Silver's, once more took up the -story and ran on for a long while in a stream, only now -and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they -must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; -but no distinct word came to my hearing. - -At last the speakers seemed to have paused and perhaps -to have sat down, for not only did they cease to draw -any nearer, but the birds themselves began to grow more -quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp. - -And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business, -that since I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with -these desperadoes, the least I could do was to overhear -them at their councils, and that my plain and obvious duty -was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable -ambush of the crouching trees. - -I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty -exactly, not only by the sound of their voices but by -the behaviour of the few birds that still hung in alarm -above the heads of the intruders. - -Crawling on all fours, I made steadily but slowly -towards them, till at last, raising my head to an -aperture among the leaves, I could see clear down into -a little green dell beside the marsh, and closely set -about with trees, where Long John Silver and another of -the crew stood face to face in conversation. - -The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat -beside him on the ground, and his great, smooth, blond -face, all shining with heat, was lifted to the other -man's in a kind of appeal. - -"Mate," he was saying, "it's because I thinks gold dust -of you--gold dust, and you may lay to that! If I -hadn't took to you like pitch, do you think I'd have -been here a-warning of you? All's up--you can't make -nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking, -and if one of the wild uns knew it, where'd I be, Tom-- -now, tell me, where'd I be?" - -"Silver," said the other man--and I observed he was not -only red in the face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and -his voice shook too, like a taut rope--"Silver," says he, -"you're old, and you're honest, or has the name for it; -and you've money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't; -and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you tell me -you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of a mess -of swabs? Not you! As sure as God sees me, I'd sooner -lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty--" - -And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. -I had found one of the honest hands--well, here, at -that same moment, came news of another. Far away out -in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like -the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and -then one horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks of the -Spy-glass re-echoed it a score of times; the whole -troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, with -a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death yell -was still ringing in my brain, silence had re- -established its empire, and only the rustle of the -redescending birds and the boom of the distant surges -disturbed the languor of the afternoon. - -Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur, -but Silver had not winked an eye. He stood where he -was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his -companion like a snake about to spring. - -"John!" said the sailor, stretching out his hand. - -"Hands off!" cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it seemed -to me, with the speed and security of a trained gymnast. - -"Hands off, if you like, John Silver," said the other. -"It's a black conscience that can make you feared of -me. But in heaven's name, tell me, what was that?" - -"That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than -ever, his eye a mere pin-point in his big face, but -gleaming like a crumb of glass. "That? Oh, I reckon -that'll be Alan." - -And at this point Tom flashed out like a hero. - -"Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his soul for a true seaman! -And as for you, John Silver, long you've been a mate of -mine, but you're mate of mine no more. If I die like a -dog, I'll die in my dooty. You've killed Alan, have you? -Kill me too, if you can. But I defies you." - -And with that, this brave fellow turned his back -directly on the cook and set off walking for the beach. -But he was not destined to go far. With a cry John -seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of -his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurtling -through the air. It struck poor Tom, point foremost, -and with stunning violence, right between the shoulders -in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he gave -a sort of gasp, and fell. - -Whether he were injured much or little, none could ever -tell. Like enough, to judge from the sound, his back -was broken on the spot. But he had no time given him -to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey even without leg -or crutch, was on the top of him next moment and had -twice buried his knife up to the hilt in that -defenceless body. From my place of ambush, I could -hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows. - -I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know -that for the next little while the whole world swam away -from before me in a whirling mist; Silver and the birds, -and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and round and -topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing -and distant voices shouting in my ear. - -When I came again to myself the monster had pulled -himself together, his crutch under his arm, his hat -upon his head. Just before him Tom lay motionless upon -the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, -cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp -of grass. Everything else was unchanged, the sun still -shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh and the tall -pinnacle of the mountain, and I could scarce persuade -myself that murder had been actually done and a human -life cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes. - -But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought out -a whistle, and blew upon it several modulated blasts -that rang far across the heated air. I could not tell, -of course, the meaning of the signal, but it instantly -awoke my fears. More men would be coming. I might be -discovered. They had already slain two of the honest -people; after Tom and Alan, might not I come next? - -Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back -again, with what speed and silence I could manage, to -the more open portion of the wood. As I did so, I -could hear hails coming and going between the old -buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger -lent me wings. As soon as I was clear of the thicket, -I ran as I never ran before, scarce minding the -direction of my flight, so long as it led me from the -murderers; and as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me -until it turned into a kind of frenzy. - -Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I? -When the gun fired, how should I dare to go down to the -boats among those fiends, still smoking from their crime? -Would not the first of them who saw me wring my neck like -a snipe's? Would not my absence itself be an evidence -to them of my alarm, and therefore of my fatal knowledge? -It was all over, I thought. Good-bye to the HISPANIOLA; -good-bye to the squire, the doctor, and the captain! -There was nothing left for me but death by starvation -or death by the hands of the mutineers. - -All this while, as I say, I was still running, and -without taking any notice, I had drawn near to the foot -of the little hill with the two peaks and had got into -a part of the island where the live-oaks grew more -widely apart and seemed more like forest trees in their -bearing and dimensions. Mingled with these were a few -scattered pines, some fifty, some nearer seventy, feet -high. The air too smelt more freshly than down beside -the marsh. - -And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with -a thumping heart. - - - - 15 - - The Man of the Island - -FROM the side of the hill, which was here steep and -stony, a spout of gravel was dislodged and fell -rattling and bounding through the trees. My eyes -turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a -figure leap with great rapidity behind the trunk of a -pine. What it was, whether bear or man or monkey, I -could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more -I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition -brought me to a stand. - -I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind -me the murderers, before me this lurking nondescript. -And immediately I began to prefer the dangers that I -knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less -terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, -and I turned on my heel, and looking sharply behind me -over my shoulder, began to retrace my steps in the -direction of the boats. - -Instantly the figure reappeared, and making a wide -circuit, began to head me off. I was tired, at any -rate; but had I been as fresh as when I rose, I could -see it was in vain for me to contend in speed with such -an adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted -like a deer, running manlike on two legs, but unlike -any man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as -it ran. Yet a man it was, I could no longer be in -doubt about that. - -I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I was -within an ace of calling for help. But the mere fact -that he was a man, however wild, had somewhat reassured -me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in proportion. -I stood still, therefore, and cast about for some method -of escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of -my pistol flashed into my mind. As soon as I remembered -I was not defenceless, courage glowed again in my heart -and I set my face resolutely for this man of the island -and walked briskly towards him. - -He was concealed by this time behind another tree -trunk; but he must have been watching me closely, for -as soon as I began to move in his direction he -reappeared and took a step to meet me. Then he -hesitated, drew back, came forward again, and at last, -to my wonder and confusion, threw himself on his knees -and held out his clasped hands in supplication. - -At that I once more stopped. - -"Who are you?" I asked. - -"Ben Gunn," he answered, and his voice sounded hoarse and -awkward, like a rusty lock. "I'm poor Ben Gunn, I am; and -I haven't spoke with a Christian these three years." - -I could now see that he was a white man like myself and -that his features were even pleasing. His skin, -wherever it was exposed, was burnt by the sun; even his -lips were black, and his fair eyes looked quite -startling in so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men -that I had seen or fancied, he was the chief for -raggedness. He was clothed with tatters of old ship's -canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary -patchwork was all held together by a system of the most -various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, bits -of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin. About his waist -he wore an old brass-buckled leather belt, which was -the one thing solid in his whole accoutrement. - -"Three years!" I cried. "Were you shipwrecked?" - -"Nay, mate," said he; "marooned." - -I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a -horrible kind of punishment common enough among the -buccaneers, in which the offender is put ashore with a -little powder and shot and left behind on some desolate -and distant island. - -"Marooned three years agone," he continued, "and lived -on goats since then, and berries, and oysters. Wherever -a man is, says I, a man can do for himself. But, mate, -my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn't happen -to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, -many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese--toasted, -mostly--and woke up again, and here I were." - -"If ever I can get aboard again," said I, "you shall -have cheese by the stone." - -All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my -jacket, smoothing my hands, looking at my boots, and -generally, in the intervals of his speech, showing a -childish pleasure in the presence of a fellow creature. -But at my last words he perked up into a kind of -startled slyness. - -"If ever you can get aboard again, says you?" he -repeated. "Why, now, who's to hinder you?" - -"Not you, I know," was my reply. - -"And right you was," he cried. "Now you--what do you -call yourself, mate?" - -"Jim," I told him. - -"Jim, Jim," says he, quite pleased apparently. "Well, -now, Jim, I've lived that rough as you'd be ashamed to -hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn't think I had -had a pious mother--to look at me?" he asked. - -"Why, no, not in particular," I answered. - -"Ah, well," said he, "but I had--remarkable pious. And -I was a civil, pious boy, and could rattle off my -catechism that fast, as you couldn't tell one word from -another. And here's what it come to, Jim, and it begun -with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That's -what it begun with, but it went further'n that; and so -my mother told me, and predicked the whole, she did, the -pious woman! But it were Providence that put me here. -I've thought it all out in this here lonely island, and -I'm back on piety. You don't catch me tasting rum so -much, but just a thimbleful for luck, of course, the -first chance I have. I'm bound I'll be good, and I see -the way to. And, Jim"--looking all round him and lowering -his voice to a whisper--"I'm rich." - -I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy in -his solitude, and I suppose I must have shown the -feeling in my face, for he repeated the statement -hotly: "Rich! Rich! I says. And I'll tell you what: -I'll make a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you'll bless -your stars, you will, you was the first that found me!" - -And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over -his face, and he tightened his grasp upon my hand and -raised a forefinger threateningly before my eyes. - -"Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?" -he asked. - -At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe -that I had found an ally, and I answered him at once. - -"It's not Flint's ship, and Flint is dead; but I'll -tell you true, as you ask me--there are some of Flint's -hands aboard; worse luck for the rest of us." - -"Not a man--with one--leg?" he gasped. - -"Silver?" I asked. - -"Ah, Silver!" says he. "That were his name." - -"He's the cook, and the ringleader too." - -He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he -give it quite a wring. - -"If you was sent by Long John," he said, "I'm as good as -pork, and I know it. But where was you, do you suppose?" - -I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of answer -told him the whole story of our voyage and the -predicament in which we found ourselves. He heard me -with the keenest interest, and when I had done he -patted me on the head. - -"You're a good lad, Jim," he said; "and you're all in a -clove hitch, ain't you? Well, you just put your trust -in Ben Gunn--Ben Gunn's the man to do it. Would you -think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a -liberal-minded one in case of help--him being in a -clove hitch, as you remark?" - -I told him the squire was the most liberal of men. - -"Aye, but you see," returned Ben Gunn, "I didn't mean -giving me a gate to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, -and such; that's not my mark, Jim. What I mean is, -would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one -thousand pounds out of money that's as good as a man's -own already?" - -"I am sure he would," said I. "As it was, all hands -were to share." - -"AND a passage home?" he added with a look of great -shrewdness. - -"Why," I cried, "the squire's a gentleman. And -besides, if we got rid of the others, we should want -you to help work the vessel home." - -"Ah," said he, "so you would." And he seemed very much -relieved. - -"Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. "So much I'll -tell you, and no more. I were in Flint's ship when he -buried the treasure; he and six along--six strong -seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us -standing off and on in the old WALRUS. One fine -day up went the signal, and here come Flint by himself -in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. -The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked -about the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and -the six all dead--dead and buried. How he done it, not -a man aboard us could make out. It was battle, murder, -and sudden death, leastways--him against six. Billy -Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; -and they asked him where the treasure was. 'Ah,' says -he, 'you can go ashore, if you like, and stay,' he -says; 'but as for the ship, she'll beat up for more, by -thunder!' That's what he said. - -"Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we -sighted this island. 'Boys,' said I, 'here's Flint's -treasure; let's land and find it.' The cap'n was -displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind -and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every -day they had the worse word for me, until one fine -morning all hands went aboard. 'As for you, Benjamin -Gunn,' says they, 'here's a musket,' they says, 'and a -spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find -Flint's money for yourself,' they says. - -"Well, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a bite -of Christian diet from that day to this. But now, you -look here; look at me. Do I look like a man before the -mast? No, says you. Nor I weren't, neither, I says." - -And with that he winked and pinched me hard. - -"Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim," he went -on. "Nor he weren't, neither--that's the words. Three -years he were the man of this island, light and dark, fair -and rain; and sometimes he would maybe think upon a prayer -(says you), and sometimes he would maybe think of his old -mother, so be as she's alive (you'll say); but the most -part of Gunn's time (this is what you'll say)--the most -part of his time was took up with another matter. And -then you'll give him a nip, like I do." - -And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner. - -"Then," he continued, "then you'll up, and you'll say -this: Gunn is a good man (you'll say), and he puts a -precious sight more confidence--a precious sight, mind -that--in a gen'leman born than in these gen'leman of -fortune, having been one hisself." - -"Well," I said, "I don't understand one word that -you've been saying. But that's neither here nor there; -for how am I to get on board?" - -"Ah," said he, "that's the hitch, for sure. Well, -there's my boat, that I made with my two hands. I keep -her under the white rock. If the worst come to the -worst, we might try that after dark. Hi!" he broke -out. "What's that?" - -For just then, although the sun had still an hour or -two to run, all the echoes of the island awoke and -bellowed to the thunder of a cannon. - -"They have begun to fight!" I cried. "Follow me." - -And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors -all forgotten, while close at my side the marooned man -in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly. - -"Left, left," says he; "keep to your left hand, mate -Jim! Under the trees with you! Theer's where I killed -my first goat. They don't come down here now; they're -all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of -Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And there's the cetemery"-- -cemetery, he must have meant. "You see the mounds? I -come here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought -maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It weren't quite a -chapel, but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says -you, Ben Gunn was short-handed--no chapling, nor so -much as a Bible and a flag, you says." - -So he kept talking as I ran, neither expecting nor -receiving any answer. - -The cannon-shot was followed after a considerable -interval by a volley of small arms. - -Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in -front of me, I beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air -above a wood. - - - - - - PART FOUR - - The Stockade - - - - 16 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the - Ship Was Abandoned - -IT was about half past one--three bells in the sea -phrase--that the two boats went ashore from the -HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I were -talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a -breath of wind, we should have fallen on the six -mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our -cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and -to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the -news that Jim Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was -gone ashore with the rest. - -It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we -were alarmed for his safety. With the men in the -temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we -should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch -was bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the -place turned me sick; if ever a man smelt fever and -dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The -six scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in -the forecastle; ashore we could see the gigs made fast -and a man sitting in each, hard by where the river runs -in. One of them was whistling "Lillibullero." - -Waiting was a strain, and it was decided that Hunter -and I should go ashore with the jolly-boat in quest -of information. - -The gigs had leaned to their right, but Hunter and I -pulled straight in, in the direction of the stockade -upon the chart. The two who were left guarding their -boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance; "Lillibullero" -stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what -they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all -might have turned out differently; but they had their -orders, I suppose, and decided to sit quietly where -they were and hark back again to "Lillibullero." - -There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so -as to put it between us; even before we landed we had -thus lost sight of the gigs. I jumped out and came as -near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief -under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols -ready primed for safety. - -I had not gone a hundred yards when I reached the stockade. - -This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose -almost at the top of a knoll. Well, on the knoll, and -enclosing the spring, they had clapped a stout log- -house fit to hold two score of people on a pinch and -loopholed for musketry on either side. All round this -they had cleared a wide space, and then the thing was -completed by a paling six feet high, without door or -opening, too strong to pull down without time and -labour and too open to shelter the besiegers. The -people in the log-house had them in every way; they -stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like -partridges. All they wanted was a good watch and food; -for, short of a complete surprise, they might have held -the place against a regiment. - -What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For -though we had a good enough place of it in the cabin of -the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms and ammunition, -and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been -one thing overlooked--we had no water. I was thinking -this over when there came ringing over the island the -cry of a man at the point of death. I was not new to -violent death--I have served his Royal Highness the -Duke of Cumberland, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy-- -but I know my pulse went dot and carry one. "Jim -Hawkins is gone," was my first thought. - -It is something to have been an old soldier, but more -still to have been a doctor. There is no time to -dilly-dally in our work. And so now I made up my mind -instantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore -and jumped on board the jolly-boat. - -By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We made the -water fly, and the boat was soon alongside and I aboard -the schooner. - -I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire -was sitting down, as white as a sheet, thinking of the -harm he had led us to, the good soul! And one of the -six forecastle hands was little better. - -"There's a man," says Captain Smollett, nodding towards -him, "new to this work. He came nigh-hand fainting, -doctor, when he heard the cry. Another touch of the -rudder and that man would join us." - -I told my plan to the captain, and between us we -settled on the details of its accomplishment. - -We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin and -the forecastle, with three or four loaded muskets and a -mattress for protection. Hunter brought the boat round -under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work -loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of -biscuits, kegs of pork, a cask of cognac, and my -invaluable medicine chest. - -In the meantime, the squire and the captain stayed on -deck, and the latter hailed the coxswain, who was the -principal man aboard. - -"Mr. Hands," he said, "here are two of us with a brace -of pistols each. If any one of you six make a signal -of any description, that man's dead." - -They were a good deal taken aback, and after a little -consultation one and all tumbled down the fore -companion, thinking no doubt to take us on the rear. -But when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the -sparred galley, they went about ship at once, and a -head popped out again on deck. - -"Down, dog!" cries the captain. - -And the head popped back again; and we heard no more, -for the time, of these six very faint-hearted seamen. - -By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had -the jolly-boat loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I -got out through the stern-port, and we made for shore -again as fast as oars could take us. - -This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along -shore. "Lillibullero" was dropped again; and just -before we lost sight of them behind the little point, -one of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half -a mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I -feared that Silver and the others might be close at hand, -and all might very well be lost by trying for too much. - -We had soon touched land in the same place as before and -set to provision the block house. All three made the -first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our stores over -the palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them--one man, -to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets--Hunter and I -returned to the jolly-boat and loaded ourselves once more. -So we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the -whole cargo was bestowed, when the two servants took up -their position in the block house, and I, with all my power, -sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. - -That we should have risked a second boat load seems -more daring than it really was. They had the advantage -of numbers, of course, but we had the advantage of -arms. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and -before they could get within range for pistol shooting, -we flattered ourselves we should be able to give a good -account of a half-dozen at least. - -The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all -his faintness gone from him. He caught the painter and -made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat for our -very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo, -with only a musket and a cutlass apiece for the squire -and me and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the -arms and powder we dropped overboard in two fathoms and a -half of water, so that we could see the bright steel shining -far below us in the sun, on the clean, sandy bottom. - -By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the -ship was swinging round to her anchor. Voices were -heard faintly halloaing in the direction of the two -gigs; and though this reassured us for Joyce and -Hunter, who were well to the eastward, it warned our -party to be off. - -Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery and -dropped into the boat, which we then brought round to -the ship's counter, to be handier for Captain Smollett. - -"Now, men," said he, "do you hear me?" - -There was no answer from the forecastle. - -"It's to you, Abraham Gray--it's to you I am speaking." - -Still no reply. - -"Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, "I am -leaving this ship, and I order you to follow your -captain. I know you are a good man at bottom, and I -dare say not one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes -out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you -thirty seconds to join me in." - -There was a pause. - -"Come, my fine fellow," continued the captain; "don't -hang so long in stays. I'm risking my life and the -lives of these good gentlemen every second." - -There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst -Abraham Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and -came running to the captain like a dog to the whistle. - -"I'm with you, sir," said he. - -And the next moment he and the captain had dropped -aboard of us, and we had shoved off and given way. - -We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in -our stockade. - - - - 17 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's - Last Trip - -THIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the -others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a -boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five -grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and -the captain--over six feet high, was already more than -she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, -and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. -Several times we shipped a little water, and my -breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet -before we had gone a hundred yards. - -The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her -to lie a little more evenly. All the same, we were -afraid to breathe. - -In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong -rippling current running westward through the basin, -and then south'ard and seaward down the straits by -which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples -were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of -it was that we were swept out of our true course and -away from our proper landing-place behind the point. -If we let the current have its way we should come -ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear -at any moment. - -"I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir," said I -to the captain. I was steering, while he and Redruth, -two fresh men, were at the oars. "The tide keeps -washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?" - -"Not without swamping the boat," said he. "You must -bear up, sir, if you please--bear up until you see -you're gaining." - -I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping -us westward until I had laid her head due east, or just -about right angles to the way we ought to go. - -"We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I. - -"If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must -even lie it," returned the captain. "We must keep -upstream. You see, sir," he went on, "if once we dropped -to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say where we -should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by -the gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, -and then we can dodge back along the shore." - -"The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, -who was sitting in the fore-sheets; "you can ease her -off a bit." - -"Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had -happened, for we had all quietly made up our minds to -treat him like one of ourselves. - -Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his -voice was a little changed. - -"The gun!" said he. - -"I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he -was thinking of a bombardment of the fort. "They could -never get the gun ashore, and if they did, they could -never haul it through the woods." - -"Look astern, doctor," replied the captain. - -We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to -our horror, were the five rogues busy about her, -getting off her jacket, as they called the stout -tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, -but it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the -round-shot and the powder for the gun had been left -behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into -the possession of the evil ones abroad. - -"Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely. - -At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the -landing-place. By this time we had got so far out of -the run of the current that we kept steerage way even -at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could -keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was -that with the course I now held we turned our broadside -instead of our stern to the HISPANIOLA and offered -a target like a barn door. - -I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal -Israel Hands plumping down a round-shot on the deck. - -"Who's the best shot?" asked the captain. - -"Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I. - -"Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of -these men, sir? Hands, if possible," said the captain. - -Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the -priming of his gun. - -"Now," cried the captain, "easy with that gun, sir, or -you'll swamp the boat. All hands stand by to trim her -when he aims." - -The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned -over to the other side to keep the balance, and all was so -nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop. - -They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the -swivel, and Hands, who was at the muzzle with the -rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. However, -we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he -stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of -the other four who fell. - -The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions -on board but by a great number of voices from the -shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other -pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling -into their places in the boats. - -"Here come the gigs, sir," said I. - -"Give way, then," cried the captain. "We mustn't mind -if we swamp her now. If we can't get ashore, all's up." - -"Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added; -"the crew of the other most likely going round by shore -to cut us off." - -"They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain. -"Jack ashore, you know. It's not them I mind; it's the -round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's maid couldn't -miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and -we'll hold water." - -In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good -pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped but -little water in the process. We were now close in; -thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for -the ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand -below the clustering trees. The gig was no longer to -be feared; the little point had already concealed it -from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly -delayed us, was now making reparation and delaying our -assailants. The one source of danger was the gun. - -"If I durst," said the captain, "I'd stop and pick -off another man." - -But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay -their shot. They had never so much as looked at their -fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I could see -him trying to crawl away. - -"Ready!" cried the squire. - -"Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo. - -And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent -her stern bodily under water. The report fell in at the -same instant of time. This was the first that Jim heard, -the sound of the squire's shot not having reached him. -Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but -I fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind -of it may have contributed to our disaster. - -At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in -three feet of water, leaving the captain and myself, facing -each other, on our feet. The other three took complete -headers, and came up again drenched and bubbling. - -So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, -and we could wade ashore in safety. But there were all -our stores at the bottom, and to make things worse, -only two guns out of five remained in a state for -service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held -over my head, by a sort of instinct. As for the -captain, he had carried his over his shoulder by a -bandoleer, and like a wise man, lock uppermost. The -other three had gone down with the boat. - -To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing -near us in the woods along shore, and we had not only -the danger of being cut off from the stockade in our -half-crippled state but the fear before us whether, if -Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they -would have the sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter -was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a doubtful case--a -pleasant, polite man for a valet and to brush one's -clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war. - -With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as -we could, leaving behind us the poor jolly-boat and a -good half of all our powder and provisions. - - - - 18 - - Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the - First Day's Fighting - -WE made our best speed across the strip of wood that -now divided us from the stockade, and at every step we -took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. Soon we -could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking -of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket. - -I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest -and looked to my priming. - -"Captain," said I, "Trelawney is the dead shot. Give -him your gun; his own is useless." - -They exchanged guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool as -he had been since the beginning of the bustle, hung a -moment on his heel to see that all was fit for service. -At the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I -handed him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to -see him spit in his hand, knit his brows, and make the -blade sing through the air. It was plain from every -line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt. - -Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood and -saw the stockade in front of us. We struck the -enclosure about the middle of the south side, and -almost at the same time, seven mutineers--Job Anderson, -the boatswain, at their head--appeared in full cry at -the southwestern corner. - -They paused as if taken aback, and before they recovered, -not only the squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the -block house, had time to fire. The four shots came in -rather a scattering volley, but they did the business: -one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without -hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees. - -After reloading, we walked down the outside of the -palisade to see to the fallen enemy. He was stone -dead--shot through the heart. - -We began to rejoice over our good success when just at -that moment a pistol cracked in the bush, a ball -whistled close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth -stumbled and fell his length on the ground. Both the -squire and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing -to aim at, it is probable we only wasted powder. Then -we reloaded and turned our attention to poor Tom. - -The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I -saw with half an eye that all was over. - -I believe the readiness of our return volley had -scattered the mutineers once more, for we were suffered -without further molestation to get the poor old -gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade and carried, -groaning and bleeding, into the log-house. - -Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, -complaint, fear, or even acquiescence from the very -beginning of our troubles till now, when we had laid him -down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a Trojan -behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed every -order silently, doggedly, and well; he was the oldest of -our party by a score of years; and now, sullen, old, -serviceable servant, it was he that was to die. - -The squire dropped down beside him on his knees and -kissed his hand, crying like a child. - -"Be I going, doctor?" he asked. - -"Tom, my man," said I, "you're going home." - -"I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first," -he replied. - -"Tom," said the squire, "say you forgive me, won't you?" - -"Would that be respectful like, from me to you, -squire?" was the answer. "Howsoever, so be it, amen!" - -After a little while of silence, he said he thought -somebody might read a prayer. "It's the custom, sir," -he added apologetically. And not long after, without -another word, he passed away. - -In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed to be -wonderfully swollen about the chest and pockets, had -turned out a great many various stores--the British -colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, -the log-book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a -longish fir-tree lying felled and trimmed in the -enclosure, and with the help of Hunter he had set it up -at the corner of the log-house where the trunks crossed -and made an angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had -with his own hand bent and run up the colours. - -This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered the -log-house and set about counting up the stores as if -nothing else existed. But he had an eye on Tom's passage -for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward -with another flag and reverently spread it on the body. - -"Don't you take on, sir," he said, shaking the squire's -hand. "All's well with him; no fear for a hand that's -been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. It -mayn't be good divinity, but it's a fact." - -Then he pulled me aside. - -"Dr. Livesey," he said, "in how many weeks do you and -squire expect the consort?" - -I told him it was a question not of weeks but of -months, that if we were not back by the end of August -Blandly was to send to find us, but neither sooner nor -later. "You can calculate for yourself," I said. - -"Why, yes," returned the captain, scratching his head; -"and making a large allowance, sir, for all the gifts -of Providence, I should say we were pretty close hauled." - -"How do you mean?" I asked. - -"It's a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's -what I mean," replied the captain. "As for powder and -shot, we'll do. But the rations are short, very short-- -so short, Dr. Livesey, that we're perhaps as well -without that extra mouth." - -And he pointed to the dead body under the flag. - -Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot -passed high above the roof of the log-house and plumped -far beyond us in the wood. - -"Oho!" said the captain. "Blaze away! You've little -enough powder already, my lads." - -At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball -descended inside the stockade, scattering a cloud of -sand but doing no further damage. - -"Captain," said the squire, "the house is quite -invisible from the ship. It must be the flag they are -aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it in?" - -"Strike my colours!" cried the captain. "No, sir, not I"; -and as soon as he had said the words, I think we all agreed -with him. For it was not only a piece of stout, seamanly, -good feeling; it was good policy besides and showed our -enemies that we despised their cannonade. - -All through the evening they kept thundering away. -Ball after ball flew over or fell short or kicked up -the sand in the enclosure, but they had to fire so high -that the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft -sand. We had no ricochet to fear, and though one -popped in through the roof of the log-house and out -again through the floor, we soon got used to that sort -of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket. - -"There is one good thing about all this," observed the -captain; "the wood in front of us is likely clear. The -ebb has made a good while; our stores should be -uncovered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork." - -Gray and hunter were the first to come forward. Well -armed, they stole out of the stockade, but it proved a -useless mission. The mutineers were bolder than we -fancied or they put more trust in Israel's gunnery. -For four or five of them were busy carrying off our -stores and wading out with them to one of the gigs that -lay close by, pulling an oar or so to hold her steady -against the current. Silver was in the stern-sheets in -command; and every man of them was now provided with a -musket from some secret magazine of their own. - -The captain sat down to his log, and here is the -beginning of the entry: - - Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship's - doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate; John - Trelawney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, - owner's servants, landsmen--being all that is left - faithful of the ship's company--with stores for ten - days at short rations, came ashore this day and flew - British colours on the log-house in Treasure Island. - Thomas Redruth, owner's servant, landsman, shot by the - mutineers; James Hawkins, cabin-boy-- - -And at the same time, I was wondering over poor Jim -Hawkins' fate. - -A hail on the land side. - -"Somebody hailing us," said Hunter, who was on guard. - -"Doctor! Squire! Captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that -you?" came the cries. - -And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe -and sound, come climbing over the stockade. - - - - 19 - - Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison - in the Stockade - -AS soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, -stopped me by the arm, and sat down. - -"Now," said he, "there's your friends, sure enough." - -"Far more likely it's the mutineers," I answered. - -"That!" he cried. "Why, in a place like this, where -nobody puts in but gen'lemen of fortune, Silver would -fly the Jolly Roger, you don't make no doubt of that. -No, that's your friends. There's been blows too, and I -reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here -they are ashore in the old stockade, as was made years -and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a -headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were -never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y -Silver--Silver was that genteel." - -"Well," said I, "that may be so, and so be it; all the -more reason that I should hurry on and join my friends." - -"Nay, mate," returned Ben, "not you. You're a good -boy, or I'm mistook; but you're on'y a boy, all told. -Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn't bring me there, -where you're going--not rum wouldn't, till I see your -born gen'leman and gets it on his word of honour. And -you won't forget my words; 'A precious sight (that's -what you'll say), a precious sight more confidence'-- -and then nips him." - -And he pinched me the third time with the same air -of cleverness. - -"And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to find -him, Jim. Just wheer you found him today. And him -that comes is to have a white thing in his hand, and -he's to come alone. Oh! And you'll say this: 'Ben -Gunn,' says you, 'has reasons of his own.'" - -"Well," said I, "I believe I understand. You have -something to propose, and you wish to see the squire or -the doctor, and you're to be found where I found you. -Is that all?" - -"And when? says you," he added. "Why, from about noon -observation to about six bells." - -"Good," said I, "and now may I go?" - -"You won't forget?" he inquired anxiously. "Precious -sight, and reasons of his own, says you. Reasons of -his own; that's the mainstay; as between man and man. -Well, then"--still holding me--"I reckon you can go, -Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn't -go for to sell Ben Gunn? Wild horses wouldn't draw it -from you? No, says you. And if them pirates camp -ashore, Jim, what would you say but there'd be widders -in the morning?" - -Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a -cannonball came tearing through the trees and pitched -in the sand not a hundred yards from where we two were -talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his -heels in a different direction. - -For a good hour to come frequent reports shook the -island, and balls kept crashing through the woods. I -moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, always -pursued, or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying -missiles. But towards the end of the bombardment, -though still I durst not venture in the direction of -the stockade, where the balls fell oftenest, I had -begun, in a manner, to pluck up my heart again, and -after a long detour to the east, crept down among the -shore-side trees. - -The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and -tumbling in the woods and ruffling the grey surface of -the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and great -tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat -of the day, chilled me through my jacket. - -The HISPANIOLA still lay where she had anchored; but, sure -enough, there was the Jolly Roger--the black flag of piracy ---flying from her peak. Even as I looked, there came another -red flash and another report that sent the echoes clattering, -and one more round-shot whistled through the air. It was the -last of the cannonade. - -I lay for some time watching the bustle which succeeded -the attack. Men were demolishing something with axes -on the beach near the stockade--the poor jolly-boat, I -afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth of the -river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and -between that point and the ship one of the gigs kept -coming and going, the men, whom I had seen so gloomy, -shouting at the oars like children. But there was a -sound in their voices which suggested rum. - -At length I thought I might return towards the -stockade. I was pretty far down on the low, sandy spit -that encloses the anchorage to the east, and is joined -at half-water to Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to -my feet, I saw, some distance further down the spit and -rising from among low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty -high, and peculiarly white in colour. It occurred to -me that this might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn -had spoken and that some day or other a boat might be -wanted and I should know where to look for one. - -Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the -rear, or shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon -warmly welcomed by the faithful party. - -I had soon told my story and began to look about me. -The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine-- -roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several -places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the -surface of the sand. There was a porch at the door, -and under this porch the little spring welled up into -an artificial basin of a rather odd kind--no other than -a great ship's kettle of iron, with the bottom knocked -out, and sunk "to her bearings," as the captain said, -among the sand. - -Little had been left besides the framework of the -house, but in one corner there was a stone slab laid -down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron basket to -contain the fire. - -The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the -stockade had been cleared of timber to build the house, -and we could see by the stumps what a fine and lofty -grove had been destroyed. Most of the soil had been -washed away or buried in drift after the removal of the -trees; only where the streamlet ran down from the -kettle a thick bed of moss and some ferns and little -creeping bushes were still green among the sand. Very -close around the stockade--too close for defence, they -said--the wood still flourished high and dense, all of -fir on the land side, but towards the sea with a large -admixture of live-oaks. - -The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, -whistled through every chink of the rude building and -sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine sand. -There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in -our suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom -of the kettle, for all the world like porridge -beginning to boil. Our chimney was a square hole in -the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that -found its way out, and the rest eddied about the house -and kept us coughing and piping the eye. - -Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied -up in a bandage for a cut he had got in breaking away -from the mutineers and that poor old Tom Redruth, still -unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark, under -the Union Jack. - -If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have -fallen in the blues, but Captain Smollett was never the -man for that. All hands were called up before him, and -he divided us into watches. The doctor and Gray and I -for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other. -Tired though we all were, two were sent out for -firewood; two more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; -the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at the door; -and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping -up our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted. - -From time to time the doctor came to the door for a little -air and to rest his eyes, which were almost smoked out of -his head, and whenever he did so, he had a word for me. - -"That man Smollett," he said once, "is a better man -than I am. And when I say that it means a deal, Jim." - -Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then -he put his head on one side, and looked at me. - -"Is this Ben Gunn a man?" he asked. - -"I do not know, sir," said I. "I am not very sure -whether he's sane." - -"If there's any doubt about the matter, he is," returned -the doctor. "A man who has been three years biting his -nails on a desert island, Jim, can't expect to appear as -sane as you or me. It doesn't lie in human nature. Was -it cheese you said he had a fancy for?" - -"Yes, sir, cheese," I answered. - -"Well, Jim," says he, "just see the good that comes of -being dainty in your food. You've seen my snuff-box, -haven't you? And you never saw me take snuff, the -reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of -Parmesan cheese--a cheese made in Italy, very -nutritious. Well, that's for Ben Gunn!" - -Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the sand -and stood round him for a while bare-headed in the -breeze. A good deal of firewood had been got in, but -not enough for the captain's fancy, and he shook his -head over it and told us we "must get back to this -tomorrow rather livelier." Then, when we had eaten our -pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, -the three chiefs got together in a corner to discuss -our prospects. - -It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the -stores being so low that we must have been starved into -surrender long before help came. But our best hope, it -was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they -either hauled down their flag or ran away with the -HISPANIOLA. From nineteen they were already reduced -to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one at least-- -the man shot beside the gun--severely wounded, if he -were not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we -were to take it, saving our own lives, with the -extremest care. And besides that, we had two able -allies--rum and the climate. - -As for the first, though we were about half a mile -away, we could hear them roaring and singing late into -the night; and as for the second, the doctor staked his -wig that, camped where they were in the marsh and -unprovided with remedies, the half of them would be on -their backs before a week. - -"So," he added, "if we are not all shot down first they'll -be glad to be packing in the schooner. It's always a ship, -and they can get to buccaneering again, I suppose." - -"First ship that ever I lost," said Captain Smollett. - -I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got to -sleep, which was not till after a great deal of -tossing, I slept like a log of wood. - -The rest had long been up and had already breakfasted and -increased the pile of firewood by about half as much again -when I was wakened by a bustle and the sound of voices. - -"Flag of truce!" I heard someone say; and then, immediately -after, with a cry of surprise, "Silver himself!" - -And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a -loophole in the wall. - - - - 20 - - Silver's Embassy - -SURE enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, -one of them waving a white cloth, the other, no less a -person than Silver himself, standing placidly by. - -It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that -I think I ever was abroad in--a chill that pierced into -the marrow. The sky was bright and cloudless overhead, -and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. But -where Silver stood with his lieutenant, all was still -in shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white -vapour that had crawled during the night out of the -morass. The chill and the vapour taken together told a -poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, -feverish, unhealthy spot. - -"Keep indoors, men," said the captain. "Ten to one -this is a trick." - -Then he hailed the buccaneer. - -"Who goes? Stand, or we fire." - -"Flag of truce," cried Silver. - -The captain was in the porch, keeping himself carefully -out of the way of a treacherous shot, should any be -intended. He turned and spoke to us, "Doctor's watch -on the lookout. Dr. Livesey take the north side, if -you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west. The watch below, -all hands to load muskets. Lively, men, and careful." - -And then he turned again to the mutineers. - -"And what do you want with your flag of truce?" he cried. - -This time it was the other man who replied. - -"Cap'n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms," -he shouted. - -"Cap'n Silver! Don't know him. Who's he?" cried the -captain. And we could hear him adding to himself, -"Cap'n, is it? My heart, and here's promotion!" - -Long John answered for himself. "Me, sir. These poor -lads have chosen me cap'n, after your desertion, sir"-- -laying a particular emphasis upon the word "desertion." -"We're willing to submit, if we can come to terms, and -no bones about it. All I ask is your word, Cap'n -Smollett, to let me safe and sound out of this here -stockade, and one minute to get out o' shot before a -gun is fired." - -"My man," said Captain Smollett, "I have not the slightest -desire to talk to you. If you wish to talk to me, you can -come, that's all. If there's any treachery, it'll be on -your side, and the Lord help you." - -"That's enough, cap'n," shouted Long John cheerily. "A -word from you's enough. I know a gentleman, and you -may lay to that." - -We could see the man who carried the flag of truce -attempting to hold Silver back. Nor was that -wonderful, seeing how cavalier had been the captain's -answer. But Silver laughed at him aloud and slapped -him on the back as if the idea of alarm had been -absurd. Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over -his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and -skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping -safely to the other side. - -I will confess that I was far too much taken up with -what was going on to be of the slightest use as sentry; -indeed, I had already deserted my eastern loophole and -crept up behind the captain, who had now seated himself -on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his -head in his hands, and his eyes fixed on the water as -it bubbled out of the old iron kettle in the sand. He -was whistling "Come, Lasses and Lads." - -Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll. -What with the steepness of the incline, the thick tree -stumps, and the soft sand, he and his crutch were as -helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a -man in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, -whom he saluted in the handsomest style. He was -tricked out in his best; an immense blue coat, thick -with brass buttons, hung as low as to his knees, and a -fine laced hat was set on the back of his head. - -"Here you are, my man," said the captain, raising his -head. "You had better sit down." - -"You ain't a-going to let me inside, cap'n?" complained -Long John. "It's a main cold morning, to be sure, sir, -to sit outside upon the sand." - -"Why, Silver," said the captain, "if you had pleased to -be an honest man, you might have been sitting in your -galley. It's your own doing. You're either my ship's -cook--and then you were treated handsome--or Cap'n Silver, -a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!" - -"Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, sitting -down as he was bidden on the sand, "you'll have to give -me a hand up again, that's all. A sweet pretty place -you have of it here. Ah, there's Jim! The top of the -morning to you, Jim. Doctor, here's my service. Why, -there you all are together like a happy family, in a -manner of speaking." - -"If you have anything to say, my man, better say it," -said the captain. - -"Right you were, Cap'n Smollett," replied Silver. -"Dooty is dooty, to be sure. Well now, you look here, -that was a good lay of yours last night. I don't deny -it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a -handspike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some -of my people was shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I -was shook myself; maybe that's why I'm here for terms. -But you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by thunder! -We'll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so -on the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the -wind's eye. But I'll tell you I was sober; I was on'y -dog tired; and if I'd awoke a second sooner, I'd 'a -caught you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I -got round to him, not he." - -"Well?" says Captain Smollett as cool as can be. - -All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would -never have guessed it from his tone. As for me, I -began to have an inkling. Ben Gunn's last words came -back to my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid -the buccaneers a visit while they all lay drunk -together round their fire, and I reckoned up with glee -that we had only fourteen enemies to deal with. - -"Well, here it is," said Silver. "We want that -treasure, and we'll have it--that's our point! You -would just as soon save your lives, I reckon; and -that's yours. You have a chart, haven't you?" - -"That's as may be," replied the captain. - -"Oh, well, you have, I know that," returned Long John. -"You needn't be so husky with a man; there ain't a -particle of service in that, and you may lay to it. -What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never meant -you no harm, myself." - -"That won't do with me, my man," interrupted the -captain. "We know exactly what you meant to do, and we -don't care, for now, you see, you can't do it." - -And the captain looked at him calmly and proceeded -to fill a pipe. - -"If Abe Gray--" Silver broke out. - -"Avast there!" cried Mr. Smollett. "Gray told me -nothing, and I asked him nothing; and what's more, I -would see you and him and this whole island blown clean -out of the water into blazes first. So there's my mind -for you, my man, on that." - -This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. -He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled -himself together. - -"Like enough," said he. "I would set no limits to what -gentlemen might consider shipshape, or might not, as -the case were. And seein' as how you are about to take -a pipe, cap'n, I'll make so free as do likewise." - -And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat -silently smoking for quite a while, now looking each other -in the face, now stopping their tobacco, now leaning forward -to spit. It was as good as the play to see them. - -"Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the -chart to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor -seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You -do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come -aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then -I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to -clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or if that ain't to -your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having old -scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, -you can. We'll divide stores with you, man for man; -and I'll give my affy-davy, as before to speak the -first ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you up. -Now, you'll own that's talking. Handsomer you couldn't -look to get, now you. And I hope"--raising his voice-- -"that all hands in this here block house will overhaul -my words, for what is spoke to one is spoke to all." - -Captain Smollett rose from his seat and knocked out the -ashes of his pipe in the palm of his left hand. - -"Is that all?" he asked. - -"Every last word, by thunder!" answered John. "Refuse -that, and you've seen the last of me but musket-balls." - -"Very good," said the captain. "Now you'll hear me. -If you'll come up one by one, unarmed, I'll engage to -clap you all in irons and take you home to a fair trial -in England. If you won't, my name is Alexander -Smollett, I've flown my sovereign's colours, and I'll -see you all to Davy Jones. You can't find the -treasure. You can't sail the ship--there's not a man -among you fit to sail the ship. You can't fight us-- -Gray, there, got away from five of you. Your ship's in -irons, Master Silver; you're on a lee shore, and so -you'll find. I stand here and tell you so; and they're -the last good words you'll get from me, for in the name -of heaven, I'll put a bullet in your back when next I -meet you. Tramp, my lad. Bundle out of this, please, -hand over hand, and double quick." - -Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his -head with wrath. He shook the fire out of his pipe. - -"Give me a hand up!" he cried. - -"Not I," returned the captain. - -"Who'll give me a hand up?" he roared. - -Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest -imprecations, he crawled along the sand till he got -hold of the porch and could hoist himself again upon -his crutch. Then he spat into the spring. - -"There!" he cried. "That's what I think of ye. Before -an hour's out, I'll stove in your old block house like -a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before an -hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them that -die'll be the lucky ones." - -And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down -the sand, was helped across the stockade, after four or -five failures, by the man with the flag of truce, and -disappeared in an instant afterwards among the trees. - - - - 21 - - The Attack - -AS soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had -been closely watching him, turned towards the interior -of the house and found not a man of us at his post but -Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry. - -"Quarters!" he roared. And then, as we all slunk back -to our places, "Gray," he said, "I'll put your name in -the log; you've stood by your duty like a seaman. Mr. -Trelawney, I'm surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I thought -you had worn the king's coat! If that was how you served -at Fontenoy, sir, you'd have been better in your berth." - -The doctor's watch were all back at their loopholes, -the rest were busy loading the spare muskets, and -everyone with a red face, you may be certain, and a -flea in his ear, as the saying is. - -The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then -he spoke. - -"My lads," said he, "I've given Silver a broadside. I -pitched it in red-hot on purpose; and before the hour's -out, as he said, we shall be boarded. We're -outnumbered, I needn't tell you that, but we fight in -shelter; and a minute ago I should have said we fought -with discipline. I've no manner of doubt that we can -drub them, if you choose." - -Then he went the rounds and saw, as he said, that all -was clear. - -On the two short sides of the house, east and west, -there were only two loopholes; on the south side where -the porch was, two again; and on the north side, five. -There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; -the firewood had been built into four piles--tables, -you might say--one about the middle of each side, and -on each of these tables some ammunition and four loaded -muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders. -In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged. - -"Toss out the fire," said the captain; "the chill is -past, and we mustn't have smoke in our eyes." - -The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr. -Trelawney, and the embers smothered among sand. - -"Hawkins hasn't had his breakfast. Hawkins, help -yourself, and back to your post to eat it," continued -Captain Smollett. "Lively, now, my lad; you'll want it -before you've done. Hunter, serve out a round of -brandy to all hands." - -And while this was going on, the captain completed, in -his own mind, the plan of the defence. - -"Doctor, you will take the door," he resumed. "See, -and don't expose yourself; keep within, and fire -through the porch. Hunter, take the east side, there. -Joyce, you stand by the west, my man. Mr. Trelawney, -you are the best shot--you and Gray will take this long -north side, with the five loopholes; it's there the -danger is. If they can get up to it and fire in upon -us through our own ports, things would begin to look -dirty. Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at -the shooting; we'll stand by to load and bear a hand." - -As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon as -the sun had climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell -with all its force upon the clearing and drank up the -vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking and the -resin melting in the logs of the block house. Jackets -and coats were flung aside, shirts thrown open at the -neck and rolled up to the shoulders; and we stood there, -each at his post, in a fever of heat and anxiety. - -An hour passed away. - -"Hang them!" said the captain. "This is as dull as the -doldrums. Gray, whistle for a wind." - -And just at that moment came the first news of the attack. - -"If you please, sir," said Joyce, "if I see anyone, am -I to fire?" - -"I told you so!" cried the captain. - -"Thank you, sir," returned Joyce with the same quiet civility. - -Nothing followed for a time, but the remark had set us -all on the alert, straining ears and eyes--the -musketeers with their pieces balanced in their hands, -the captain out in the middle of the block house with -his mouth very tight and a frown on his face. - -So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped up -his musket and fired. The report had scarcely died -away ere it was repeated and repeated from without in a -scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of -geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several -bullets struck the log-house, but not one entered; and -as the smoke cleared away and vanished, the stockade -and the woods around it looked as quiet and empty as -before. Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket- -barrel betrayed the presence of our foes. - -"Did you hit your man?" asked the captain. - -"No, sir," replied Joyce. "I believe not, sir." - -"Next best thing to tell the truth," muttered Captain -Smollett. "Load his gun, Hawkins. How many should say -there were on your side, doctor?" - -"I know precisely," said Dr. Livesey. "Three shots -were fired on this side. I saw the three flashes--two -close together--one farther to the west." - -"Three!" repeated the captain. "And how many on yours, -Mr. Trelawney?" - -But this was not so easily answered. There had come -many from the north--seven by the squire's computation, -eight or nine according to Gray. From the east and -west only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, -therefore, that the attack would be developed from the -north and that on the other three sides we were only to -be annoyed by a show of hostilities. But Captain -Smollett made no change in his arrangements. If the -mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, -they would take possession of any unprotected loophole -and shoot us down like rats in our own stronghold. - -Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, -with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from -the woods on the north side and ran straight on the stockade. -At the same moment, the fire was once more opened from the -woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked -the doctor's musket into bits. - -The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. -Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men -fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the -outside. But of these, one was evidently more -frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a -crack and instantly disappeared among the trees. - -Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good -their footing inside our defences, while from the -shelter of the woods seven or eight men, each evidently -supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot though -useless fire on the log-house. - -The four who had boarded made straight before them for -the building, shouting as they ran, and the men among -the trees shouted back to encourage them. Several shots -were fired, but such was the hurry of the marksmen that -not one appears to have taken effect. In a moment, the -four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us. - -The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at -the middle loophole. - -"At 'em, all hands--all hands!" he roared in a voice -of thunder. - -At the same moment, another pirate grasped Hunter's -musket by the muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, -plucked it through the loophole, and with one stunning -blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor. -Meanwhile a third, running unharmed all around the -house, appeared suddenly in the doorway and fell with -his cutlass on the doctor. - -Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since we -were firing, under cover, at an exposed enemy; now it -was we who lay uncovered and could not return a blow. - -The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our -comparative safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes -and reports of pistol-shots, and one loud groan rang -in my ears. - -"Out, lads, out, and fight 'em in the open! -Cutlasses!" cried the captain. - -I snatched a cutlass from the pile, and someone, at the -same time snatching another, gave me a cut across the -knuckles which I hardly felt. I dashed out of the door -into the clear sunlight. Someone was close behind, I -knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pursuing -his assailant down the hill, and just as my eyes fell -upon him, beat down his guard and sent him sprawling on -his back with a great slash across the face. - -"Round the house, lads! Round the house!" cried the -captain; and even in the hurly-burly, I perceived a -change in his voice. - -Mechanically, I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with my -cutlass raised, ran round the corner of the house. -Next moment I was face to face with Anderson. He -roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head, -flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, -but as the blow still hung impending, leaped in a trice -upon one side, and missing my foot in the soft sand, -rolled headlong down the slope. - -When I had first sallied from the door, the other -mutineers had been already swarming up the palisade to -make an end of us. One man, in a red night-cap, with -his cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and -thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the -interval that when I found my feet again all was in the -same posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still -half-way over, another still just showing his head -above the top of the stockade. And yet, in this breath -of time, the fight was over and the victory was ours. - -Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big -boatswain ere he had time to recover from his last -blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in the very -act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the -pistol still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had -seen, the doctor had disposed of at a blow. Of the -four who had scaled the palisade, one only remained -unaccounted for, and he, having left his cutlass on the -field, was now clambering out again with the fear of -death upon him. - -"Fire--fire from the house!" cried the doctor. "And -you, lads, back into cover." - -But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and the -last boarder made good his escape and disappeared with -the rest into the wood. In three seconds nothing -remained of the attacking party but the five who had -fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of -the palisade. - -The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter. -The survivors would soon be back where they had left -their muskets, and at any moment the fire might recommence. - -The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke, -and we saw at a glance the price we had paid for -victory. Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunned; -Joyce by his, shot through the head, never to move -again; while right in the centre, the squire was -supporting the captain, one as pale as the other. - -"The captain's wounded," said Mr. Trelawney. - -"Have they run?" asked Mr. Smollett. - -"All that could, you may be bound," returned the doctor; -"but there's five of them will never run again." - -"Five!" cried the captain. "Come, that's better. Five -against three leaves us four to nine. That's better -odds than we had at starting. We were seven to nineteen -then, or thought we were, and that's as bad to bear."* - -*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the -man shot by Mr. Trelawney on board the schooner died -that same evening of his wound. But this was, of -course, not known till after by the faithful party. - - - - - - PART FIVE - - My Sea Adventure - - - - 22 - - How My Sea Adventure Began - -THERE was no return of the mutineers--not so much as -another shot out of the woods. They had "got their -rations for that day," as the captain put it, and we -had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul -the wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked -outside in spite of the danger, and even outside we -could hardly tell what we were at, for horror of the -loud groans that reached us from the doctor's patients. - -Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only -three still breathed--that one of the pirates who had -been shot at the loophole, Hunter, and Captain -Smollett; and of these, the first two were as good as -dead; the mutineer indeed died under the doctor's -knife, and Hunter, do what we could, never recovered -consciousness in this world. He lingered all day, -breathing loudly like the old buccaneer at home in his -apoplectic fit, but the bones of his chest had been -crushed by the blow and his skull fractured in falling, -and some time in the following night, without sign or -sound, he went to his Maker. - -As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed, -but not dangerous. No organ was fatally injured. -Anderson's ball--for it was Job that shot him first-- -had broken his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not -badly; the second had only torn and displaced some -muscles in the calf. He was sure to recover, the -doctor said, but in the meantime, and for weeks to -come, he must not walk nor move his arm, nor so much as -speak when he could help it. - -My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea- -bite. Doctor Livesey patched it up with plaster and -pulled my ears for me into the bargain. - -After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by the -captain's side awhile in consultation; and when they -had talked to their hearts' content, it being then a -little past noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, -girt on a cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with -a musket over his shoulder crossed the palisade on the -north side and set off briskly through the trees. - -Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the -block house, to be out of earshot of our officers -consulting; and Gray took his pipe out of his mouth and -fairly forgot to put it back again, so thunder-struck -he was at this occurrence. - -"Why, in the name of Davy Jones," said he, "is Dr. -Livesey mad?" - -"Why no," says I. "He's about the last of this crew -for that, I take it." - -"Well, shipmate," said Gray, "mad he may not be; but if -HE'S not, you mark my words, I am." - -"I take it," replied I, "the doctor has his idea; and -if I am right, he's going now to see Ben Gunn." - -I was right, as appeared later; but in the meantime, -the house being stifling hot and the little patch of -sand inside the palisade ablaze with midday sun, I -began to get another thought into my head, which was -not by any means so right. What I began to do was to -envy the doctor walking in the cool shadow of the woods -with the birds about him and the pleasant smell of the -pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes stuck to -the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many -poor dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust -of the place that was almost as strong as fear. - -All the time I was washing out the block house, and -then washing up the things from dinner, this disgust -and envy kept growing stronger and stronger, till at -last, being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing -me, I took the first step towards my escapade and -filled both pockets of my coat with biscuit. - -I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to -do a foolish, over-bold act; but I was determined to do -it with all the precautions in my power. These -biscuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at -least, from starving till far on in the next day. - -The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, -and as I already had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt -myself well supplied with arms. - -As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad -one in itself. I was to go down the sandy spit that -divides the anchorage on the east from the open sea, -find the white rock I had observed last evening, and -ascertain whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had -hidden his boat, a thing quite worth doing, as I still -believe. But as I was certain I should not be allowed -to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take French -leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that -was so bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself -wrong. But I was only a boy, and I had made my mind up. - -Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable -opportunity. The squire and Gray were busy helping the -captain with his bandages, the coast was clear, I made -a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest -of the trees, and before my absence was observed I was -out of cry of my companions. - -This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as -I left but two sound men to guard the house; but like -the first, it was a help towards saving all of us. - -I took my way straight for the east coast of the -island, for I was determined to go down the sea side of -the spit to avoid all chance of observation from the -anchorage. It was already late in the afternoon, -although still warm and sunny. As I continued to -thread the tall woods, I could hear from far before me -not only the continuous thunder of the surf, but a -certain tossing of foliage and grinding of boughs which -showed me the sea breeze had set in higher than usual. -Soon cool draughts of air began to reach me, and a few -steps farther I came forth into the open borders of the -grove, and saw the sea lying blue and sunny to the -horizon and the surf tumbling and tossing its foam -along the beach. - -I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island. -The sun might blaze overhead, the air be without a -breath, the surface smooth and blue, but still these -great rollers would be running along all the external -coast, thundering and thundering by day and night; and -I scarce believe there is one spot in the island where -a man would be out of earshot of their noise. - -I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment, -till, thinking I was now got far enough to the south, I -took the cover of some thick bushes and crept warily up -to the ridge of the spit. - -Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The sea -breeze, as though it had the sooner blown itself out by -its unusual violence, was already at an end; it had -been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south and -south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the anchorage, -under lee of Skeleton Island, lay still and leaden as when -first we entered it. The HISPANIOLA, in that unbroken -mirror, was exactly portrayed from the truck to the -waterline, the Jolly Roger hanging from her peak. - -Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern- -sheets--him I could always recognize--while a couple of -men were leaning over the stern bulwarks, one of them -with a red cap--the very rogue that I had seen some -hours before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently -they were talking and laughing, though at that -distance--upwards of a mile--I could, of course, hear -no word of what was said. All at once there began the -most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first -startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the -voice of Captain Flint and even thought I could make -out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched -upon her master's wrist. - -Soon after, the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for -shore, and the man with the red cap and his comrade -went below by the cabin companion. - -Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind -the Spy-glass, and as the fog was collecting rapidly, -it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw I must lose no -time if I were to find the boat that evening. - -The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was -still some eighth of a mile further down the spit, and -it took me a goodish while to get up with it, crawling, -often on all fours, among the scrub. Night had almost -come when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right -below it there was an exceedingly small hollow of green -turf, hidden by banks and a thick underwood about knee- -deep, that grew there very plentifully; and in the centre -of the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goat- skins, -like what the gipsies carry about with them in England. - -I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent, -and there was Ben Gunn's boat--home-made if ever -anything was home-made; a rude, lop-sided framework of -tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of goat- -skin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely -small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it -could have floated with a full-sized man. There was -one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher -in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion. - -I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons -made, but I have seen one since, and I can give you no -fairer idea of Ben Gunn's boat than by saying it was like -the first and the worst coracle ever made by man. But the -great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for -it was exceedingly light and portable. - -Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have -thought I had had enough of truantry for once, but in -the meantime I had taken another notion and become so -obstinately fond of it that I would have carried it -out, I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett -himself. This was to slip out under cover of the -night, cut the HISPANIOLA adrift, and let her go -ashore where she fancied. I had quite made up my mind -that the mutineers, after their repulse of the morning, -had nothing nearer their hearts than to up anchor and -away to sea; this, I thought, it would be a fine thing -to prevent, and now that I had seen how they left their -watchmen unprovided with a boat, I thought it might be -done with little risk. - -Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal -of biscuit. It was a night out of ten thousand for my -purpose. The fog had now buried all heaven. As the -last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, absolute -blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And when, -at last, I shouldered the coracle and groped my way -stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped, there -were but two points visible on the whole anchorage. - -One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated -pirates lay carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere -blur of light upon the darkness, indicated the position -of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the ebb-- -her bow was now towards me--the only lights on board -were in the cabin, and what I saw was merely a -reflection on the fog of the strong rays that flowed -from the stern window. - -The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade -through a long belt of swampy sand, where I sank -several times above the ankle, before I came to the -edge of the retreating water, and wading a little way -in, with some strength and dexterity, set my coracle, -keel downwards, on the surface. - - - - 23 - - The Ebb-tide Runs - -THE coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was -done with her--was a very safe boat for a person of my -height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a sea- -way; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided -craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made -more leeway than anything else, and turning round and -round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben Gunn -himself has admitted that she was "queer to handle till -you knew her way." - -Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every -direction but the one I was bound to go; the most part -of the time we were broadside on, and I am very sure I -never should have made the ship at all but for the -tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide -was still sweeping me down; and there lay the -HISPANIOLA right in the fairway, hardly to be missed. - -First she loomed before me like a blot of something yet -blacker than darkness, then her spars and hull began to -take shape, and the next moment, as it seemed (for, the -farther I went, the brisker grew the current of the -ebb), I was alongside of her hawser and had laid hold. - -The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current -so strong she pulled upon her anchor. All round the -hull, in the blackness, the rippling current bubbled -and chattered like a little mountain stream. One cut -with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go -humming down the tide. - -So far so good, but it next occurred to my recollection -that a taut hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous -as a kicking horse. Ten to one, if I were so foolhardy -as to cut the HISPANIOLA from her anchor, I and the coracle -would be knocked clean out of the water. - -This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not -again particularly favoured me, I should have had to -abandon my design. But the light airs which had begun -blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round -after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was -meditating, a puff came, caught the HISPANIOLA, and -forced her up into the current; and to my great joy, I -felt the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by -which I held it dip for a second under water. - -With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened -it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another, -till the vessel swung only by two. Then I lay quiet, -waiting to sever these last when the strain should be -once more lightened by a breath of wind. - -All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices from -the cabin, but to say truth, my mind had been so -entirely taken up with other thoughts that I had -scarcely given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing -else to do, I began to pay more heed. - -One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands, that -had been Flint's gunner in former days. The other was, -of course, my friend of the red night-cap. Both men -were plainly the worse of drink, and they were still -drinking, for even while I was listening, one of them, -with a drunken cry, opened the stern window and threw -out something, which I divined to be an empty bottle. -But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they -were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and -every now and then there came forth such an explosion -as I thought was sure to end in blows. But each time -the quarrel passed off and the voices grumbled lower -for a while, until the next crisis came and in its turn -passed away without result. - -On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp-fire -burning warmly through the shore-side trees. Someone -was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor's song, with a -droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and -seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the -singer. I had heard it on the voyage more than once -and remembered these words: - - "But one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five." - -And I thought it was a ditty rather too dolefully -appropriate for a company that had met such cruel -losses in the morning. But, indeed, from what I saw, -all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they -sailed on. - -At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew -nearer in the dark; I felt the hawser slacken once -more, and with a good, tough effort, cut the last -fibres through. - -The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I -was almost instantly swept against the bows of the -HISPANIOLA. At the same time, the schooner began to -turn upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, -across the current. - -I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment to -be swamped; and since I found I could not push the -coracle directly off, I now shoved straight astern. At -length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just -as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a -light cord that was trailing overboard across the stern -bulwarks. Instantly I grasped it. - -Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was at -first mere instinct, but once I had it in my hands and -found it fast, curiosity began to get the upper hand, -and I determined I should have one look through the -cabin window. - -I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I -judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to -about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a -slice of the interior of the cabin. - -By this time the schooner and her little consort were -gliding pretty swiftly through the water; indeed, we had -already fetched up level with the camp-fire. The ship was -talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable -ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got -my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the -watchmen had taken no alarm. One glance, however, was sufficient; -and it was only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady -skiff. It showed me Hands and his companion locked together in -deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other's throat. - -I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for I -was near overboard. I could see nothing for the moment -but these two furious, encrimsoned faces swaying -together under the smoky lamp, and I shut my eyes to -let them grow once more familiar with the darkness. - -The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the -whole diminished company about the camp-fire had broken -into the chorus I had heard so often: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! - Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were -at that very moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, -when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of the coracle. -At the same moment, she yawed sharply and seemed to -change her course. The speed in the meantime had -strangely increased. - -I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little -ripples, combing over with a sharp, bristling sound and -slightly phosphorescent. The HISPANIOLA herself, a -few yards in whose wake I was still being whirled -along, seemed to stagger in her course, and I saw her -spars toss a little against the blackness of the night; -nay, as I looked longer, I made sure she also was -wheeling to the southward. - -I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped against -my ribs. There, right behind me, was the glow of the -camp-fire. The current had turned at right angles, -sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the -little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling -higher, ever muttering louder, it went spinning through -the narrows for the open sea. - -Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent -yaw, turning, perhaps, through twenty degrees; and -almost at the same moment one shout followed another -from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the -companion ladder and I knew that the two drunkards had -at last been interrupted in their quarrel and awakened -to a sense of their disaster. - -I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff and -devoutly recommended my spirit to its Maker. At the end -of the straits, I made sure we must fall into some bar -of raging breakers, where all my troubles would be ended -speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear to die, I could -not bear to look upon my fate as it approached. - -So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to -and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with -flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the -next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a -numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind even -in the midst of my terrors, until sleep at last -supervened and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay and -dreamed of home and the old Admiral Benbow. - - - - 24 - - The Cruise of the Coracle - -IT was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing -at the south-west end of Treasure Island. The sun was -up but was still hid from me behind the great bulk of -the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to -the sea in formidable cliffs. - -Haulbowline Head and Mizzen-mast Hill were at my elbow, -the hill bare and dark, the head bound with cliffs forty -or fifty feet high and fringed with great masses of fallen -rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile to seaward, and it -was my first thought to paddle in and land. - -That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen -rocks the breakers spouted and bellowed; loud -reverberations, heavy sprays flying and falling, -succeeded one another from second to second; and I saw -myself, if I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the -rough shore or spending my strength in vain to scale -the beetling crags. - -Nor was that all, for crawling together on flat tables of -rock or letting themselves drop into the sea with loud -reports I beheld huge slimy monsters--soft snails, as it -were, of incredible bigness--two or three score of them -together, making the rocks to echo with their barkings. - -I have understood since that they were sea lions, and -entirely harmless. But the look of them, added to the -difficulty of the shore and the high running of the -surf, was more than enough to disgust me of that -landing-place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea -than to confront such perils. - -In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed, -before me. North of Haulbowline Head, the land runs in -a long way, leaving at low tide a long stretch of -yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes -another cape--Cape of the Woods, as it was marked upon -the chart--buried in tall green pines, which descended -to the margin of the sea. - -I remembered what Silver had said about the current that -sets northward along the whole west coast of Treasure -Island, and seeing from my position that I was already -under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline -Head behind me and reserve my strength for an attempt to -land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods. - -There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The wind -blowing steady and gentle from the south, there was no -contrariety between that and the current, and the -billows rose and fell unbroken. - -Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished; -but as it was, it is surprising how easily and securely -my little and light boat could ride. Often, as I still -lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above -the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving -close above me; yet the coracle would but bounce a -little, dance as if on springs, and subside on the -other side into the trough as lightly as a bird. - -I began after a little to grow very bold and sat up to -try my skill at paddling. But even a small change in -the disposition of the weight will produce violent changes -in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly moved -before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing -movement, ran straight down a slope of water so steep -that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a spout -of spray, deep into the side of the next wave. - -I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back -into my old position, whereupon the coracle seemed to -find her head again and led me as softly as before -among the billows. It was plain she was not to be -interfered with, and at that rate, since I could in no -way influence her course, what hope had I left of -reaching land? - -I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head, for -all that. First, moving with all care, I gradually baled -out the coracle with my sea-cap; then, getting my eye once -more above the gunwale, I set myself to study how it was -she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers. - -I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy -mountain it looks from shore or from a vessel's deck, -was for all the world like any range of hills on dry -land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The -coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, -threaded, so to speak, her way through these lower -parts and avoided the steep slopes and higher, toppling -summits of the wave. - -"Well, now," thought I to myself, "it is plain I must -lie where I am and not disturb the balance; but it is -plain also that I can put the paddle over the side and -from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove -or two towards land." No sooner thought upon than -done. There I lay on my elbows in the most trying -attitude, and every now and again gave a weak stroke or -two to turn her head to shore. - -It was very tiring and slow work, yet I did visibly -gain ground; and as we drew near the Cape of the Woods, -though I saw I must infallibly miss that point, I had -still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, -indeed, close in. I could see the cool green tree-tops -swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I -should make the next promontory without fail. - -It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with -thirst. The glow of the sun from above, its -thousandfold reflection from the waves, the sea-water -that fell and dried upon me, caking my very lips with -salt, combined to make my throat burn and my brain -ache. The sight of the trees so near at hand had -almost made me sick with longing, but the current had -soon carried me past the point, and as the next reach -of sea opened out, I beheld a sight that changed the -nature of my thoughts. - -Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld -the HISPANIOLA under sail. I made sure, of course, -that I should be taken; but I was so distressed for -want of water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or -sorry at the thought, and long before I had come to a -conclusion, surprise had taken entire possession of my -mind and I could do nothing but stare and wonder. - -The HISPANIOLA was under her main-sail and two -jibs, and the beautiful white canvas shone in the sun -like snow or silver. When I first sighted her, all her -sails were drawing; she was lying a course about north- -west, and I presumed the men on board were going round -the island on their way back to the anchorage. -Presently she began to fetch more and more to the -westward, so that I thought they had sighted me and -were going about in chase. At last, however, she fell -right into the wind's eye, was taken dead aback, and -stood there awhile helpless, with her sails shivering. - -"Clumsy fellows," said I; "they must still be drunk as -owls." And I thought how Captain Smollett would have -set them skipping. - -Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off and filled -again upon another tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or -so, and brought up once more dead in the wind's eye. -Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and -down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA -sailed by swoops and dashes, and at each repetition -ended as she had begun, with idly flapping canvas. It -became plain to me that nobody was steering. And if -so, where were the men? Either they were dead drunk or -had deserted her, I thought, and perhaps if I could get -on board I might return the vessel to her captain. - -The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward -at an equal rate. As for the latter's sailing, it was -so wild and intermittent, and she hung each time so -long in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if -she did not even lose. If only I dared to sit up and -paddle, I made sure that I could overhaul her. The -scheme had an air of adventure that inspired me, and -the thought of the water breaker beside the fore -companion doubled my growing courage. - -Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another -cloud of spray, but this time stuck to my purpose and -set myself, with all my strength and caution, to paddle -after the unsteered HISPANIOLA. Once I shipped a -sea so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart -fluttering like a bird, but gradually I got into the -way of the thing and guided my coracle among the waves, -with only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash -of foam in my face. - -I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see -the brass glisten on the tiller as it banged about, and -still no soul appeared upon her decks. I could not -choose but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men -were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, -perhaps, and do what I chose with the ship. - -For some time she had been doing the worse thing -possible for me--standing still. She headed nearly due -south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each time she -fell off, her sails partly filled, and these brought -her in a moment right to the wind again. I have said -this was the worst thing possible for me, for helpless -as she looked in this situation, with the canvas cracking -like cannon and the blocks trundling and banging on the -deck, she still continued to run away from me, not only -with the speed of the current, but by the whole amount -of her leeway, which was naturally great. - -But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell for -some seconds, very low, and the current gradually -turning her, the HISPANIOLA revolved slowly round -her centre and at last presented me her stern, with the -cabin window still gaping open and the lamp over the -table still burning on into the day. The main-sail -hung drooped like a banner. She was stock-still but -for the current. - -For the last little while I had even lost, but now -redoubling my efforts, I began once more to overhaul -the chase. - -I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind came -again in a clap; she filled on the port tack and was -off again, stooping and skimming like a swallow. - -My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was -towards joy. Round she came, till she was broadside on -to me--round still till she had covered a half and then -two thirds and then three quarters of the distance that -separated us. I could see the waves boiling white -under her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me -from my low station in the coracle. - -And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had -scarce time to think--scarce time to act and save -myself. I was on the summit of one swell when the -schooner came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was -over my head. I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping -the coracle under water. With one hand I caught the -jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay and -the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a dull -blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon -and struck the coracle and that I was left without -retreat on the HISPANIOLA. - - - - 25 - - I Strike the Jolly Roger - -I HAD scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the -flying jib flapped and filled upon the other tack, with -a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to her keel -under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails still -drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung idle. - -This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now I -lost no time, crawled back along the bowsprit, and -tumbled head foremost on the deck. - -I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the main- -sail, which was still drawing, concealed from me a -certain portion of the after-deck. Not a soul was to -be seen. The planks, which had not been swabbed since -the mutiny, bore the print of many feet, and an empty -bottle, broken by the neck, tumbled to and fro like a -live thing in the scuppers. - -Suddenly the HISPANIOLA came right into the wind. The -jibs behind me cracked aloud, the rudder slammed to, the -whole ship gave a sickening heave and shudder, and at the -same moment the main-boom swung inboard, the sheet groaning -in the blocks, and showed me the lee after-deck. - -There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on -his back, as stiff as a handspike, with his arms -stretched out like those of a crucifix and his teeth -showing through his open lips; Israel Hands propped -against the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands -lying open before him on the deck, his face as white, -under its tan, as a tallow candle. - -For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like a -vicious horse, the sails filling, now on one tack, now -on another, and the boom swinging to and fro till the -mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too -there would come a cloud of light sprays over the -bulwark and a heavy blow of the ship's bows against the -swell; so much heavier weather was made of it by this -great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-sided -coracle, now gone to the bottom of the sea. - -At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and -fro, but--what was ghastly to behold--neither his -attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway -disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump too, -Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and -settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the -farther out, and the whole body canting towards the -stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid -from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear -and the frayed ringlet of one whisker. - -At the same time, I observed, around both of them, -splashes of dark blood upon the planks and began to -feel sure that they had killed each other in their -drunken wrath. - -While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm -moment, when the ship was still, Israel Hands turned -partly round and with a low moan writhed himself back -to the position in which I had seen him first. The -moan, which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the -way in which his jaw hung open went right to my heart. -But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from the -apple barrel, all pity left me. - -I walked aft until I reached the main-mast. - -"Come aboard, Mr. Hands," I said ironically. - -He rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was too far -gone to express surprise. All he could do was to utter -one word, "Brandy." - -It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging -the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I -slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin. - -It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly -fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in -quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mud where -ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading -in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all -painted in clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore -a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles -clinked together in corners to the rolling of the ship. -One of the doctor's medical books lay open on the -table, half of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for -pipelights. In the midst of all this the lamp still -cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. - -I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and -of the bottles a most surprising number had been drunk -out and thrown away. Certainly, since the mutiny -began, not a man of them could ever have been sober. - -Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, -for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit, -some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a -piece of cheese. With these I came on deck, put down -my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the -coxswain's reach, went forward to the water-breaker, -and had a good deep drink of water, and then, and not -till then, gave Hands the brandy. - -He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle -from his mouth. - -"Aye," said he, "by thunder, but I wanted some o' that!" - -I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to eat. - -"Much hurt?" I asked him. - -He grunted, or rather, I might say, he barked. - -"If that doctor was aboard," he said, "I'd be right -enough in a couple of turns, but I don't have no manner -of luck, you see, and that's what's the matter with me. -As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is," he added, -indicating the man with the red cap. "He warn't no -seaman anyhow. And where mought you have come from?" - -"Well," said I, "I've come aboard to take possession of -this ship, Mr. Hands; and you'll please regard me as -your captain until further notice." - -He looked at me sourly enough but said nothing. Some -of the colour had come back into his cheeks, though he -still looked very sick and still continued to slip out -and settle down as the ship banged about. - -"By the by," I continued, "I can't have these colours, -Mr. Hands; and by your leave, I'll strike 'em. Better -none than these." - -And again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines, handed -down their cursed black flag, and chucked it overboard. - -"God save the king!" said I, waving my cap. "And -there's an end to Captain Silver!" - -He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while -on his breast. - -"I reckon," he said at last, "I reckon, Cap'n Hawkins, -you'll kind of want to get ashore now. S'pose we talks." - -"Why, yes," says I, "with all my heart, Mr. Hands. Say -on." And I went back to my meal with a good appetite. - -"This man," he began, nodding feebly at the corpse "-- -O'Brien were his name, a rank Irelander--this man and -me got the canvas on her, meaning for to sail her back. -Well, HE'S dead now, he is--as dead as bilge; and -who's to sail this ship, I don't see. Without I gives -you a hint, you ain't that man, as far's I can tell. -Now, look here, you gives me food and drink and a old -scarf or ankecher to tie my wound up, you do, and I'll -tell you how to sail her, and that's about square all -round, I take it." - -"I'll tell you one thing," says I: "I'm not going back -to Captain Kidd's anchorage. I mean to get into North -Inlet and beach her quietly there." - -"To be sure you did," he cried. "Why, I ain't sich an -infernal lubber after all. I can see, can't I? I've -tried my fling, I have, and I've lost, and it's you has -the wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven't no -ch'ice, not I! I'd help you sail her up to Execution -Dock, by thunder! So I would." - -Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this. -We struck our bargain on the spot. In three minutes I -had the HISPANIOLA sailing easily before the wind -along the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of -turning the northern point ere noon and beating down -again as far as North Inlet before high water, when we -might beach her safely and wait till the subsiding tide -permitted us to land. - -Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own -chest, where I got a soft silk handkerchief of my -mother's. With this, and with my aid, Hands bound up -the great bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, -and after he had eaten a little and had a swallow or -two more of the brandy, he began to pick up visibly, -sat straighter up, spoke louder and clearer, and looked -in every way another man. - -The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it -like a bird, the coast of the island flashing by and -the view changing every minute. Soon we were past the -high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country, -sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were -beyond that again and had turned the corner of the -rocky hill that ends the island on the north. - -I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased -with the bright, sunshiny weather and these different -prospects of the coast. I had now plenty of water and -good things to eat, and my conscience, which had -smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the -great conquest I had made. I should, I think, have had -nothing left me to desire but for the eyes of the -coxswain as they followed me derisively about the deck -and the odd smile that appeared continually on his -face. It was a smile that had in it something both of -pain and weakness--a haggard old man's smile; but there -was, besides that, a grain of derision, a shadow of -treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, -and watched, and watched me at my work. - - - - 26 - - Israel Hands - -THE wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. -We could run so much the easier from the north-east corner -of the island to the mouth of the North Inlet. Only, as -we had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till the -tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. -The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good -many trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over -another meal. - -"Cap'n," said he at length with that same uncomfortable -smile, "here's my old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you was -to heave him overboard. I ain't partic'lar as a rule, -and I don't take no blame for settling his hash, but I -don't reckon him ornamental now, do you?" - -"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and -there he lies, for me," said I. - -"This here's an unlucky ship, this HISPANIOLA, -Jim," he went on, blinking. "There's a power of men -been killed in this HISPANIOLA--a sight o' poor -seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship to -Bristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. There -was this here O'Brien now--he's dead, ain't he? Well -now, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read and -figure, and to put it straight, do you take it as a -dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?" - -"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; -you must know that already," I replied. "O'Brien there -is in another world, and may be watching us." - -"Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate--appears as -if killing parties was a waste of time. Howsomever, -sperrits don't reckon for much, by what I've seen. -I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you've -spoke up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down -into that there cabin and get me a--well, a--shiver my -timbers! I can't hit the name on 't; well, you get me -a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy's too strong -for my head." - -Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural, -and as for the notion of his preferring wine to brandy, -I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was a -pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much was -plain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. -His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering to and -fro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now with -a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the time -he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most -guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could have -told that he was bent on some deception. I was prompt -with my answer, however, for I saw where my advantage -lay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could -easily conceal my suspicions to the end. - -"Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you have -white or red?" - -"Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, -shipmate," he replied; "so it's strong, and plenty of -it, what's the odds?" - -"All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr. -Hands. But I'll have to dig for it." - -With that I scuttled down the companion with all the -noise I could, slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along -the sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, and -popped my head out of the fore companion. I knew he -would not expect to see me there, yet I took every -precaution possible, and certainly the worst of my -suspicions proved too true. - -He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, -and though his leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply -when he moved--for I could hear him stifle a groan--yet -it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himself -across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the -port scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long -knife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hilt -with blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting -forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, and -then, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, -trundled back again into his old place against the bulwark. - -This was all that I required to know. Israel could -move about, he was now armed, and if he had been at so -much trouble to get rid of me, it was plain that I was -meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards-- -whether he would try to crawl right across the island -from North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or -whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own -comrades might come first to help him--was, of course, -more than I could say. - -Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, -since in that our interests jumped together, and that -was in the disposition of the schooner. We both -desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a -sheltered place, and so that, when the time came, she -could be got off again with as little labour and danger -as might be; and until that was done I considered that -my life would certainly be spared. - -While I was thus turning the business over in my mind, -I had not been idle with my body. I had stolen back to -the cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and laid my -hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with this -for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck. - -Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a -bundle and with his eyelids lowered as though he were -too weak to bear the light. He looked up, however, at -my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man -who had done the same thing often, and took a good -swig, with his favourite toast of "Here's luck!" Then -he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a -stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid. - -"Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't no -knife and hardly strength enough, so be as I had. Ah, -Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed stays! Cut me a quid, -as'll likely be the last, lad, for I'm for my long -home, and no mistake." - -"Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I -was you and thought myself so badly, I would go to my -prayers like a Christian man." - -"Why?" said he. "Now, you tell me why." - -"Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about the -dead. You've broken your trust; you've lived in sin -and lies and blood; there's a man you killed lying at -your feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God's -mercy, Mr. Hands, that's why." - -I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk -he had hidden in his pocket and designed, in his ill -thoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, took a -great draught of the wine and spoke with the most -unusual solemnity. - -"For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas and -seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and -foul, provisions running out, knives going, and what -not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' -goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead -men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it. And -now, you look here," he added, suddenly changing his -tone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. The -tide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders, -Cap'n Hawkins, and we'll sail slap in and be done with it." - -All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the -navigation was delicate, the entrance to this northern -anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east -and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled -to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, -and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, -for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving the -banks, with a certainty and a neatness that were a -pleasure to behold. - -Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed -around us. The shores of North Inlet were as thickly -wooded as those of the southern anchorage, but the -space was longer and narrower and more like, what in -truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, -at the southern end, we saw the wreck of a ship in the -last stages of dilapidation. It had been a great -vessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed to -the injuries of the weather that it was hung about with -great webs of dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it -shore bushes had taken root and now flourished thick -with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed us -that the anchorage was calm. - -"Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit for -to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw, -trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a -garding on that old ship." - -"And once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get her -off again?" - -"Why, so," he replied: "you take a line ashore there on -the other side at low water, take a turn about one of -them big pines; bring it back, take a turn around the -capstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, all -hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as -sweet as natur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We're -near the bit now, and she's too much way on her. -Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard a -little--steady--steady!" - -So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed, -till, all of a sudden, he cried, "Now, my hearty, -luff!" And I put the helm hard up, and the -HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the -low, wooded shore. - -The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhat -interfered with the watch I had kept hitherto, sharply -enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was still so -much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that I -had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head and -stood craning over the starboard bulwarks and watching -the ripples spreading wide before the bows. I might -have fallen without a struggle for my life had not a -sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my -head. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow -moving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an -instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I looked -round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me, -with the dirk in his right hand. - -We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, -but while mine was the shrill cry of terror, his was a -roar of fury like a charging bully's. At the same -instant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways -towards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller, -which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved -my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and -stopped him, for the moment, dead. - -Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner -where he had me trapped, with all the deck to dodge -about. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew a -pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had -already turned and was once more coming directly after -me, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but there -followed neither flash nor sound; the priming was -useless with sea-water. I cursed myself for my -neglect. Why had not I, long before, reprimed and -reloaded my only weapons? Then I should not have been -as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. - -Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could -move, his grizzled hair tumbling over his face, and his -face itself as red as a red ensign with his haste and -fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeed -much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. -One thing I saw plainly: I must not simply retreat -before him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into the -bows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in -the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of -the blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on -this side of eternity. I placed my palms against the -main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited, -every nerve upon the stretch. - -Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a -moment or two passed in feints on his part and -corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game -as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black -Hill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with such -a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I say, it was -a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at it -against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed -my courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself -a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of the -affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it -out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape. - -Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA -struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, -and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side -till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees -and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper -holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. - -We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us -rolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the dead -red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling -stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my -head came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that -made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the first -afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead -body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deck -no place for running on; I had to find some new way of -escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was -almost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into -the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did -not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. - -I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck -not half a foot below me as I pursued my upward flight; -and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open and -his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise -and disappointment. - -Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in -changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having one -ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, I -proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it -afresh from the beginning. - -My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began -to see the dice going against him, and after an obvious -hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into the -shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly -and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and -groans to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had -quietly finished my arrangements before he was much -more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol -in either hand, I addressed him. - -"One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your -brains out! Dead men don't bite, you know," I added -with a chuckle. - -He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of -his face that he was trying to think, and the process -was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found -security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or -two, he spoke, his face still wearing the same -expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he -had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else -he remained unmoved. - -"Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and -we'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but for -that there lurch, but I don't have no luck, not I; and -I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, -for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." - -I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as -conceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath, -back went his right hand over his shoulder. Something -sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and -then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the -shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain and surprise -of the moment--I scarce can say it was by my own -volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim-- -both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my -hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the -coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged -head first into the water. - - - - 27 - - "Pieces of Eight" - -OWING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out -over the water, and from my perch on the cross-trees I -had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. -Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer -to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He -rose once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood -and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I -could see him lying huddled together on the clean, bright -sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two -whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the -water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying -to rise. But he was dead enough, for all that, being both -shot and drowned, and was food for fish in the very place -where he had designed my slaughter. - -I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel -sick, faint, and terrified. The hot blood was running -over my back and chest. The dirk, where it had pinned -my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot -iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that -distressed me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear -without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind -of falling from the cross-trees into that still green -water, beside the body of the coxswain. - -I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my -eyes as if to cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came -back again, my pulses quieted down to a more natural time, -and I was once more in possession of myself. - -It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but -either it stuck too hard or my nerve failed me, and I -desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, that -very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had -come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; -it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and this the -shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to -be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked -to the mast by my coat and shirt. - -These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then -regained the deck by the starboard shrouds. For -nothing in the world would I have again ventured, -shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from -which Israel had so lately fallen. - -I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained -me a good deal and still bled freely, but it was neither -deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used -my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, -in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from -its last passenger--the dead man, O'Brien. - -He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, -where he lay like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, -life-size, indeed, but how different from life's colour -or life's comeliness! In that position I could easily -have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical -adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the -dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack -of bran and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. -He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off -and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the -splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side -by side, both wavering with the tremulous movement of -the water. O'Brien, though still quite a young man, was -very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the -knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes -steering to and fro over both. - -I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just -turned. The sun was within so few degrees of setting -that already the shadow of the pines upon the western -shore began to reach right across the anchorage and -fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had -sprung up, and though it was well warded off by the -hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had -begun to sing a little softly to itself and the idle -sails to rattle to and fro. - -I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I -speedily doused and brought tumbling to the deck, but -the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when the -schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and -the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under -water. I thought this made it still more dangerous; -yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to -meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. -The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose -canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as -I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the -extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the -HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. - -By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into -shadow--the last rays, I remember, falling through a -glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on the -flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the -tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner -settling more and more on her beam-ends. - -I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow -enough, and holding the cut hawser in both hands for a -last security, I let myself drop softly overboard. The -water scarcely reached my waist; the sand was firm and -covered with ripple marks, and I waded ashore in great -spirits, leaving the HISPANIOLA on her side, with her -main-sail trailing wide upon the surface of the bay. -About the same time, the sun went fairly down and the -breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. - -At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I -returned thence empty-handed. There lay the schooner, -clear at last from buccaneers and ready for our own men -to board and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer my -fancy than to get home to the stockade and boast of my -achievements. Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my -truantry, but the recapture of the HISPANIOLA was a -clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain -Smollett would confess I had not lost my time. - -So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set -my face homeward for the block house and my companions. -I remembered that the most easterly of the rivers which -drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage ran from the two-peaked -hill upon my left, and I bent my course in that direction -that I might pass the stream while it was small. The wood -was pretty open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had -soon turned the corner of that hill, and not long after -waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse. - -This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben -Gunn, the maroon; and I walked more circumspectly, -keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had come nigh -hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between -the two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow -against the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the -island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire. -And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show -himself so careless. For if I could see this radiance, -might it not reach the eyes of Silver himself where he -camped upon the shore among the marshes? - -Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do -to guide myself even roughly towards my destination; -the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right -hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and -pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept -tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pits. - -Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked -up; a pale glimmer of moonbeams had alighted on the -summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I saw something -broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees, and -knew the moon had risen. - -With this to help me, I passed rapidly over what -remained to me of my journey, and sometimes walking, -sometimes running, impatiently drew near to the -stockade. Yet, as I began to thread the grove that -lies before it, I was not so thoughtless but that I -slacked my pace and went a trifle warily. It would -have been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down -by my own party in mistake. - -The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light -began to fall here and there in masses through the more -open districts of the wood, and right in front of me a -glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. -It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little -darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering. - -For the life of me I could not think what it might be. - -At last I came right down upon the borders of the -clearing. The western end was already steeped in moon- -shine; the rest, and the block house itself, still lay -in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks -of light. On the other side of the house an immense -fire had burned itself into clear embers and shed a -steady, red reverberation, contrasted strongly with the -mellow paleness of the moon. There was not a soul -stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze. - -I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps a -little terror also. It had not been our way to build -great fires; we were, indeed, by the captain's orders, -somewhat niggardly of firewood, and I began to fear -that something had gone wrong while I was absent. - -I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in -shadow, and at a convenient place, where the darkness -was thickest, crossed the palisade. - -To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees -and crawled, without a sound, towards the corner of the -house. As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly and -greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in -itself, and I have often complained of it at other -times, but just then it was like music to hear my -friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their -sleep. The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful "All's -well," never fell more reassuringly on my ear. - -In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing; they -kept an infamous bad watch. If it had been Silver and -his lads that were now creeping in on them, not a soul -would have seen daybreak. That was what it was, -thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again I -blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that danger -with so few to mount guard. - -By this time I had got to the door and stood up. All -was dark within, so that I could distinguish nothing by -the eye. As for sounds, there was the steady drone of -the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering -or pecking that I could in no way account for. - -With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should -lie down in my own place (I thought with a silent chuckle) -and enjoy their faces when they found me in the morning. - -My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper's -leg; and he turned and groaned, but without awaking. - -And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth -out of the darkness: - -"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! -Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" and so forth, without -pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny mill. - -Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom -I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, -keeping better watch than any human being, who thus -announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain. - -I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, -clipping tone of the parrot, the sleepers awoke and -sprang up; and with a mighty oath, the voice of Silver -cried, "Who goes?" - -I turned to run, struck violently against one person, -recoiled, and ran full into the arms of a second, who -for his part closed upon and held me tight. - -"Bring a torch, Dick," said Silver when my capture was -thus assured. - -And one of the men left the log-house and presently -returned with a lighted brand. - - - - - - PART SIX - - Captain Silver - - - - 28 - - In the Enemy's Camp - -THE red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of -the block house, showed me the worst of my -apprehensions realized. The pirates were in possession -of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, -there were the pork and bread, as before, and what -tenfold increased my horror, not a sign of any -prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, -and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there -to perish with them. - -There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another -man was left alive. Five of them were on their feet, -flushed and swollen, suddenly called out of the first -sleep of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen upon -his elbow; he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained -bandage round his head told that he had recently been -wounded, and still more recently dressed. I remembered -the man who had been shot and had run back among the woods -in the great attack, and doubted not that this was he. - -The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's -shoulder. He himself, I thought, looked somewhat paler -and more stern than I was used to. He still wore the -fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled his -mission, but it was bitterly the worse for wear, daubed -with clay and torn with the sharp briers of the wood. - -"So," said he, "here's Jim Hawkins, shiver my timbers! -Dropped in, like, eh? Well, come, I take that friendly." - -And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask and -began to fill a pipe. - -"Give me a loan of the link, Dick," said he; and then, -when he had a good light, "That'll do, lad," he added; -"stick the glim in the wood heap; and you, gentlemen, -bring yourselves to! You needn't stand up for Mr. -Hawkins; HE'LL excuse you, you may lay to that. -And so, Jim"--stopping the tobacco--"here you were, and -quite a pleasant surprise for poor old John. I see you -were smart when first I set my eyes on you, but this -here gets away from me clean, it do." - -To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer. -They had set me with my back against the wall, and I -stood there, looking Silver in the face, pluckily -enough, I hope, to all outward appearance, but with -black despair in my heart. - -Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great -composure and then ran on again. - -"Now, you see, Jim, so be as you ARE here," says -he, "I'll give you a piece of my mind. I've always -liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the picter -of my own self when I was young and handsome. I always -wanted you to jine and take your share, and die a -gentleman, and now, my cock, you've got to. Cap'n -Smollett's a fine seaman, as I'll own up to any day, -but stiff on discipline. 'Dooty is dooty,' says he, -and right he is. Just you keep clear of the cap'n. -The doctor himself is gone dead again you--'ungrateful -scamp' was what he said; and the short and the long of -the whole story is about here: you can't go back to -your own lot, for they won't have you; and without you -start a third ship's company all by yourself, which -might be lonely, you'll have to jine with Cap'n Silver." - -So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, -and though I partly believed the truth of Silver's -statement, that the cabin party were incensed at me for -my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by -what I heard. - -"I don't say nothing as to your being in our hands," -continued Silver, "though there you are, and you may -lay to it. I'm all for argyment; I never seen good -come out o' threatening. If you like the service, -well, you'll jine; and if you don't, Jim, why, you're -free to answer no--free and welcome, shipmate; and if -fairer can be said by mortal seaman, shiver my sides!" - -"Am I to answer, then?" I asked with a very tremulous -voice. Through all this sneering talk, I was made to -feel the threat of death that overhung me, and my -cheeks burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast. - -"Lad," said Silver, "no one's a-pressing of you. Take -your bearings. None of us won't hurry you, mate; time -goes so pleasant in your company, you see." - -"Well," says I, growing a bit bolder, "if I'm to -choose, I declare I have a right to know what's what, -and why you're here, and where my friends are." - -"Wot's wot?" repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep -growl. "Ah, he'd be a lucky one as knowed that!" - -"You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're -spoke to, my friend," cried Silver truculently to this -speaker. And then, in his first gracious tones, he -replied to me, "Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins," said -he, "in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a -flag of truce. Says he, 'Cap'n Silver, you're sold -out. Ship's gone.' Well, maybe we'd been taking a -glass, and a song to help it round. I won't say no. -Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, -and by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a -pack o' fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if -I tells you that looked the fishiest. 'Well,' says the -doctor, 'let's bargain.' We bargained, him and I, and -here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood -you was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of -speaking, the whole blessed boat, from cross-trees to -kelson. As for them, they've tramped; I don't know -where's they are." - -He drew again quietly at his pipe. - -"And lest you should take it into that head of yours," -he went on, "that you was included in the treaty, -here's the last word that was said: 'How many are you,' -says I, 'to leave?' 'Four,' says he; 'four, and one of -us wounded. As for that boy, I don't know where he is, -confound him,' says he, 'nor I don't much care. We're -about sick of him.' These was his words. - -"Is that all?" I asked. - -"Well, it's all that you're to hear, my son," -returned Silver. - -"And now I am to choose?" - -"And now you are to choose, and you may lay to -that," said Silver. - -"Well," said I, "I am not such a fool but I know pretty -well what I have to look for. Let the worst come to -the worst, it's little I care. I've seen too many die -since I fell in with you. But there's a thing or two I -have to tell you," I said, and by this time I was quite -excited; "and the first is this: here you are, in a bad -way--ship lost, treasure lost, men lost, your whole -business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who did -it--it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night we -sighted land, and I heard you, John, and you, Dick -Johnson, and Hands, who is now at the bottom of the -sea, and told every word you said before the hour was -out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her -cable, and it was I that killed the men you had aboard -of her, and it was I who brought her where you'll never -see her more, not one of you. The laugh's on my side; -I've had the top of this business from the first; I no -more fear you than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you -please, or spare me. But one thing I'll say, and no -more; if you spare me, bygones are bygones, and when -you fellows are in court for piracy, I'll save you all -I can. It is for you to choose. Kill another and do -yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness to -save you from the gallows." - -I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to -my wonder, not a man of them moved, but all sat staring -at me like as many sheep. And while they were still -staring, I broke out again, "And now, Mr. Silver," I -said, "I believe you're the best man here, and if -things go to the worst, I'll take it kind of you to let -the doctor know the way I took it." - -"I'll bear it in mind," said Silver with an accent so -curious that I could not, for the life of me, decide -whether he were laughing at my request or had been -favourably affected by my courage. - -"I'll put one to that," cried the old mahogany-faced -seaman--Morgan by name--whom I had seen in Long John's -public-house upon the quays of Bristol. "It was him -that knowed Black Dog." - -"Well, and see here," added the sea-cook. "I'll put -another again to that, by thunder! For it was this -same boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. First -and last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!" - -"Then here goes!" said Morgan with an oath. - -And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had -been twenty. - -"Avast, there!" cried Silver. "Who are you, Tom -Morgan? Maybe you thought you was cap'n here, perhaps. -By the powers, but I'll teach you better! Cross me, -and you'll go where many a good man's gone before you, -first and last, these thirty year back--some to the -yard-arm, shiver my timbers, and some by the board, and -all to feed the fishes. There's never a man looked me -between the eyes and seen a good day a'terwards, Tom -Morgan, you may lay to that." - -Morgan paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others. - -"Tom's right," said one. - -"I stood hazing long enough from one," added another. -"I'll be hanged if I'll be hazed by you, John Silver." - -"Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with ME?" -roared Silver, bending far forward from his -position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing in his -right hand. "Put a name on what you're at; you ain't -dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I -lived this many years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock -his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You -know the way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by your -account. Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that -dares, and I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch -and all, before that pipe's empty." - -Not a man stirred; not a man answered. - -"That's your sort, is it?" he added, returning his pipe -to his mouth. "Well, you're a gay lot to look at, -anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain't. P'r'aps -you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n -here by 'lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best -man by a long sea-mile. You won't fight, as gentlemen -o' fortune should; then, by thunder, you'll obey, and -you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen -a better boy than that. He's more a man than any pair -of rats of you in this here house, and what I say is -this: let me see him that'll lay a hand on him--that's -what I say, and you may lay to it." - -There was a long pause after this. I stood straight up -against the wall, my heart still going like a sledge- -hammer, but with a ray of hope now shining in my bosom. -Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, his -pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he had -been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively, and -he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers. They, on -their part, drew gradually together towards the far end of -the block house, and the low hiss of their whispering sounded -in my ear continuously, like a stream. One after another, -they would look up, and the red light of the torch would -fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it was not -towards me, it was towards Silver that they turned their eyes. - -"You seem to have a lot to say," remarked Silver, -spitting far into the air. "Pipe up and let me hear -it, or lay to." - -"Ax your pardon, sir," returned one of the men; "you're -pretty free with some of the rules; maybe you'll kindly -keep an eye upon the rest. This crew's dissatisfied; -this crew don't vally bullying a marlin-spike; this -crew has its rights like other crews, I'll make so free -as that; and by your own rules, I take it we can talk -together. I ax your pardon, sir, acknowledging you for -to be captaing at this present; but I claim my right, -and steps outside for a council." - -And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long, -ill-looking, yellow-eyed man of five and thirty, -stepped coolly towards the door and disappeared out of -the house. One after another the rest followed his -example, each making a salute as he passed, each adding -some apology. "According to rules," said one. -"Forecastle council," said Morgan. And so with one -remark or another all marched out and left Silver and -me alone with the torch. - -The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. - -"Now, look you here, Jim Hawkins," he said in a steady -whisper that was no more than audible, "you're within -half a plank of death, and what's a long sight worse, -of torture. They're going to throw me off. But, you -mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn't -mean to; no, not till you spoke up. I was about -desperate to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into -the bargain. But I see you was the right sort. I says -to myself, you stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins'll -stand by you. You're his last card, and by the living -thunder, John, he's yours! Back to back, says I. You -save your witness, and he'll save your neck!" - -I began dimly to understand. - -"You mean all's lost?" I asked. - -"Aye, by gum, I do!" he answered. "Ship gone, neck gone ---that's the size of it. Once I looked into that bay, Jim -Hawkins, and seen no schooner--well, I'm tough, but I gave -out. As for that lot and their council, mark me, they're -outright fools and cowards. I'll save your life--if so be -as I can--from them. But, see here, Jim--tit for tat--you -save Long John from swinging." - -I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he was -asking--he, the old buccaneer, the ringleader throughout. - -"What I can do, that I'll do," I said. - -"It's a bargain!" cried Long John. "You speak up -plucky, and by thunder, I've a chance!" - -He hobbled to the torch, where it stood propped among -the firewood, and took a fresh light to his pipe. - -"Understand me, Jim," he said, returning. "I've a head -on my shoulders, I have. I'm on squire's side now. I -know you've got that ship safe somewheres. How you -done it, I don't know, but safe it is. I guess Hands -and O'Brien turned soft. I never much believed in -neither of THEM. Now you mark me. I ask no questions, -nor I won't let others. I know when a game's up, I do; -and I know a lad that's staunch. Ah, you that's young-- -you and me might have done a power of good together!" - -He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin. - -"Will you taste, messmate?" he asked; and when I had -refused: "Well, I'll take a drain myself, Jim," said -he. "I need a caulker, for there's trouble on hand. -And talking o' trouble, why did that doctor give me the -chart, Jim?" - -My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw -the needlessness of further questions. - -"Ah, well, he did, though," said he. "And there's -something under that, no doubt--something, surely, -under that, Jim--bad or good." - -And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his -great fair head like a man who looks forward to the worst. - - - - 29 - - The Black Spot Again - -THE council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when -one of them re-entered the house, and with a repetition -of the same salute, which had in my eyes an ironical -air, begged for a moment's loan of the torch. Silver -briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, -leaving us together in the dark. - -"There's a breeze coming, Jim," said Silver, who had by -this time adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone. - -I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out. -The embers of the great fire had so far burned -themselves out and now glowed so low and duskily that I -understood why these conspirators desired a torch. -About half-way down the slope to the stockade, they -were collected in a group; one held the light, another -was on his knees in their midst, and I saw the blade of -an open knife shine in his hand with varying colours in -the moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat -stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of this last. -I could just make out that he had a book as well as a -knife in his hand, and was still wondering how anything -so incongruous had come in their possession when the -kneeling figure rose once more to his feet and the whole -party began to move together towards the house. - -"Here they come," said I; and I returned to my former -position, for it seemed beneath my dignity that they -should find me watching them. - -"Well, let 'em come, lad--let 'em come," said Silver -cheerily. "I've still a shot in my locker." - -The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled -together just inside, pushed one of their number -forward. In any other circumstances it would have been -comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set -down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in -front of him. - -"Step up, lad," cried Silver. "I won't eat you. Hand -it over, lubber. I know the rules, I do; I won't hurt -a depytation." - -Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more -briskly, and having passed something to Silver, from -hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly back again to -his companions. - -The sea-cook looked at what had been given him. - -"The black spot! I thought so," he observed. "Where -might you have got the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, -now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and cut this out of -a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" - -"Ah, there!" said Morgan. "There! Wot did I say? No -good'll come o' that, I said." - -"Well, you've about fixed it now, among you," continued -Silver. "You'll all swing now, I reckon. What soft- -headed lubber had a Bible?" - -"It was Dick," said one. - -"Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers," said -Silver. "He's seen his slice of luck, has Dick, and -you may lay to that." - -But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck in. - -"Belay that talk, John Silver," he said. "This crew -has tipped you the black spot in full council, as in -dooty bound; just you turn it over, as in dooty bound, -and see what's wrote there. Then you can talk." - -"Thanky, George," replied the sea-cook. "You always -was brisk for business, and has the rules by heart, -George, as I'm pleased to see. Well, what is it, -anyway? Ah! 'Deposed'--that's it, is it? Very pretty -wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear. Your hand o' -write, George? Why, you was gettin' quite a leadin' -man in this here crew. You'll be cap'n next, I -shouldn't wonder. Just oblige me with that torch -again, will you? This pipe don't draw." - -"Come, now," said George, "you don't fool this crew no -more. You're a funny man, by your account; but you're -over now, and you'll maybe step down off that barrel -and help vote." - -"I thought you said you knowed the rules," returned -Silver contemptuously. "Leastways, if you don't, I do; -and I wait here--and I'm still your cap'n, mind--till -you outs with your grievances and I reply; in the -meantime, your black spot ain't worth a biscuit. After -that, we'll see." - -"Oh," replied George, "you don't be under no kind of -apprehension; WE'RE all square, we are. First, -you've made a hash of this cruise--you'll be a bold man -to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o' -this here trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I -dunno, but it's pretty plain they wanted it. Third, -you wouldn't let us go at them upon the march. Oh, we -see through you, John Silver; you want to play booty, -that's what's wrong with you. And then, fourth, -there's this here boy." - -"Is that all?" asked Silver quietly. - -"Enough, too," retorted George. "We'll all swing and -sun-dry for your bungling." - -"Well now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints; -one after another I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' -this cruise, did I? Well now, you all know what I -wanted, and you all know if that had been done that -we'd 'a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as -ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and full of -good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by -thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as -was the lawful cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the -day we landed and began this dance? Ah, it's a fine -dance--I'm with you there--and looks mighty like a -hornpipe in a rope's end at Execution Dock by London -town, it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, -and Hands, and you, George Merry! And you're the last -above board of that same meddling crew; and you have -the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n -over me--you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! -But this tops the stiffest yarn to nothing." - -Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George -and his late comrades that these words had not been -said in vain. - -"That's for number one," cried the accused, wiping the -sweat from his brow, for he had been talking with a -vehemence that shook the house. "Why, I give you my -word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense -nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers -was that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' -fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade." - -"Go on, John," said Morgan. "Speak up to the others." - -"Ah, the others!" returned John. "They're a nice lot, -ain't they? You say this cruise is bungled. Ah! By -gum, if you could understand how bad it's bungled, you -would see! We're that near the gibbet that my neck's -stiff with thinking on it. You've seen 'em, maybe, -hanged in chains, birds about 'em, seamen p'inting 'em -out as they go down with the tide. 'Who's that?' says -one. 'That! Why, that's John Silver. I knowed him -well,' says another. And you can hear the chains a- -jangle as you go about and reach for the other buoy. -Now, that's about where we are, every mother's son of -us, thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and other -ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about -number four, and that boy, why, shiver my timbers, -isn't he a hostage? Are we a-going to waste a hostage? -No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I -shouldn't wonder. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! And -number three? Ah, well, there's a deal to say to -number three. Maybe you don't count it nothing to have -a real college doctor to see you every day--you, John, -with your head broke--or you, George Merry, that had -the ague shakes upon you not six hours agone, and has -your eyes the colour of lemon peel to this same moment -on the clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn't know -there was a consort coming either? But there is, and -not so long till then; and we'll see who'll be glad to -have a hostage when it comes to that. And as for -number two, and why I made a bargain--well, you came -crawling on your knees to me to make it--on your knees -you came, you was that downhearted--and you'd have -starved too if I hadn't--but that's a trifle! You look -there--that's why!" - -And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I -instantly recognized--none other than the chart on -yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I had -found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain's -chest. Why the doctor had given it to him was more -than I could fancy. - -But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of -the chart was incredible to the surviving mutineers. -They leaped upon it like cats upon a mouse. It went -from hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by -the oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with -which they accompanied their examination, you would -have thought, not only they were fingering the very -gold, but were at sea with it, besides, in safety. - -"Yes," said one, "that's Flint, sure enough. J. F., and -a score below, with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever." - -"Mighty pretty," said George. "But how are we to get -away with it, and us no ship." - -Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself with -a hand against the wall: "Now I give you warning, -George," he cried. "One more word of your sauce, and -I'll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how do I -know? You had ought to tell me that--you and the rest, -that lost me my schooner, with your interference, burn -you! But not you, you can't; you hain't got the -invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and -shall, George Merry, you may lay to that." - -"That's fair enow," said the old man Morgan. - -"Fair! I reckon so," said the sea-cook. "You lost the -ship; I found the treasure. Who's the better man at -that? And now I resign, by thunder! Elect whom you -please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it." - -"Silver!" they cried. "Barbecue forever! Barbecue -for cap'n!" - -"So that's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. "George, -I reckon you'll have to wait another turn, friend; and -lucky for you as I'm not a revengeful man. But that -was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? -'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck -and spoiled his Bible, and that's about all." - -"It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?" growled -Dick, who was evidently uneasy at the curse he had -brought upon himself. - -"A Bible with a bit cut out!" returned Silver -derisively. "Not it. It don't bind no more'n a -ballad-book." - -"Don't it, though?" cried Dick with a sort of joy. -"Well, I reckon that's worth having too." - -"Here, Jim--here's a cur'osity for you," said Silver, -and he tossed me the paper. - -It was around about the size of a crown piece. One -side was blank, for it had been the last leaf; the -other contained a verse or two of Revelation--these -words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my -mind: "Without are dogs and murderers." The printed -side had been blackened with wood ash, which already -began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank -side had been written with the same material the one -word "Depposed." I have that curiosity beside me at -this moment, but not a trace of writing now remains -beyond a single scratch, such as a man might make with -his thumb-nail. - -That was the end of the night's business. Soon after, -with a drink all round, we lay down to sleep, and the -outside of Silver's vengeance was to put George Merry -up for sentinel and threaten him with death if he -should prove unfaithful. - -It was long ere I could close an eye, and heaven knows -I had matter enough for thought in the man whom I had -slain that afternoon, in my own most perilous position, -and above all, in the remarkable game that I saw Silver -now engaged upon--keeping the mutineers together with -one hand and grasping with the other after every means, -possible and impossible, to make his peace and save his -miserable life. He himself slept peacefully and snored -aloud, yet my heart was sore for him, wicked as he was, -to think on the dark perils that environed and the -shameful gibbet that awaited him. - - - - 30 - - On Parole - -I WAS wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could -see even the sentinel shake himself together from where -he had fallen against the door-post--by a clear, hearty -voice hailing us from the margin of the wood: - -"Block house, ahoy!" it cried. "Here's the doctor." - -And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear the -sound, yet my gladness was not without admixture. I -remembered with confusion my insubordinate and stealthy -conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me--among -what companions and surrounded by what dangers--I felt -ashamed to look him in the face. - -He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly -come; and when I ran to a loophole and looked out, I -saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to the -mid-leg in creeping vapour. - -"You, doctor! Top o' the morning to you, sir!" cried -Silver, broad awake and beaming with good nature in a -moment. "Bright and early, to be sure; and it's the -early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations. -George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. -Livesey over the ship's side. All a-doin' well, your -patients was--all well and merry." - -So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch -under his elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house ---quite the old John in voice, manner, and expression. - -"We've quite a surprise for you too, sir," he -continued. "We've a little stranger here--he! he! A -noo boarder and lodger, sir, and looking fit and taut -as a fiddle; slep' like a supercargo, he did, right -alongside of John--stem to stem we was, all night." - -Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and -pretty near the cook, and I could hear the alteration -in his voice as he said, "Not Jim?" - -"The very same Jim as ever was," says Silver. - -The doctor stopped outright, although he did not speak, -and it was some seconds before he seemed able to move on. - -"Well, well," he said at last, "duty first and pleasure -afterwards, as you might have said yourself, Silver. -Let us overhaul these patients of yours." - -A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and -with one grim nod to me proceeded with his work among -the sick. He seemed under no apprehension, though he -must have known that his life, among these treacherous -demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled on to his -patients as if he were paying an ordinary professional -visit in a quiet English family. His manner, I -suppose, reacted on the men, for they behaved to him as -if nothing had occurred, as if he were still ship's -doctor and they still faithful hands before the mast. - -"You're doing well, my friend," he said to the fellow -with the bandaged head, "and if ever any person had a -close shave, it was you; your head must be as hard as -iron. Well, George, how goes it? You're a pretty -colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside -down. Did you take that medicine? Did he take that -medicine, men?" - -"Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough," returned Morgan. - -"Because, you see, since I am mutineers' doctor, or -prison doctor as I prefer to call it," says Doctor -Livesey in his pleasantest way, "I make it a point of -honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless -him!) and the gallows." - -The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home- -thrust in silence. - -"Dick don't feel well, sir," said one. - -"Don't he?" replied the doctor. "Well, step up here, -Dick, and let me see your tongue. No, I should be -surprised if he did! The man's tongue is fit to -frighten the French. Another fever." - -"Ah, there," said Morgan, "that comed of sp'iling Bibles." - -"That comes--as you call it--of being arrant asses," -retorted the doctor, "and not having sense enough to -know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a -vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable-- -though of course it's only an opinion--that you'll all -have the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out -of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, -I'm surprised at you. You're less of a fool than many, -take you all round; but you don't appear to me to have -the rudiments of a notion of the rules of health. - -"Well," he added after he had dosed them round and they -had taken his prescriptions, with really laughable humility, -more like charity schoolchildren than blood-guilty mutineers -and pirates--"well, that's done for today. And now I should -wish to have a talk with that boy, please." - -And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly. - -George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering -over some bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of -the doctor's proposal he swung round with a deep flush -and cried "No!" and swore. - -Silver struck the barrel with his open hand. - -"Si-lence!" he roared and looked about him positively -like a lion. "Doctor," he went on in his usual tones, -"I was a-thinking of that, knowing as how you had a -fancy for the boy. We're all humbly grateful for your -kindness, and as you see, puts faith in you and takes -the drugs down like that much grog. And I take it I've -found a way as'll suit all. Hawkins, will you give me -your word of honour as a young gentleman--for a young -gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of -honour not to slip your cable?" - -I readily gave the pledge required. - -"Then, doctor," said Silver, "you just step outside o' -that stockade, and once you're there I'll bring the boy -down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn through -the spars. Good day to you, sir, and all our dooties -to the squire and Cap'n Smollett." - -The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but -Silver's black looks had restrained, broke out -immediately the doctor had left the house. Silver was -roundly accused of playing double--of trying to make a -separate peace for himself, of sacrificing the -interests of his accomplices and victims, and, in one -word, of the identical, exact thing that he was doing. -It seemed to me so obvious, in this case, that I could -not imagine how he was to turn their anger. But he was -twice the man the rest were, and his last night's -victory had given him a huge preponderance on their -minds. He called them all the fools and dolts you can -imagine, said it was necessary I should talk to the -doctor, fluttered the chart in their faces, asked them -if they could afford to break the treaty the very day -they were bound a-treasure-hunting. - -"No, by thunder!" he cried. "It's us must break the -treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon -that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy." - -And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked out -upon his crutch, with his hand on my shoulder, leaving -them in a disarray, and silenced by his volubility -rather than convinced. - -"Slow, lad, slow," he said. "They might round upon us -in a twinkle of an eye if we was seen to hurry." - -Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the sand -to where the doctor awaited us on the other side of the -stockade, and as soon as we were within easy speaking -distance Silver stopped. - -"You'll make a note of this here also, doctor," says -he, "and the boy'll tell you how I saved his life, and -were deposed for it too, and you may lay to that. -Doctor, when a man's steering as near the wind as me-- -playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his -body, like--you wouldn't think it too much, mayhap, to -give him one good word? You'll please bear in mind -it's not my life only now--it's that boy's into the -bargain; and you'll speak me fair, doctor, and give me -a bit o' hope to go on, for the sake of mercy." - -Silver was a changed man once he was out there and had -his back to his friends and the block house; his cheeks -seemed to have fallen in, his voice trembled; never was -a soul more dead in earnest. - -"Why, John, you're not afraid?" asked Dr. Livesey. - -"Doctor, I'm no coward; no, not I--not SO much!" -and he snapped his fingers. "If I was I wouldn't say -it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the shakes upon me -for the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never -seen a better man! And you'll not forget what I done -good, not any more than you'll forget the bad, I know. -And I step aside--see here--and leave you and Jim -alone. And you'll put that down for me too, for it's a -long stretch, is that!" - -So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was -out of earshot, and there sat down upon a tree-stump -and began to whistle, spinning round now and again upon -his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and -the doctor and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they -went to and fro in the sand between the fire--which -they were busy rekindling--and the house, from which -they brought forth pork and bread to make the breakfast. - -"So, Jim," said the doctor sadly, "here you are. As -you have brewed, so shall you drink, my boy. Heaven -knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you, but -this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when -Captain Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; -and when he was ill and couldn't help it, by George, it -was downright cowardly!" - -I will own that I here began to weep. "Doctor," I -said, "you might spare me. I have blamed myself -enough; my life's forfeit anyway, and I should have -been dead by now if Silver hadn't stood for me; and -doctor, believe this, I can die--and I dare say I -deserve it--but what I fear is torture. If they come -to torture me--" - -"Jim," the doctor interrupted, and his voice was quite -changed, "Jim, I can't have this. Whip over, and we'll -run for it." - -"Doctor," said I, "I passed my word." - -"I know, I know," he cried. "We can't help that, Jim, -now. I'll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame -and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. -Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it -like antelopes." - -"No," I replied; "you know right well you wouldn't do -the thing yourself--neither you nor squire nor captain; -and no more will I. Silver trusted me; I passed my -word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me -finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a -word of where the ship is, for I got the ship, part by -luck and part by risking, and she lies in North Inlet, -on the southern beach, and just below high water. At -half tide she must be high and dry." - -"The ship!" exclaimed the doctor. - -Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he heard -me out in silence. - -"There is a kind of fate in this," he observed when I -had done. "Every step, it's you that saves our lives; -and do you suppose by any chance that we are going to -let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my -boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn--the -best deed that ever you did, or will do, though you -live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and talking of Ben -Gunn! Why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!" -he cried. "Silver! I'll give you a piece of advice," -he continued as the cook drew near again; "don't you be -in any great hurry after that treasure." - -"Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain't," said -Silver. "I can only, asking your pardon, save my life -and the boy's by seeking for that treasure; and you may -lay to that." - -"Well, Silver," replied the doctor, "if that is so, I'll -go one step further: look out for squalls when you find it." - -"Sir," said Silver, "as between man and man, that's too -much and too little. What you're after, why you left -the block house, why you given me that there chart, I -don't know, now, do I? And yet I done your bidding -with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no, -this here's too much. If you won't tell me what you -mean plain out, just say so and I'll leave the helm." - -"No," said the doctor musingly; "I've no right to say -more; it's not my secret, you see, Silver, or, I give -you my word, I'd tell it you. But I'll go as far with -you as I dare go, and a step beyond, for I'll have my -wig sorted by the captain or I'm mistaken! And first, -I'll give you a bit of hope; Silver, if we both get -alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best to save -you, short of perjury." - -Silver's face was radiant. "You couldn't say more, I'm -sure, sir, not if you was my mother," he cried. - -"Well, that's my first concession," added the doctor. -"My second is a piece of advice: keep the boy close -beside you, and when you need help, halloo. I'm off to -seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I -speak at random. Good-bye, Jim." - -And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the -stockade, nodded to Silver, and set off at a brisk pace -into the wood. - - - - 31 - - The Treasure-hunt--Flint's Pointer - -"JIM," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved your -life, you saved mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen -the doctor waving you to run for it--with the tail of -my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. -Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hope -I had since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, -Jim, we're to go in for this here treasure-hunting, with -sealed orders too, and I don't like it; and you and me -must stick close, back to back like, and we'll save our -necks in spite o' fate and fortune." - -Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast -was ready, and we were soon seated here and there about -the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had lit a -fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot -that they could only approach it from the windward, and -even there not without precaution. In the same -wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three -times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an -empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which -blazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. I -never in my life saw men so careless of the morrow; -hand to mouth is the only word that can describe their -way of doing; and what with wasted food and sleeping -sentries, though they were bold enough for a brush and -be done with it, I could see their entire unfitness for -anything like a prolonged campaign. - -Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his -shoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness. -And this the more surprised me, for I thought he had -never shown himself so cunning as he did then. - -"Aye, mates," said he, "it's lucky you have Barbecue to -think for you with this here head. I got what I wanted, -I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where they have -it, I don't know yet; but once we hit the treasure, we'll -have to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us that -has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand." - -Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hot -bacon; thus he restored their hope and confidence, and, -I more than suspect, repaired his own at the same time. - -"As for hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk, -I guess, with them he loves so dear. I've got my piece -o' news, and thanky to him for that; but it's over and -done. I'll take him in a line when we go treasure- -hunting, for we'll keep him like so much gold, in case -of accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once we -got the ship and treasure both and off to sea like -jolly companions, why then we'll talk Mr. Hawkins over, -we will, and we'll give him his share, to be sure, for -all his kindness." - -It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now. -For my part, I was horribly cast down. Should the -scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, -already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt -it. He had still a foot in either camp, and there was -no doubt he would prefer wealth and freedom with the -pirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was the -best he had to hope on our side. - -Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced -to keep his faith with Dr. Livesey, even then what -danger lay before us! What a moment that would be when -the suspicions of his followers turned to certainty and -he and I should have to fight for dear life--he a cripple -and I a boy--against five strong and active seamen! - -Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still -hung over the behaviour of my friends, their -unexplained desertion of the stockade, their -inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to -understand, the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Look -out for squalls when you find it," and you will readily -believe how little taste I found in my breakfast and -with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors -on the quest for treasure. - -We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see -us--all in soiled sailor clothes and all but me armed -to the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about him--one -before and one behind--besides the great cutlass at his -waist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed -coat. To complete his strange appearance, Captain -Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds -and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about -my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook, -who held the loose end of the rope, now in his free -hand, now between his powerful teeth. For all the -world, I was led like a dancing bear. - -The other men were variously burthened, some carrying -picks and shovels--for that had been the very first -necessary they brought ashore from the HISPANIOLA-- -others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the -midday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our -stock, and I could see the truth of Silver's words the -night before. Had he not struck a bargain with the doctor, -he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been -driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their -hunting. Water would have been little to their taste; a -sailor is not usually a good shot; and besides all that, -when they were so short of eatables, it was not likely -they would be very flush of powder. - -Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellow -with the broken head, who should certainly have kept in -shadow--and straggled, one after another, to the beach, -where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore trace -of the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a broken -thwart, and both in their muddy and unbailed condition. -Both were to be carried along with us for the sake of -safety; and so, with our numbers divided between them, -we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage. - -As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the -chart. The red cross was, of course, far too large to -be a guide; and the terms of the note on the back, as -you will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran, -the reader may remember, thus: - - Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to - the N. of N.N.E. - Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. - Ten feet. - -A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right -before us the anchorage was bounded by a plateau from -two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the north -the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass and -rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy -eminence called the Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of the -plateau was dotted thickly with pine-trees of varying -height. Every here and there, one of a different -species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its -neighbours, and which of these was the particular "tall -tree" of Captain Flint could only be decided on the -spot, and by the readings of the compass. - -Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the -boats had picked a favourite of his own ere we were -half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his shoulders -and bidding them wait till they were there. - -We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to weary -the hands prematurely, and after quite a long passage, -landed at the mouth of the second river--that which -runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, -bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope -towards the plateau. - -At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, -marish vegetation greatly delayed our progress; but by -little and little the hill began to steepen and become -stony under foot, and the wood to change its character -and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a -most pleasant portion of the island that we were now -approaching. A heavy-scented broom and many flowering -shrubs had almost taken the place of grass. Thickets -of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there with -the red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and -the first mingled their spice with the aroma of the -others. The air, besides, was fresh and stirring, and -this, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful -refreshment to our senses. - -The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, -shouting and leaping to and fro. About the centre, and -a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed--I -tethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, -among the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I -had to lend him a hand, or he must have missed his -footing and fallen backward down the hill. - -We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and were -approaching the brow of the plateau when the man upon -the farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in terror. -Shout after shout came from him, and the others began -to run in his direction. - -"He can't 'a found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurrying -past us from the right, "for that's clean a-top." - -Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it -was something very different. At the foot of a pretty -big pine and involved in a green creeper, which had even -partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton -lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. I -believe a chill struck for a moment to every heart. - -"He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder than -the rest, had gone up close and was examining the rags -of clothing. "Leastways, this is good sea-cloth." - -"Aye, aye," said Silver; "like enough; you wouldn't -look to find a bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of -a way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't in natur'." - -Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to -fancy that the body was in a natural position. But for -some disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that had -fed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that had -gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly -straight--his feet pointing in one direction, his -hands, raised above his head like a diver's, pointing -directly in the opposite. - -"I've taken a notion into my old numbskull," observed -Silver. "Here's the compass; there's the tip-top p'int -o' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a tooth. Just -take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones." - -It was done. The body pointed straight in the -direction of the island, and the compass read duly -E.S.E. and by E. - -"I thought so," cried the cook; "this here is a -p'inter. Right up there is our line for the Pole Star -and the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it don't -make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of -HIS jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was -alone here; he killed 'em, every man; and this one he -hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my -timbers! They're long bones, and the hair's been -yellow. Aye, that would be Allardyce. You mind -Allardyce, Tom Morgan?" - -"Aye, aye," returned Morgan; "I mind him; he owed me -money, he did, and took my knife ashore with him." - -"Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'n -lying round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; -and the birds, I guess, would leave it be." - -"By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver. - -"There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, still -feeling round among the bones; "not a copper doit nor a -baccy box. It don't look nat'ral to me." - -"No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; "not nat'ral, -nor not nice, says you. Great guns! Messmates, but if -Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for you and -me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what -they are now." - -"I saw him dead with these here deadlights," said -Morgan. "Billy took me in. There he laid, with penny- -pieces on his eyes." - -"Dead--aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said -the fellow with the bandage; "but if ever sperrit -walked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he died -bad, did Flint!" - -"Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged, -and now he hollered for the rum, and now he sang. -'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; and I tell you -true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was -main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old -song comin' out as clear as clear--and the death-haul -on the man already." - -"Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead, -and he don't walk, that I know; leastways, he won't -walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a -cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons." - -We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and -the staring daylight, the pirates no longer ran -separate and shouting through the wood, but kept side -by side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of the -dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits. - - - - 32 - - The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees - -PARTLY from the damping influence of this alarm, partly -to rest Silver and the sick folk, the whole party sat -down as soon as they had gained the brow of the ascent. - -The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west, -this spot on which we had paused commanded a wide -prospect on either hand. Before us, over the tree- -tops, we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with -surf; behind, we not only looked down upon the -anchorage and Skeleton Island, but saw--clear across -the spit and the eastern lowlands--a great field of -open sea upon the east. Sheer above us rose the Spy- -glass, here dotted with single pines, there black with -precipices. There was no sound but that of the distant -breakers, mounting from all round, and the chirp of -countless insects in the brush. Not a man, not a sail, -upon the sea; the very largeness of the view increased -the sense of solitude. - -Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his compass. - -"There are three 'tall trees'" said he, "about in the right -line from Skeleton Island. 'Spy-glass shoulder,' I take it, -means that lower p'int there. It's child's play to find the -stuff now. I've half a mind to dine first." - -"I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. "Thinkin' o' -Flint--I think it were--as done me." - -"Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead," -said Silver. - -"He were an ugly devil," cried a third pirate with a -shudder; "that blue in the face too!" - -"That was how the rum took him," added Merry. "Blue! -Well, I reckon he was blue. That's a true word." - -Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon -this train of thought, they had spoken lower and lower, -and they had almost got to whispering by now, so that -the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence -of the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the -trees in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice -struck up the well-known air and words: - - "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" - -I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than the -pirates. The colour went from their six faces like -enchantment; some leaped to their feet, some clawed -hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground. - -"It's Flint, by ----!" cried Merry. - -The song had stopped as suddenly as it began--broken off, -you would have said, in the middle of a note, as though -someone had laid his hand upon the singer's mouth. Coming -through the clear, sunny atmosphere among the green tree-tops, -I thought it had sounded airily and sweetly; and the effect -on my companions was the stranger. - -"Come," said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips to -get the word out; "this won't do. Stand by to go -about. This is a rum start, and I can't name the -voice, but it's someone skylarking--someone that's -flesh and blood, and you may lay to that." - -His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of the -colour to his face along with it. Already the others -had begun to lend an ear to this encouragement and were -coming a little to themselves, when the same voice -broke out again--not this time singing, but in a faint -distant hail that echoed yet fainter among the clefts -of the Spy-glass. - -"Darby M'Graw," it wailed--for that is the word that -best describes the sound--"Darby M'Graw! Darby -M'Graw!" again and again and again; and then rising a -little higher, and with an oath that I leave out: -"Fetch aft the rum, Darby!" - -The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes -starting from their heads. Long after the voice had died -away they still stared in silence, dreadfully, before them. - -"That fixes it!" gasped one. "Let's go." - -"They was his last words," moaned Morgan, "his last -words above board." - -Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly. He had -been well brought up, had Dick, before he came to sea -and fell among bad companions. - -Still Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth -rattle in his head, but he had not yet surrendered. - -"Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby," he -muttered; "not one but us that's here." And then, -making a great effort: "Shipmates," he cried, "I'm here -to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man or -devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, -by the powers, I'll face him dead. There's seven -hundred thousand pound not a quarter of a mile from -here. When did ever a gentleman o' fortune show his -stern to that much dollars for a boozy old seaman with -a blue mug--and him dead too?" - -But there was no sign of reawakening courage in his -followers, rather, indeed, of growing terror at the -irreverence of his words. - -"Belay there, John!" said Merry. "Don't you -cross a sperrit." - -And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They -would have run away severally had they dared; but fear -kept them together, and kept them close by John, as if -his daring helped them. He, on his part, had pretty -well fought his weakness down. - -"Sperrit? Well, maybe," he said. "But there's one -thing not clear to me. There was an echo. Now, no man -ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what's he -doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That -ain't in natur', surely?" - -This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can -never tell what will affect the superstitious, and to -my wonder, George Merry was greatly relieved. - -"Well, that's so," he said. "You've a head upon your -shoulders, John, and no mistake. 'Bout ship, mates! -This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do believe. And -come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I grant -you, but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It -was liker somebody else's voice now--it was liker--" - -"By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared Silver. - -"Aye, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his -knees. "Ben Gunn it were!" - -"It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asked Dick. -"Ben Gunn's not here in the body any more'n Flint." - -But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn. - -"Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn," cried Merry; "dead or -alive, nobody minds him." - -It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned and -how the natural colour had revived in their faces. -Soon they were chatting together, with intervals of -listening; and not long after, hearing no further -sound, they shouldered the tools and set forth again, -Merry walking first with Silver's compass to keep them -on the right line with Skeleton Island. He had said -the truth: dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn. - -Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him -as he went, with fearful glances; but he found no -sympathy, and Silver even joked him on his precautions. - -"I told you," said he--"I told you you had sp'iled your -Bible. If it ain't no good to swear by, what do you -suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that!" and he -snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his crutch. - -But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was soon -plain to me that the lad was falling sick; hastened by -heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the -fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing -swiftly higher. - -It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way -lay a little downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau -tilted towards the west. The pines, great and small, -grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg -and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. -Striking, as we did, pretty near north-west across the -island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer under the -shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, looked -ever wider over that western bay where I had once -tossed and trembled in the oracle. - -The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the -bearings proved the wrong one. So with the second. The -third rose nearly two hundred feet into the air above a -clump of underwood--a giant of a vegetable, with a red -column as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in -which a company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous -far to sea both on the east and west and might have been -entered as a sailing mark upon the chart. - -But it was not its size that now impressed my -companions; it was the knowledge that seven hundred -thousand pounds in gold lay somewhere buried below its -spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they -drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. -Their eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew -speedier and lighter; their whole soul was found up in -that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and -pleasure, that lay waiting there for each of them. - -Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils -stood out and quivered; he cursed like a madman when -the flies settled on his hot and shiny countenance; he -plucked furiously at the line that held me to him and -from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly -look. Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, -and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate -nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten: his -promise and the doctor's warning were both things of -the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize -upon the treasure, find and board the HISPANIOLA -under cover of night, cut every honest throat about -that island, and sail away as he had at first intended, -laden with crimes and riches. - -Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me -to keep up with the rapid pace of the treasure-hunters. -Now and again I stumbled, and it was then that Silver -plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his -murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and -now brought up the rear, was babbling to himself both -prayers and curses as his fever kept rising. This also -added to my wretchedness, and to crown all, I was haunted -by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted on -that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with the blue face ---he who died at Savannah, singing and shouting for drink-- -had there, with his own hand, cut down his six accomplices. -This grove that was now so peaceful must then have rung with -cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe -I heard it ringing still. - -We were now at the margin of the thicket. - -"Huzza, mates, all together!" shouted Merry; and the -foremost broke into a run. - -And suddenly, not ten yards further, we beheld them stop. -A low cry arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging away -with the foot of his crutch like one possessed; and next -moment he and I had come also to a dead halt. - -Before us was a great excavation, not very recent, for -the sides had fallen in and grass had sprouted on the -bottom. In this were the shaft of a pick broken in two -and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around. -On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, -the name WALRUS--the name of Flint's ship. - -All was clear to probation. The CACHE had been found -and rifled; the seven hundred thousand pounds were gone! - - - - 33 - - The Fall of a Chieftain - -THERE never was such an overturn in this world. Each -of these six men was as though he had been struck. But -with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. Every -thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a -racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a -single second, dead; and he kept his head, found his -temper, and changed his plan before the others had had -time to realize the disappointment. - -"Jim," he whispered, "take that, and stand by for trouble." - -And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol. - -At the same time, he began quietly moving northward, -and in a few steps had put the hollow between us two -and the other five. Then he looked at me and nodded, -as much as to say, "Here is a narrow corner," as, -indeed, I thought it was. His looks were not quite -friendly, and I was so revolted at these constant -changes that I could not forbear whispering, "So you've -changed sides again." - -There was no time left for him to answer in. The -buccaneers, with oaths and cries, began to leap, one -after another, into the pit and to dig with their fingers, -throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found a -piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths. -It was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand to hand -among them for a quarter of a minute. - -"Two guineas!" roared Merry, shaking it at Silver. -"That's your seven hundred thousand pounds, is it? -You're the man for bargains, ain't you? You're him -that never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!" - -"Dig away, boys," said Silver with the coolest insolence; -"you'll find some pig-nuts and I shouldn't wonder." - -"Pig-nuts!" repeated Merry, in a scream. "Mates, do -you hear that? I tell you now, that man there knew it -all along. Look in the face of him and you'll see it -wrote there." - -"Ah, Merry," remarked Silver, "standing for cap'n -again? You're a pushing lad, to be sure." - -But this time everyone was entirely in Merry's favour. -They began to scramble out of the excavation, darting -furious glances behind them. One thing I observed, -which looked well for us: they all got out upon the -opposite side from Silver. - -Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the -other, the pit between us, and nobody screwed up high -enough to offer the first blow. Silver never moved; he -watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as -cool as ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake. - -At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters. - -"Mates," says he, "there's two of them alone there; -one's the old cripple that brought us all here and -blundered us down to this; the other's that cub that I -mean to have the heart of. Now, mates--" - -He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly meant -to lead a charge. But just then--crack! crack! crack!-- -three musket-shots flashed out of the thicket. Merry -tumbled head foremost into the excavation; the man with -the bandage spun round like a teetotum and fell all his -length upon his side, where he lay dead, but still -twitching; and the other three turned and ran for it -with all their might. - -Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels -of a pistol into the struggling Merry, and as the man -rolled up his eyes at him in the last agony, "George," -said he, "I reckon I settled you." - -At the same moment, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn joined -us, with smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg-trees. - -"Forward!" cried the doctor. "Double quick, my lads. -We must head 'em off the boats." - -And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging -through the bushes to the chest. - -I tell you, but Silver was anxious to keep up with us. -The work that man went through, leaping on his crutch -till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, was -work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the -doctor. As it was, he was already thirty yards behind -us and on the verge of strangling when we reached the -brow of the slope. - -"Doctor," he hailed, "see there! No hurry!" - -Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of -the plateau, we could see the three survivors still running -in the same direction as they had started, right for Mizzen- -mast Hill. We were already between them and the boats; and -so we four sat down to breathe, while Long John, mopping his -face, came slowly up with us. - -"Thank ye kindly, doctor," says he. "You came in in -about the nick, I guess, for me and Hawkins. And so -it's you, Ben Gunn!" he added. "Well, you're a nice -one, to be sure." - -"I'm Ben Gunn, I am," replied the maroon, wriggling -like an eel in his embarrassment. "And," he added, -after a long pause, "how do, Mr. Silver? Pretty well, -I thank ye, says you." - -"Ben, Ben," murmured Silver, "to think as you've done me!" - -The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pick-axes -deserted, in their flight, by the mutineers, and then -as we proceeded leisurely downhill to where the boats -were lying, related in a few words what had taken -place. It was a story that profoundly interested -Silver; and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the -hero from beginning to end. - -Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island, -had found the skeleton--it was he that had rifled it; -he had found the treasure; he had dug it up (it was the -haft of his pick-axe that lay broken in the -excavation); he had carried it on his back, in many -weary journeys, from the foot of the tall pine to a -cave he had on the two-pointed hill at the north-east -angle of the island, and there it had lain stored in -safety since two months before the arrival of the HISPANIOLA. - -When the doctor had wormed this secret from him on the -afternoon of the attack, and when next morning he saw -the anchorage deserted, he had gone to Silver, given -him the chart, which was now useless--given him the -stores, for Ben Gunn's cave was well supplied with -goats' meat salted by himself--given anything and -everything to get a chance of moving in safety from the -stockade to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of -malaria and keep a guard upon the money. - -"As for you, Jim," he said, "it went against my heart, -but I did what I thought best for those who had stood -by their duty; and if you were not one of these, whose -fault was it?" - -That morning, finding that I was to be involved in the -horrid disappointment he had prepared for the -mutineers, he had run all the way to the cave, and -leaving the squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray -and the maroon and started, making the diagonal across -the island to be at hand beside the pine. Soon, -however, he saw that our party had the start of him; -and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched -in front to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to -him to work upon the superstitions of his former -shipmates, and he was so far successful that Gray and -the doctor had come up and were already ambushed before -the arrival of the treasure-hunters. - -"Ah," said Silver, "it were fortunate for me that I had -Hawkins here. You would have let old John be cut to -bits, and never given it a thought, doctor." - -"Not a thought," replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. - -And by this time we had reached the gigs. The doctor, -with the pick-axe, demolished one of them, and then we -all got aboard the other and set out to go round by sea -for North Inlet. - -This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though he -was almost killed already with fatigue, was set to an oar, -like the rest of us, and we were soon skimming swiftly over -a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the straits and doubled -the south-east corner of the island, round which, four days -ago, we had towed the HISPANIOLA. - -As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the -black mouth of Ben Gunn's cave and a figure standing by -it, leaning on a musket. It was the squire, and we -waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, in -which the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any. - -Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North -Inlet, what should we meet but the HISPANIOLA, -cruising by herself? The last flood had lifted her, -and had there been much wind or a strong tide current, -as in the southern anchorage, we should never have -found her more, or found her stranded beyond help. As -it was, there was little amiss beyond the wreck of the -main-sail. Another anchor was got ready and dropped in -a fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round -again to Rum Cove, the nearest point for Ben Gunn's -treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned -with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to -pass the night on guard. - -A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of -the cave. At the top, the squire met us. To me he was -cordial and kind, saying nothing of my escapade either -in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite -salute he somewhat flushed. - -"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain -and imposter--a monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I -am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not. But -the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like mill-stones." - -"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting. - -"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "It is a -gross dereliction of my duty. Stand back." - -And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, -airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear -water, overhung with ferns. The floor was sand. -Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far -corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I -beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals built of -bars of gold. That was Flint's treasure that we had -come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives -of seventeen men from the HISPANIOLA. How many it -had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what -good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking -the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame -and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. -Yet there were still three upon that island--Silver, -and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn--who had each taken his -share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to -share in the reward. - -"Come in, Jim," said the captain. "You're a good boy in -your line, Jim, but I don't think you and me'll go to sea -again. You're too much of the born favourite for me. Is -that you, John Silver? What brings you here, man?" - -"Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver. - -"Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said. - -What a supper I had of it that night, with all my -friends around me; and what a meal it was, with Ben -Gunn's salted goat and some delicacies and a bottle of -old wine from the HISPANIOLA. Never, I am sure, -were people gayer or happier. And there was Silver, -sitting back almost out of the firelight, but eating -heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was -wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter--the same -bland, polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out. - - - - 34 - - And Last - -THE next morning we fell early to work, for the -transportation of this great mass of gold near a mile -by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat to -the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small a -number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon -the island did not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on -the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us against -any sudden onslaught, and we thought, besides, they had had -more than enough of fighting. - -Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and Ben -Gunn came and went with the boat, while the rest during -their absences piled treasure on the beach. Two of the -bars, slung in a rope's end, made a good load for a -grown man--one that he was glad to walk slowly with. -For my part, as I was not much use at carrying, I was -kept busy all day in the cave packing the minted money -into bread-bags. - -It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard -for the diversity of coinage, but so much larger and so -much more varied that I think I never had more pleasure -than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, -Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double -guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all -the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange -Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of -string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square -pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to -wear them round your neck--nearly every variety of -money in the world must, I think, have found a place in -that collection; and for number, I am sure they were -like autumn leaves, so that my back ached with stooping -and my fingers with sorting them out. - -Day after day this work went on; by every evening a -fortune had been stowed aboard, but there was another -fortune waiting for the morrow; and all this time we -heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers. - -At last--I think it was on the third night--the doctor -and I were strolling on the shoulder of the hill where -it overlooks the lowlands of the isle, when, from out -the thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise -between shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch -that reached our ears, followed by the former silence. - -"Heaven forgive them," said the doctor; "'tis -the mutineers!" - -"All drunk, sir," struck in the voice of Silver -from behind us. - -Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty, -and in spite of daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself -once more as quite a privileged and friendly dependent. -Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these -slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on -trying to ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, -none treated him better than a dog, unless it was Ben -Gunn, who was still terribly afraid of his old -quartermaster, or myself, who had really something to -thank him for; although for that matter, I suppose, I -had reason to think even worse of him than anybody -else, for I had seen him meditating a fresh treachery -upon the plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty gruffly -that the doctor answered him. - -"Drunk or raving," said he. - -"Right you were, sir," replied Silver; "and precious -little odds which, to you and me." - -"I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane -man," returned the doctor with a sneer, "and so my -feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But if I -were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain -one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should -leave this camp, and at whatever risk to my own -carcass, take them the assistance of my skill." - -"Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong," quoth -Silver. "You would lose your precious life, and you -may lay to that. I'm on your side now, hand and glove; -and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let -alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But -these men down there, they couldn't keep their word-- -no, not supposing they wished to; and what's more, they -couldn't believe as you could." - -"No," said the doctor. "You're the man to keep your -word, we know that." - -Well, that was about the last news we had of the three -pirates. Only once we heard a gunshot a great way off -and supposed them to be hunting. A council was held, -and it was decided that we must desert them on the island ---to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the -strong approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder -and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few medicines, and -some other necessaries, tools, clothing, a spare sail, a -fathom or two of rope, and by the particular desire of the -doctor, a handsome present of tobacco. - -That was about our last doing on the island. Before -that, we had got the treasure stowed and had shipped -enough water and the remainder of the goat meat in case -of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we weighed -anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood -out of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain -had flown and fought under at the palisade. - -The three fellows must have been watching us closer -than we thought for, as we soon had proved. For coming -through the narrows, we had to lie very near the -southern point, and there we saw all three of them -kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms -raised in supplication. It went to all our hearts, I -think, to leave them in that wretched state; but we -could not risk another mutiny; and to take them home -for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of -kindness. The doctor hailed them and told them of the -stores we had left, and where they were to find them. -But they continued to call us by name and appeal to us, -for God's sake, to be merciful and not leave them to -die in such a place. - -At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course and -was now swiftly drawing out of earshot, one of them--I -know not which it was--leapt to his feet with a hoarse -cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent a shot -whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail. - -After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and -when next I looked out they had disappeared from the -spit, and the spit itself had almost melted out of -sight in the growing distance. That was, at least, the -end of that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, -the highest rock of Treasure Island had sunk into the -blue round of sea. - -We were so short of men that everyone on board had to -bear a hand--only the captain lying on a mattress in -the stern and giving his orders, for though greatly -recovered he was still in want of quiet. We laid her -head for the nearest port in Spanish America, for we -could not risk the voyage home without fresh hands; and -as it was, what with baffling winds and a couple of -fresh gales, we were all worn out before we reached it. - -It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most -beautiful land-locked gulf, and were immediately -surrounded by shore boats full of Negroes and Mexican -Indians and half-bloods selling fruits and vegetables -and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of -so many good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), -the taste of the tropical fruits, and above all the -lights that began to shine in the town made a most -charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the -island; and the doctor and the squire, taking me along -with them, went ashore to pass the early part of the -night. Here they met the captain of an English man-of- -war, fell in talk with him, went on board his ship, -and, in short, had so agreeable a time that day was -breaking when we came alongside the HISPANIOLA. - -Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and as soon as we came on -board he began, with wonderful contortions, to make us -a confession. Silver was gone. The maroon had -connived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, -and he now assured us he had only done so to preserve -our lives, which would certainly have been forfeit if -"that man with the one leg had stayed aboard." But -this was not all. The sea-cook had not gone empty- -handed. He had cut through a bulkhead unobserved and -had removed one of the sacks of coin, worth perhaps -three or four hundred guineas, to help him on his -further wanderings. - -I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him. - -Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands on -board, made a good cruise home, and the HISPANIOLA -reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was beginning to -think of fitting out her consort. Five men only of -those who had sailed returned with her. "Drink and the -devil had done for the rest," with a vengeance, -although, to be sure, we were not quite in so bad a -case as that other ship they sang about: - - With one man of her crew alive, - What put to sea with seventy-five. - -All of us had an ample share of the treasure and used -it wisely or foolishly, according to our natures. -Captain Smollett is now retired from the sea. Gray not -only saved his money, but being suddenly smit with the -desire to rise, also studied his profession, and he is -now mate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship, -married besides, and the father of a family. As for -Ben Gunn, he got a thousand pounds, which he spent or -lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen -days, for he was back begging on the twentieth. Then -he was given a lodge to keep, exactly as he had feared -upon the island; and he still lives, a great favourite, -though something of a butt, with the country boys, and -a notable singer in church on Sundays and saints' days. - -Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable -seafaring man with one leg has at last gone clean out -of my life; but I dare say he met his old Negress, and -perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain -Flint. It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his -chances of comfort in another world are very small. - -The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I -know, where Flint buried them; and certainly they shall -lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring -me back again to that accursed island; and the worst -dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf -booming about its coasts or start upright in bed with -the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my -ears: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Treasure Island - - - - diff --git a/old/old/treas11.zip b/old/old/treas11.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dec80d7..0000000 --- a/old/old/treas11.zip +++ /dev/null |
