October 21, 2023 • 25 mins
Treasure IslandThe story is narrated by young Jim Hawkins, who becomes embroiled in a thrilling tale of piracy and buried treasure. When Jim and his mother discover a map in the chest of their inn's deceased lodger, Billy Bones, they realize it points to the legendary treasure of Captain Flint, a notorious pirate. This discovery leads to Jim embarking on a perilous voyage aboard the Hispaniola to Skeleton Island, where the treasure is believed to be hidden.During the journey, Jim discovers that a large portion of the ship's crew is composed of pirates, formerly under the command of Flint, and now led by the cunning and charismatic Long John Silver. Silver and his crew plan to mutiny once they reach the island and claim the treasure for themselves.The story unfolds with battles, treachery, loyalty, and cunning strategy. Throughout his adventure, Jim encounters danger at every turn, from deadly skirmishes with the pirates to encounters with the island's indigenous inhabitants."Treasure Island" is not just a tale of adventure but also a coming-of-age story for Jim, who must navigate moral ambiguities, learn whom to trust, and grow into his own as a young man. The novel also delves into themes of greed, loyalty, and the unpredictability of human nature.The character of Long John Silver, with his mix of ruthlessness and charm, is one of literature's most famous and complex pirates. Stevenson's vivid characters, combined with the suspenseful narrative, make "Treasure Island" a timeless tale that has captivated readers for generations.
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(00:00):
Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson.This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain.For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Treasure Islandby Robert Lewis Stevenson, read by Adrian
(00:21):
Pratzellus, Chapter twenty one the attack. As soon as Silver disappeared, the
captain, who had been closely watchinghim, turned toward the interior of the
house, and found not a manof us at his post but Gray.
It was the first time we hadever seen him. Angry quarters, he
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roared, and then as we slunkback to our places, Gray he said,
I'll put your name in the log. You've stood by your duty like
a seaman, mister Trelawney. Iam surprised at you, sir, doctor.
I thought you had worn the keycoat. If that was how you
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served at Fonteneus, Sir, you'dhave been better in your birth. The
Doctor's watch were all back at theirloopholes. The rest were busy loading the
spare muskets, and everyone with ared 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, He
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said, I've given silver a broadside. I pitched it in red hot on
the purpose, and before the hour'sout, as he said, we shall
be boarded. We're outnumbered. Ineedn't tell you that, but we fight
in shelter, and minutes ago Iwould have said, we fought with discipline.
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I have no manner of doubt thatwe can drub them, if you
choose. Then he went the roundand saw, as he said, that
all was clear. On the twoshort sides of the house east and west.
There were only two loopholes. Onthe south side, where the porch
was two again, and on thenorth side five. There was a round
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score of muskets for the seven ofus. 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 someammunition 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 chin is past,
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and we mustn't have smoke in oureyes. The iron fire basket was
carried bodily out by mister 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
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it before you're done. Hunter,serve out a round of brandy to all
hands. And while this was goingon, the Captain completed in his own
mind the plan of defense. Doctor. You will take the door, he
resumed, See, don't expose yourself, keep within and fire through the porch.
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Hunter, take the east side there, Joyce, you stand by the
west, my man, mister Trelawney, you are the best shot. You
and Gray. We'll take this longnorth side with the five loopholes. It's
there. The danger is if theycan get up to it and fire upon
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us through our own ports, thingswould begin to look dirty. Hawkins,
Neither you nor I are much accountat the shooting. We all stand by
to load and bear a hand.As the Captain had said, the chill
was passed. As soon as thesun had climbed above our girdle of trees.
It fell with all its force uponthe clearing and drank up the vapors
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at a draft. Soon the sandwas baking and the resin melting in the
logs of the block house. Jacketsand coats were flung aside. Shirts were
thrown open at the neck and rolledup to the shoulders, and we stood
there, each at his post ina fever of heat and anxiety. An
hour passed away. Hang them,said the captain. This is as dull
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as the doldrums. Gray whistle fora wind, And just at that moment
came the first news of the attack. If you please, sir, said
Joyce. If I see any one, am I to fire? I told
you so, cried the captain.Thank you, sir, returned Joyce,
with the same quiet civility. Nothingfollowed for a time, but the remark
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had set us all on the alert, straining ears, ears and eyes,
the musketeers with their pieces balanced intheir hands. The captain out in the
middle of the block house, withhis mouth very tight and a frown on
his face. So some seconds passedtill suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and
fired. The report had scarcely diedaway ere it was repeated and repeated from
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without, in a scattering volley,shot behind shot, like a string of
geese. From every side of theenclosure. Several bullets struck the log house,
but not one entered, And asthe smoke cleared away and vanished,
the stockade and the woods around itlooked as quiet and empty as before.
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Not a bough waved, not agleam of a musket barrel betrayed the presence
of our foes. Did you hityour men, asked the captain. Er
No, sir, replied Joyce,I believe not, sir. Next best
thing to tell the truth, mutteredCaptain Smollett. Load his gun, Hawkins,
How many should you saber on yourside at Doc Tor, I know
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precisely, said doctor Livesey. Threeshots were fired on this side. I
saw three flashes, two close together, one farther to the west, three,
repeated the captain. And how manyon yours, mister Trelawney. But
this was not so easily answered.There had come many from the north,
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seven by the squire's computation, eightor nine, according to Gray, from
the east and west, only asingle shot had been fired. It was
plain therefore, that the attack wouldbe developed from the north, and that
on the other three sides we wereonly to be annoyed by a show of
hostilities, but Captain Smollett made nochange in his arrangements. If the mutineers
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succeeded in crossing the stockade, heargued, they would take possession of any
protected loophole and shoot us down likerats in our stronghold. Nor had we
much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzarh,
a little cloud of pirates leaped fromthe woods on the north side and ran
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straight on the stockade. At thesame moment, the fire was once more
opened from the woods, and arifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked
the Doctor's musket into bits. Theboarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys.
Squire and Gray fired again, andyet again three men fell, one forward
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into the enclosure, two back onthe outside. But of these one was
evidently more frightened than hurt, forhe was on his feet again in a
crack, and instantly disappeared among thetrees. Two had bit the dust,
one had fled, four had madegood their footing inside our defenses, while
from the shelter of the woods sevenor eight men each evidently supplied with several
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muskets kept up a hot, thoughuseless fire on the log house. The
four who had boarded made straight beforethem for the building, shouting as they
ran, and the men among thetrees shouted back to encourage them. Several
shots were fired, but such wasthe hurry of the marksmen that not one
appeared to have taken effect. Ina moment, the four pirates had swarmed
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up the mound and were upon us. The head of job Anderson the Bosom,
appeared at the middle loop hole.Ham 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, pllucked it
through the loop hole, and withone stunning blow, laid the poor fellow
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senseless on the floor. Meanwhile,a third, running unharmed all round the
house, appeared suddenly in the doorwayand 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 itwas we who lay uncovered and could not
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return a blow. The log housewas 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 myears. Out Lads, out and
fight em in the open cutlasses,cried the captain. I snatched a cutlass
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from the pile, and some oneat 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. Some one was close behind I knew,
not whom. Right in front,the doctor was pursuing his assailant down
the hill, and just as myeyes fell upon him, beat down his
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guard and sent him sprawling on hisback with a great slash across his face.
Round to the house. Lads,Round to the house, cried the
Captain, and even in the hurlyburly, I perceived a change in his
voice. Mechanically, I obeyed,turned eastward, and with my cutlass raised,
ran round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to
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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, let dinner trice upon one side and
missing my footing in the soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. When
I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been already swarming
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up the palisade to make an endof us. One man in a red
night cap, with his cutlass inhis 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 nightcap still halfway over, another still showing his head
above the top of the stockade.And yet in this breath of time the
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fight was over, and the victoryhours. Gray, following close behind me,
had cut down the big bowzn erehe had time to recover from his
lost blow. Another had been shotat a loophole in the very act of
firing into the house, and nowlay in agony, the pistol still smoking
in his hand. A third,as I had seen the doctor, had
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disposed of at a blow. Ofthe four who had scaled the palisade,
only one remained unaccounted for, andhe, having left his cutlass on the
field, was now clambering out againwith the fear of death. Upon him.
Fire fire from the house, criedthe doctor, and you lads back
into cover, But his words wereunheeded. No shot was fired, and
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the last border made good his escapeand disappeared with the rest into the wood.
In three seconds, nothing remained ofthe attacking party but the five who
had fallen, four on the insideand one on the outside of the palisade.
The Doctor and Gray and I ranfull speed for shelter. The survivors
would soon be back where they hadleft their muskets, and at any moment
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the fire might recommence. The housewas by this time somewhat cleared of smoke,
and we saw at a glance theprice we had paid for victory.
Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunnedJoyce by his shot through the head,
never to move again. While Riotin the center the squire was supporting the
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captain, one as pale as theother. The Captain's wounded, said mister
Trelawney. Have they run, askedmister Smollett. All that could, You
may be bound, returned the doctor. But there's five of them, will
never run again, five, criedthe captain. Come that's better. Five
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against three leaves us four to nine. That's better odds than we had at
starting. We were seven to nineteenthen, or thought we were, and
that's bad to bear footnote the mutineerswere soon only eight in number. For
the man shot by mister Trelawney onboard the schooner died that same evening of
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his wound, but this was ofcourse not known till after by the faithful
party. End of Chapter twenty one, Part five, My Sea Adventure,
Chapter twenty two, How My SeaAdventure began. There was no return of
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the mutineers, not so much asanother 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 ina quiet time to overhaul the wounded and
get dinner. Squire and I cookedoutside in spite of the danger, and
even outside we could hardly tell whatwe were at, for the horror of
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the loud groans that reached us fromthe 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 shotat the loop hole, Hunter and Captain
Smollett, And of these the firsttwo were as good as dead. The
mutineer indeed died under the doctor's knife, and Hunter do what we could never
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regained consciousness in this world. Helingered all day, breathing loudly, like
the old buccaneer at home in hisapleptic 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 nor sound, he went
to his maker. As for theCaptain, his wounds were grievous, indeed,
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but not dangerous. No organ wasfatally injured. Anderson's ball, for
it was job that shot him first, had broken his shoulder blade and touched
the lung, not badly. Thesecond had only torn and displaced some muscles
in the calf. He was sureto recover, the doctor said, but
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in the meantime, and for weeksto come, he must not walk,
nor move his arm, nor somuch as speak. When he could help
it, my own accidental cart acrossthe knuckles was a flea bite. Doctor
Livesey patched it up with plaster andpulled my ears for me into the bargain.
After dinner, the Squire and thedoctor sat by the captain's side awhile
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in consultation, and when they hadtalked to their heart's content, it being
down a little past noon, thedoctor took up his hat and pistols,
girt on a cutlass, put thechart in his pocket, and with a
musket over his shoulder, crossed thepalisade on the north side, and set
off briskly through the trees. Grayand I were sitting together at the far
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end of the block house, tobe out of earshot of our officers consulting,
and Gray took his pipe out ofhis mouth and fairly forgot to put
it back again. So thunderstruck washe at this occurrence? Why in the
name of Davy, Jones, saidhe is doctor Livesey mad? Why no,
says I. He's about the lastof this crew. For that,
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I take it well, shipmate,said Gray. Mad he may not be,
but if he's not, my words, I am, I take it,
replied I. The doctor has hisidea, 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
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little patch of sand inside the palisadeablaze 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 toenvy the doctor walking in the cool
shadow of the woods, with thebirds about him and the pleasant smell of
the pines, while I sat grillingwith my clothes stuck to the hot resin,
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and so much blood about me,and so many poor dead bodies lying
all around that I took a disgustof that place that was almost as strong
as fear. All the time Iwas 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, beingnear a bread bag and no one then
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observing me, I took the firststeps toward my escape and filled both pockets
of my coat with biscuit. Iwas a fool, if you like,
and certainly I was going to doa foolish, overbold act. But I
was determined to do it with allthe precautions in my power. These biscuits,
should anything before me, would atleast keep me from starving till far
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on in the next day. Thenext thing I laid hold of was a
brace of pistols as I already hada powder horn and bullets, I felt
myself well supplied with arms. Asfor the scheme I had in my head,
it was not a bad one initself. It was to go down
the sandy spit that divides the anchorageon the east from the open sea find
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the white rock I had observed lastevening and ascertained whether it was there or
not that Ben Gunn had hidden hisboat, a thing quite worth doing,
as I still believe. But asI was certain I should not be allowed
to leave the enclosure, my onlyplan was to take French leave and slip
out when nobody was watching. Andthat was so bad a way of doing
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it, as made the thing itselfwrong. But I was only a boy,
and I had made my mind upwell. As things at last fell
out, I found an admirable opportunity. The Squire and Gray were busy helping
the captain with his bandages. Thecoast was clear. I made a bolt
for it over the stockade and intothe thickest of the trees, and before
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my absence was observed, I wasout of cry of my companions. This
was my second folly, far worsethan 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, forI was determined to go down the sea
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side of the spit to avoid allchance 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 methe sea breeze set in higher than usual.
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Soon, cool drafts of air beganto reach me, and a few
steps farther I came forth into theopen borders of the grove and saw the
sea lying blue and sunny to thehorizon, and the surf tumbling and tossing
its foam along the beach. Ihave never seen the sea quiet round Treasure
Island. The sun might blaze overhead, the air be without a breath,
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the surface smooth and blue, butstill the the great rollers would be running
along all the external coast, thunderingand thundering by day and night, and
I scarce believe there is one spotin 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 nowgot far enough to the south, I
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took the cover of some thick bushesand crept warily up to the ridge of
the spit. Behind me was thesea. In front the anchorage, the
sea breeze, as though it hadthe sooner blow itself out by its unusual
violence, was already at an end. It had been succeeded by light variable
airs from the south and southeast,carrying great banks of fog, and the
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anchorage under lee of Skeleton Island laystill and leaden, as when first we
entered it. The Hispaniola on thatunbroken mirror was exactly portrayed from the truck
to the water line. The JollyRoger hanging from her peak alongside lay one
of the gigs silver in the sternsheets him I could always recognize. While
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a couple of men were leaning overthe stern bulwarks, one of them with
a red cap, the very roguethat I had seen some hours before stride
legs upon the palisade. Apparently theywere talking and laughing, though at that
distance upward of a mile, Icould, of course hear no word of
what was said. All at oncethere began the most horrid, unearthly screaming,
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which at first startled me badly,though I had soon remembered the voice
of Captain Flint, and even thoughtI could make out the bird by her
bright plumage as she sat perched uponher master's wrist. Soon after, the
jolly boat shoved off and pulled forshore, and the man with the red
cap and his comrade went below bythe cabin companion. Just about the same
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time, the sun had gone downbehind the spyglass, and as the fog
was collecting rapidly, it began togrow dark In earnest I saw I must
lose no time if I were tofind the boat that evening. The white
rock visible enough above the brush,was still some eighth of a mile farther
down the spit, and it tookme a goodish while to get up with
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it, crawling off and on allfours among the scrub. Night had almost
come when I laid my hands onits rough sides right below it there was
an exceeding small hollow of green turfhidden by banks, and a thick understory
about knee deep that grew there veryplentifully, and in the center of the
dal shore enough a little tent ofgoat skins, like what the gypsies carry
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about with them in England. Idropped into the hollow, lifted the side
of the tent, and there wasben Gunn's boat, home made, if
ever anything was homemade, a rude, lopsided framework of tough wood, and
stretched upon that a covering of goatskin with the hair inside. The thing
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was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it
could have floated with a full sizedman. There was one a thwart set
as low as possible, a kindof stretcher in the boughs, and a
double paddle for propulsion. I hadnot then seen a coracle such as the
ancient Britons made, but I haveseen one since, and can give you
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no fairer idea of ben Gunn's boatthan by saying it was like the first
and the worst coracle ever made bya man. But the great advantage of
the coracle it certainly possessed, forit was exceedingly light and portable. Well,
now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had
had enough of truancy for once.But in the meantime I had taken another
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notion and become so obstinately fond ofit that I would have carried it out.
I believe in the teeth of CaptainSmollett himself. This was to slip
out under cover of the night,cut the Hispaniola adrift, and let her
go ashore where she fancied. Ihad quite made up my mind that the
mutineers, after their repulse of themorning, had nothing nearer their hearts than
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to up anchor and away to sea. This I thought it would be a
fine thing to prevent. And nowthat I had seen how they left their
watchmen unprovided with a boat, Ithought 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 outof ten thousand for my purpose. The
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fog had now buried all heaven.As the last rays of daylight dwindled and
disappeared, absolute blackness settled down onTreasure Island, and when at last I
shouldered my coracle and groped my waystumblingly out of the hollow where I had
supped. There were but two pointsvisible on the whole anchorage. One was
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the great fire on shore, bywhich the defeated pirates lay carousing in the
swamp. The other, a mereblur of light upon the darkness, indicated
the position of the anchored ship.She had swung round to the ebb.
Her bow was now toward me.The only lights on board were in the
cabin, and what I saw wasmerely a reflection on the fog of the
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strong rays that flowed from the sternwindow. The airp had already run some
time, and I had to wadethrough a long belt of swampy sand,
where I sank several times above theankle before I came to the edge of
the retreating water, and, wadinga little way in with some strength and
dexterity, set my coracle keel downwardon the surface. End of Chapter twenty two.
Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson.This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain.For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Treasure Islandby Robert Lewis Stevenson, read by Adrian
(00:21):
Pratzellus, Chapter twenty one the attack. As soon as Silver disappeared, the
captain, who had been closely watchinghim, turned toward the interior of the
house, and found not a manof us at his post but Gray.
It was the first time we hadever seen him. Angry quarters, he
(00:42):
roared, and then as we slunkback to our places, Gray he said,
I'll put your name in the log. You've stood by your duty like
a seaman, mister Trelawney. Iam surprised at you, sir, doctor.
I thought you had worn the keycoat. If that was how you
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served at Fonteneus, Sir, you'dhave been better in your birth. The
Doctor's watch were all back at theirloopholes. The rest were busy loading the
spare muskets, and everyone with ared 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, He
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said, I've given silver a broadside. I pitched it in red hot on
the purpose, and before the hour'sout, as he said, we shall
be boarded. We're outnumbered. Ineedn't tell you that, but we fight
in shelter, and minutes ago Iwould have said, we fought with discipline.
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I have no manner of doubt thatwe can drub them, if you
choose. Then he went the roundand saw, as he said, that
all was clear. On the twoshort sides of the house east and west.
There were only two loopholes. Onthe south side, where the porch
was two again, and on thenorth side five. There was a round
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score of muskets for the seven ofus. 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 someammunition 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 chin is past,
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and we mustn't have smoke in oureyes. The iron fire basket was
carried bodily out by mister 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
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it before you're done. Hunter,serve out a round of brandy to all
hands. And while this was goingon, the Captain completed in his own
mind the plan of defense. Doctor. You will take the door, he
resumed, See, don't expose yourself, keep within and fire through the porch.
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Hunter, take the east side there, Joyce, you stand by the
west, my man, mister Trelawney, you are the best shot. You
and Gray. We'll take this longnorth side with the five loopholes. It's
there. The danger is if theycan get up to it and fire upon
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us through our own ports, thingswould begin to look dirty. Hawkins,
Neither you nor I are much accountat the shooting. We all stand by
to load and bear a hand.As the Captain had said, the chill
was passed. As soon as thesun had climbed above our girdle of trees.
It fell with all its force uponthe clearing and drank up the vapors
(04:08):
at a draft. Soon the sandwas baking and the resin melting in the
logs of the block house. Jacketsand coats were flung aside. Shirts were
thrown open at the neck and rolledup to the shoulders, and we stood
there, each at his post ina fever of heat and anxiety. An
hour passed away. Hang them,said the captain. This is as dull
(04:33):
as the doldrums. Gray whistle fora wind, And just at that moment
came the first news of the attack. If you please, sir, said
Joyce. If I see any one, am I to fire? I told
you so, cried the captain.Thank you, sir, returned Joyce,
with the same quiet civility. Nothingfollowed for a time, but the remark
(04:57):
had set us all on the alert, straining ears, ears and eyes,
the musketeers with their pieces balanced intheir hands. The captain out in the
middle of the block house, withhis mouth very tight and a frown on
his face. So some seconds passedtill suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and
fired. The report had scarcely diedaway ere it was repeated and repeated from
(05:21):
without, in a scattering volley,shot behind shot, like a string of
geese. From every side of theenclosure. Several bullets struck the log house,
but not one entered, And asthe smoke cleared away and vanished,
the stockade and the woods around itlooked as quiet and empty as before.
(05:41):
Not a bough waved, not agleam of a musket barrel betrayed the presence
of our foes. Did you hityour men, asked the captain. Er
No, sir, replied Joyce,I believe not, sir. Next best
thing to tell the truth, mutteredCaptain Smollett. Load his gun, Hawkins,
How many should you saber on yourside at Doc Tor, I know
(06:05):
precisely, said doctor Livesey. Threeshots were fired on this side. I
saw three flashes, two close together, one farther to the west, three,
repeated the captain. And how manyon yours, mister Trelawney. But
this was not so easily answered.There had come many from the north,
(06:26):
seven by the squire's computation, eightor nine, according to Gray, from
the east and west, only asingle shot had been fired. It was
plain therefore, that the attack wouldbe developed from the north, and that
on the other three sides we wereonly to be annoyed by a show of
hostilities, but Captain Smollett made nochange in his arrangements. If the mutineers
(06:48):
succeeded in crossing the stockade, heargued, they would take possession of any
protected loophole and shoot us down likerats in our stronghold. Nor had we
much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzarh,
a little cloud of pirates leaped fromthe woods on the north side and ran
(07:08):
straight on the stockade. At thesame moment, the fire was once more
opened from the woods, and arifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked
the Doctor's musket into bits. Theboarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys.
Squire and Gray fired again, andyet again three men fell, one forward
(07:29):
into the enclosure, two back onthe outside. But of these one was
evidently more frightened than hurt, forhe was on his feet again in a
crack, and instantly disappeared among thetrees. Two had bit the dust,
one had fled, four had madegood their footing inside our defenses, while
from the shelter of the woods sevenor eight men each evidently supplied with several
(07:51):
muskets kept up a hot, thoughuseless fire on the log house. The
four who had boarded made straight beforethem for the building, shouting as they
ran, and the men among thetrees shouted back to encourage them. Several
shots were fired, but such wasthe hurry of the marksmen that not one
appeared to have taken effect. Ina moment, the four pirates had swarmed
(08:15):
up the mound and were upon us. The head of job Anderson the Bosom,
appeared at the middle loop hole.Ham 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, pllucked it
through the loop hole, and withone stunning blow, laid the poor fellow
(08:37):
senseless on the floor. Meanwhile,a third, running unharmed all round the
house, appeared suddenly in the doorwayand 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 itwas we who lay uncovered and could not
(08:58):
return a blow. The log housewas 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 myears. Out Lads, out and
fight em in the open cutlasses,cried the captain. I snatched a cutlass
(09:18):
from the pile, and some oneat 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. Some one was close behind I knew,
not whom. Right in front,the doctor was pursuing his assailant down
the hill, and just as myeyes fell upon him, beat down his
(09:39):
guard and sent him sprawling on hisback with a great slash across his face.
Round to the house. Lads,Round to the house, cried the
Captain, and even in the hurlyburly, I perceived a change in his
voice. Mechanically, I obeyed,turned eastward, and with my cutlass raised,
ran round the corner of the house. Next moment I was face to
(10:03):
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, let dinner trice upon one side and
missing my footing in the soft sand, rolled headlong down the slope. When
I had first sallied from the door, the other mutineers had been already swarming
(10:26):
up the palisade to make an endof us. One man in a red
night cap, with his cutlass inhis 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 nightcap still halfway over, another still showing his head
above the top of the stockade.And yet in this breath of time the
(10:52):
fight was over, and the victoryhours. Gray, following close behind me,
had cut down the big bowzn erehe had time to recover from his
lost blow. Another had been shotat a loophole in the very act of
firing into the house, and nowlay in agony, the pistol still smoking
in his hand. A third,as I had seen the doctor, had
(11:15):
disposed of at a blow. Ofthe four who had scaled the palisade,
only one remained unaccounted for, andhe, having left his cutlass on the
field, was now clambering out againwith the fear of death. Upon him.
Fire fire from the house, criedthe doctor, and you lads back
into cover, But his words wereunheeded. No shot was fired, and
(11:39):
the last border made good his escapeand disappeared with the rest into the wood.
In three seconds, nothing remained ofthe attacking party but the five who
had fallen, four on the insideand one on the outside of the palisade.
The Doctor and Gray and I ranfull speed for shelter. The survivors
would soon be back where they hadleft their muskets, and at any moment
(12:03):
the fire might recommence. The housewas by this time somewhat cleared of smoke,
and we saw at a glance theprice we had paid for victory.
Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunnedJoyce by his shot through the head,
never to move again. While Riotin the center the squire was supporting the
(12:24):
captain, one as pale as theother. The Captain's wounded, said mister
Trelawney. Have they run, askedmister Smollett. All that could, You
may be bound, returned the doctor. But there's five of them, will
never run again, five, criedthe captain. Come that's better. Five
(12:46):
against three leaves us four to nine. That's better odds than we had at
starting. We were seven to nineteenthen, or thought we were, and
that's bad to bear footnote the mutineerswere soon only eight in number. For
the man shot by mister Trelawney onboard the schooner died that same evening of
(13:09):
his wound, but this was ofcourse not known till after by the faithful
party. End of Chapter twenty one, Part five, My Sea Adventure,
Chapter twenty two, How My SeaAdventure began. There was no return of
(13:31):
the mutineers, not so much asanother 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 ina quiet time to overhaul the wounded and
get dinner. Squire and I cookedoutside in spite of the danger, and
even outside we could hardly tell whatwe were at, for the horror of
(13:54):
the loud groans that reached us fromthe 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 shotat the loop hole, Hunter and Captain
Smollett, And of these the firsttwo were as good as dead. The
mutineer indeed died under the doctor's knife, and Hunter do what we could never
(14:16):
regained consciousness in this world. Helingered all day, breathing loudly, like
the old buccaneer at home in hisapleptic 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 nor sound, he went
to his maker. As for theCaptain, his wounds were grievous, indeed,
(14:39):
but not dangerous. No organ wasfatally injured. Anderson's ball, for
it was job that shot him first, had broken his shoulder blade and touched
the lung, not badly. Thesecond had only torn and displaced some muscles
in the calf. He was sureto recover, the doctor said, but
(15:00):
in the meantime, and for weeksto come, he must not walk,
nor move his arm, nor somuch as speak. When he could help
it, my own accidental cart acrossthe knuckles was a flea bite. Doctor
Livesey patched it up with plaster andpulled my ears for me into the bargain.
After dinner, the Squire and thedoctor sat by the captain's side awhile
(15:22):
in consultation, and when they hadtalked to their heart's content, it being
down a little past noon, thedoctor took up his hat and pistols,
girt on a cutlass, put thechart in his pocket, and with a
musket over his shoulder, crossed thepalisade on the north side, and set
off briskly through the trees. Grayand I were sitting together at the far
(15:43):
end of the block house, tobe out of earshot of our officers consulting,
and Gray took his pipe out ofhis mouth and fairly forgot to put
it back again. So thunderstruck washe at this occurrence? Why in the
name of Davy, Jones, saidhe is doctor Livesey mad? Why no,
says I. He's about the lastof this crew. For that,
(16:06):
I take it well, shipmate,said Gray. Mad he may not be,
but if he's not, my words, I am, I take it,
replied I. The doctor has hisidea, 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
(16:29):
little patch of sand inside the palisadeablaze 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 toenvy the doctor walking in the cool
shadow of the woods, with thebirds about him and the pleasant smell of
the pines, while I sat grillingwith my clothes stuck to the hot resin,
(16:52):
and so much blood about me,and so many poor dead bodies lying
all around that I took a disgustof that place that was almost as strong
as fear. All the time Iwas 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, beingnear a bread bag and no one then
(17:15):
observing me, I took the firststeps toward my escape and filled both pockets
of my coat with biscuit. Iwas a fool, if you like,
and certainly I was going to doa foolish, overbold act. But I
was determined to do it with allthe precautions in my power. These biscuits,
should anything before me, would atleast keep me from starving till far
(17:37):
on in the next day. Thenext thing I laid hold of was a
brace of pistols as I already hada powder horn and bullets, I felt
myself well supplied with arms. Asfor the scheme I had in my head,
it was not a bad one initself. It was to go down
the sandy spit that divides the anchorageon the east from the open sea find
(18:00):
the white rock I had observed lastevening and ascertained whether it was there or
not that Ben Gunn had hidden hisboat, a thing quite worth doing,
as I still believe. But asI was certain I should not be allowed
to leave the enclosure, my onlyplan was to take French leave and slip
out when nobody was watching. Andthat was so bad a way of doing
(18:22):
it, as made the thing itselfwrong. But I was only a boy,
and I had made my mind upwell. As things at last fell
out, I found an admirable opportunity. The Squire and Gray were busy helping
the captain with his bandages. Thecoast was clear. I made a bolt
for it over the stockade and intothe thickest of the trees, and before
(18:45):
my absence was observed, I wasout of cry of my companions. This
was my second folly, far worsethan 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, forI was determined to go down the sea
(19:07):
side of the spit to avoid allchance 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 methe sea breeze set in higher than usual.
(19:33):
Soon, cool drafts of air beganto reach me, and a few
steps farther I came forth into theopen borders of the grove and saw the
sea lying blue and sunny to thehorizon, and the surf tumbling and tossing
its foam along the beach. Ihave never seen the sea quiet round Treasure
Island. The sun might blaze overhead, the air be without a breath,
(19:56):
the surface smooth and blue, butstill the the great rollers would be running
along all the external coast, thunderingand thundering by day and night, and
I scarce believe there is one spotin 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 nowgot far enough to the south, I
(20:19):
took the cover of some thick bushesand crept warily up to the ridge of
the spit. Behind me was thesea. In front the anchorage, the
sea breeze, as though it hadthe sooner blow itself out by its unusual
violence, was already at an end. It had been succeeded by light variable
airs from the south and southeast,carrying great banks of fog, and the
(20:44):
anchorage under lee of Skeleton Island laystill and leaden, as when first we
entered it. The Hispaniola on thatunbroken mirror was exactly portrayed from the truck
to the water line. The JollyRoger hanging from her peak alongside lay one
of the gigs silver in the sternsheets him I could always recognize. While
(21:08):
a couple of men were leaning overthe stern bulwarks, one of them with
a red cap, the very roguethat I had seen some hours before stride
legs upon the palisade. Apparently theywere talking and laughing, though at that
distance upward of a mile, Icould, of course hear no word of
what was said. All at oncethere began the most horrid, unearthly screaming,
(21:33):
which at first startled me badly,though I had soon remembered the voice
of Captain Flint, and even thoughtI could make out the bird by her
bright plumage as she sat perched uponher master's wrist. Soon after, the
jolly boat shoved off and pulled forshore, and the man with the red
cap and his comrade went below bythe cabin companion. Just about the same
(21:55):
time, the sun had gone downbehind the spyglass, and as the fog
was collecting rapidly, it began togrow dark In earnest I saw I must
lose no time if I were tofind the boat that evening. The white
rock visible enough above the brush,was still some eighth of a mile farther
down the spit, and it tookme a goodish while to get up with
(22:17):
it, crawling off and on allfours among the scrub. Night had almost
come when I laid my hands onits rough sides right below it there was
an exceeding small hollow of green turfhidden by banks, and a thick understory
about knee deep that grew there veryplentifully, and in the center of the
dal shore enough a little tent ofgoat skins, like what the gypsies carry
(22:41):
about with them in England. Idropped into the hollow, lifted the side
of the tent, and there wasben Gunn's boat, home made, if
ever anything was homemade, a rude, lopsided framework of tough wood, and
stretched upon that a covering of goatskin with the hair inside. The thing
(23:02):
was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it
could have floated with a full sizedman. There was one a thwart set
as low as possible, a kindof stretcher in the boughs, and a
double paddle for propulsion. I hadnot then seen a coracle such as the
ancient Britons made, but I haveseen one since, and can give you
(23:25):
no fairer idea of ben Gunn's boatthan by saying it was like the first
and the worst coracle ever made bya man. But the great advantage of
the coracle it certainly possessed, forit was exceedingly light and portable. Well,
now that I had found the boat, you would have thought I had
had enough of truancy for once.But in the meantime I had taken another
(23:48):
notion and become so obstinately fond ofit that I would have carried it out.
I believe in the teeth of CaptainSmollett himself. This was to slip
out under cover of the night,cut the Hispaniola adrift, and let her
go ashore where she fancied. Ihad quite made up my mind that the
mutineers, after their repulse of themorning, had nothing nearer their hearts than
(24:14):
to up anchor and away to sea. This I thought it would be a
fine thing to prevent. And nowthat I had seen how they left their
watchmen unprovided with a boat, Ithought 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 outof ten thousand for my purpose. The
(24:37):
fog had now buried all heaven.As the last rays of daylight dwindled and
disappeared, absolute blackness settled down onTreasure Island, and when at last I
shouldered my coracle and groped my waystumblingly out of the hollow where I had
supped. There were but two pointsvisible on the whole anchorage. One was
(25:00):
the great fire on shore, bywhich the defeated pirates lay carousing in the
swamp. The other, a mereblur of light upon the darkness, indicated
the position of the anchored ship.She had swung round to the ebb.
Her bow was now toward me.The only lights on board were in the
cabin, and what I saw wasmerely a reflection on the fog of the
(25:22):
strong rays that flowed from the sternwindow. The airp had already run some
time, and I had to wadethrough a long belt of swampy sand,
where I sank several times above theankle before I came to the edge of
the retreating water, and, wadinga little way in with some strength and
dexterity, set my coracle keel downwardon the surface. End of Chapter twenty two.
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