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  • PART THREE--My Shore Adventure

  • Chapter 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.

  • Chapter 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.

  • Chapter 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 THREE--My Shore Adventure

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