Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson - Chapter 27-28

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.

Episode Transcript

(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 Louis Stephenson, read by Adrian

(00:21):
Pratzealous, Chapter twenty seven pieces ofeight. Owing to the count of the
vessel, The masts hung far outover the water, and from my perch
on the cross trees, I hadnothing below me but the surface of the
bay. Hands, who was notso far up, was in consequence,

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nearer to the ship, and fellbetween me and the bulwarks. He rose
once to the surface in a larthaof foam and blood, and then sank
again for good. As the watersettled, I could see him lying huddled
together on the clean, bright sandin the shadow of the vessel's sides.

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A fish or two whipped past hisbody, sometimes by the quivering of the
water. He appeared to move alittle, as if he were trying to
rise, but he was dead enoughfor all that, being both shot and
drowned, and was food for fishin the very place where he had designed
my slaughter. I was no soonercertain of this than I began to feel

(01:26):
sick, faint, and terrified.The hot blood was running over my back
and chest. The dirk, whereit 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. Itwas the horror that I had upon my

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mind of falling from the cross treeinto that still green water beside the body
of the cocksin. I clung withboth hands till my nail ached, and
I shut my eyes as if tocover up the peril. Gradually my mind
came back again, my pulses quieteddown to a more natural time, and

(02:12):
I was once more in possession ofmyself. It was my first thought to
pluck forth the dirk, but eitherit struck too hard or my nerve failed
me, and I desisted with aviolent 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

(02:37):
of skin, and this the shuddertore away. The blood ran down the
faster to be sure, But Iwas my own master again, and only
tacked to the mast by my coatand shirt. These last I broke through
with a sudden jerk, and thenregained the deck by the starboard shrouds.

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For nothing in the world would Ihave I have again ventured shaken as I
was upon the overhanging port shrouds fromwhich Israel had so lately fallen, I
went below and did what I couldfor 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 whenI used my arm. Then I

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looked around me, and as theship was now in a sense my own,
I began to think of clearing itfrom its last passenger, the dead
man O'Brien. He had pitched,as I have said, against the bulwarks,
where he lay, like some horrid, ungainly sort of puppet, life
size indeed, but how different fromlife's color or life's comeliness. In that

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position I could easily have my waywith him, And as the habit of
tragical adventures had worn off almost allmy terror for the dead, I took
him by the waist, as ifhe'd been a sack of bran, and
with one good heave tumbled him overboard. He went in with a sounding plunge.

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The red cap came off and remainedfloating on the surface, and as
soon as the splash subsided, Icould see him and Israel lying side by
side, both wavering with the tremulousmovement of the water. O'Brien, though
still quite a young man, wasvery bald. There he lay, with

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that bald head across the knees ofthe man who had killed him, and
the quick fishes steering to and froover both. I was now alone within
the ship. The tide had justturned. The sun was within so few
degrees of setting that already the shadowsof the pines upon the western shore began
to reach right across the anchorage andfall in patterns on the deck. The

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evening breeze had sprung up, andthough it was well warded off by the
hill with the two peaks upon theeast, the cordage had begun to sing
a little softly to itself, andthe idle sails to rattle to and fro.
I began to see a danger tothe ship. The jibs. I
speedily doused and brought tumbling to thedeck. But the mainsail was a harder.

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Matter of course, when the schoonercanted over, the boom had swung
outward, and the cap of itand a foot or two of sail hung
even under water. I thought thismade it still more dangerous. Yet the
strain was so heavy that I halffeared to meddle. At last, I
got my knife and cut the hallyards. The peak dropped instantly, the great

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belly of loose canvas floated broad uponthe water, and since pull as I
liked, I could not budge thedown hall. That was the extent of
what I could accomplish. For therest the Hispaniola must trust to luck like
myself. By this time the wholeanchorage had fallen in to shadow. The
last rays I remember falling through aglade of the wood and shining bright as

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jewels on the flowery mantle of thewreck. It began to be chill.
The tide was rapidly fleeting seaward,the schooner settling more and more on her
beam ends. I scrambled forehead andlooked over. It seemed shallow enough,
and holding the cut hawser in bothhands. For a last security, I

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let myself drop softly overboard. Thewater 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 mainsail trailing wide upon the
surface of the bay. About thesame time the sun went fairly down,

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and the breeze whistled low in thedusk among the tossing pines. At least,
and at last, I was offthe sea. Nor had I returned
thence empty handed. There lay theschooner, clear at last from buccaneers,
and ready for our own men toboard and get to sea again. I

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had nothing nearer my fancy than toget home to the stockade and boast of
my achievements. Possibly I might beblamed a bit for my truanty, but
the recapture of the Hispaniola was aclinching answer, and I hoped that even
Captain Smollett would confess I had notlost my time. So, thinking and
in famous spirits, I began toset my face homeward for the block house

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and my companions. I remembered thatthe most easterly of the rivers, which
drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage, ranfrom the two peaked hill upon my left,
and I bent my course in thatdirection that I might pass the stream.
While it was small, the woodwas pretty open, and keeping along
the lower spurs, I had soonturned the corner of that hill, and

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not long after waded to the midcalf across the water course. This brought
me near to where I had encounteredBen Gunn the Maroon, and I walked
more circumspectully, keeping an eye onevery side. The dusk had come nigh
hand completely, and as I openedout of the cleft between the two peaks,

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I became aware of a wavering glowagainst the sky, where as I
judged the man of the island wascooking his supper before a roaring fire.
And yet I wondered in my heartthat he should show himself so careless,
For if I could see this radiance, might it not reach the eye of
Silver himself where he camped upon theshore among the marshes. Gradually the night

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fell blacker. It was all Icould do to guide myself even roughly toward
my destination. The double hill behindme, and the spyglass on my right
hand loomed fainter and fainter. Thestars 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 ofbrightness fell about me. I looked up.

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A pale glimmer of moonbeams had alightedon the summit of the spyglass.
And soon after I saw something broadand 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 meof my journey, and sometimes walking,

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sometimes running. Impatiently drew near tothe 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 atrifle warily. It would have been a
poor end of my adventures to getshot down by my own party in mistake.

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The moon was climbing higher and higher. Its light began to fall here
and there in masses, through themore open district to the wood, and
right in front of me a glowof a different color appeared among the trees.
It was red and hot, andnow and again it was a little
darkened, as it were the embersof a bonfire smoldering. For the life

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of me, I could not thinkwhat it might be. At last I
came right down upon the borders ofthe clearing. The western end was already
steeped in moonshine. The rest andthe block house itself still lay in a
black shadow, checkered with long,silvery streaks of light. On the other
side of the house, an immensefire had burned itself into clear embers and

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shared a steadily red reverberation, contrastingstrongly with the mellow paleness of the moon.
There was not a soul stirring,nor a sound beside the noises of
that breeze. I stopped with muchwonder in my heart, and perhaps a
little terror also. It had notbeen our way to build great fires.

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We were, indeed, by theCaptain's orders, somewhat niggardly of firewood,
and I began to fear that somethinghad gone wrong. While I was absent,
I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in shadow, and
at a convenient place where the darknesswas thickest, crossed the palisade to make
assurance surer. I got upon myhands and knees and crawled without a sound

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toward the corner of the house.As I drew nearer, my heart was
suddenly and greatly lightened. It wasnot a pleasant noise in itself, and
I have often complained of it inother times, But just then it was
like music to hear my friends snoringtogether, so loud and peaceful in their
sleep. The sea cry of thewatch, that beautiful All's well, never

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fell more reassuringly on my ear.In the meantime. There was no doubt
of one thing they kept, aninfamous bad watch. If it had been
Soilver and his lads that were nowcreeping in on them, not a soul
would have seen daybreak. That waswhat it was thought I to have the

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captain wounded, And again I blamedmyself 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. Allwas dark within, so that I could
distinguish nothing by the eye. Asfor sounds, there was the steady drone
of the schnorers, and a smalloccasional noise, a flickering or pecking,

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that I could in no way accountfor with my arms before me, I
walked steadily in. I should liedown in my own place, I thought,
with a silent chuckle, and enjoytheir faces when they found me.
In the morning, my foot strucksomething yielding. It was a sleeper's leg,
and he turned and groaned, butwithout awaking. And then all of

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a sudden a shrill voice broke forthout of the darkness, paces of eight,
paces of eight pieces of eight,pieces of eight pieces of eight,
and so forth, without paws orchange, like the clacking of a tiny
mill. Silver's green parrot, CaptainFlint. It was she whom I had
heard pecking at a piece of bark. It was she keeping better watch than

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any human being, who thus announcedmy arrival with her wearisome refrain. I
had no time left me to recover. At the sharp clicking tone of the
parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprangup, and with a mighty oath,
the voice of Silver cried, whogoes? I turned to run, struck

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violently against one person, recoiled andran full into the arms of a second,
who, for his part, closedupon and held me tight. Bring
a torch, dick, said Silver, When my capture was thus assured,
and one of the men left thelog house and presently returned with a lighted

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brand. End of Chapter twenty seven, Part six Captain Silver, Chapter twenty
eight. In the enemy's camp,the bright glare of the torch lighting up
the interior of the block house showedme the worst of my apprehensions. Realized
the pirates were in possession of thehouse and stores. There was the cask

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of cognac. There were the porkand bread as before, and what tenfold
increased my horror. Not a signof any prisoner. I could only judge
that all had perished, and myheart smoked me sorely that I had not
been there to perish with them.There were six of the buccaneers, all

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told, not another man was leftalive. Five of them were on their
feet, flushed and swollen, suddenlycalled out of the first sleep of drunkenness.
The sixth had only risen upon hiselbow. He was dead, pale,
and the blood stained bandage round hishead told that he had recently been
wounded and was still more recently dressed. I remembered the man who had been

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shot and ran back among the woodsin the great attack, and doubted not
that this was he. The parrotsat preening her plumage on long John's shoulder.
He himself, I thought, lookedsomewhat paler and more stern than I
was used to. He still worehis fine broadcloth suit in which he had

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fulfilled his mission, but it wasbitterly the worse for wear, daubed with
clay and torn with sharp briers ofthe wood. So said he, here's
Jim Harkin shiver. My timbers droppedin like eh, where come I take
that? Friendly? And thereupon hesat down across the brandy cask and began

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to fill a pipe. Give methe loan of a lying dick, said
he. And then, when hehad a good light, I'll do my
lad, he added, stick theglim in the wood heap. And you
gentlemen bring yourselves to You needn't standup for mister Hawkins. He'll excuse you.

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You may later that and sew Jimstopping the tobacco. Here you are,
and quite a pleasant surprise for oldJohn. I see you were smart
when first I set my eyes onyou. But this ear gets away from
me clean it do to all this, as may be well supposed, I

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made no answer. They had setme with my back against the wall,
and I stood there, looking silverin the face. Pluckily enough, I
hoped to all outward appearance, butwith black despair in my heart. Silver
took a whiff or two of hispipe with great composure, and then ran
on again. Now you, Jim, so be as you are here,

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said he. I'll give you apiece of my mind. I've always liked
you. I have for a lotof spirit and the picture of my own
self. When I was young andhandsome, I always wanted to join and
take your share and die a gentleman. And now, my cock, you've
got to cap'n Smollett to find seemenas oil own up to any day bit

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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, waswhat he said. And the shot and
the log of the whole story isabout here. You can't go back to

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your own lot, for they won'thave you. And without you start a
third ship's company all by yourself,which might be lonely. You'll have to
join with cap'n Silver. So far, so good. My friends then were
still alive. And though I partlybelieved the truth of Silver's statement that the

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cabin party were incensed at me formy desertion, I was more relieved than
distressed by what I heard. Idon't say nothing as to your being in
our hands, continued Silver. Thoughthere you are, and you may lay
do it. Oh more for argument, I never seen good come out of

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threatening. If you like the service, well you're join. And if you
don't, Jim why you're free toanswer? No, free and welcome shipmate,
And if fairer can be said bymortal seamen, shiver my sides.
Am I to answer? Then,I asked, with a very tremulous voice.

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Through all this sneering talk, Iwill made to feel the threat of
death that overhung me, and mycheeks burned, and my heart beat painfully
in my breast. Lad said Silver, No one's a pressin of you.
Take your bearings. None of uswon't hurry you, mate, Time goes

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so pleasant in your company, yousee, well, says I, growing
a bit bolder. If I'm tochoose, I declare I have a right
to know what's what and why you'rehere, and where my friends are?
What's what? Repeated one of thebuccaneers, in a deep growl. I'd

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be a lucky one as know thatyou're perhaps betting down your hatches till you
are spoken to. My friend,cried Silver truculently to the speaker, and
then in his first gracious tones,he replied to me, yesterday morning,
mister Hawkins said he in the dogwatch Down came Doctor Livesey with a flag

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of truce, says he, cap'nSilver, you're sold out. Ship's gone.
Well, maybe we'd been taking aglass and a song to help it
round. I won't say no.Leastways none of us had looked out.
We looked out, and boy thunder, the old ship was gone. I

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never seen a pack of fools lookfishy, and you made late that.
If I tells you that I lookedthe fishiest, well, says the doctor.
Let's boggin. We boggined him.An aye, And here we are
stores brandy blockhouse. The firewood youwas thoughtful enough to cut, and in

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a manner of speaking, the wholeblessed boat from Crosstrees to Keelson. As
for them, they've tramped. Idon't know where's they are. He drew
again quietly at his pipe. Unlest you should take it into that head
of yours. He went on,that you was included in the treaty.

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Here's the last word that was said. How many are you? Says I
to leave? Four, says hefour and one of us wounded. As
for that boy, I don't knowwhere he is. Confound him, says
he, nor I don't much care. We're about sick of him. There
was his words? Is that all? I asked, Well, it's all

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you're to hear. My son,returned Silver, And now I am to
choose, and now you are tochoose. And you made lad of that,
said Silver. Well said I Iam not such a fool, but
I know pretty well what I haveto look for. Let the worst come
to the worst. It's little Icare. I've seen too many die since

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I fell in with you. Butthere's a thing or two I have to
tell you, I said, Andby this time I was quite excited.
And the first is this. Hereyou are in a bad way, ship,
lost, treasure, lost men,lost, your whole business, gone
to wreck. And if you wantto know who did it, it was
I. I was in the applebarrel. That night we sighted land and

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heard you John and you Dick Johnson, and Hans who is now at the
bottom of the sea, and toldevery word you said before the hour was
out. And as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable,
and it was I who killed themen you had aboard her, and
it was I who brought her whereyou'll never see her more, not one
of you. The laugh's on myside. I've had the top of this

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business from the first. I nomore fear you than I fear a fly.
Kill me if you please, orspare me, but one thing I'll
say, and no more. Ifyou spare me, bygones are bygones.
And when you fellows are in calltfor piracy, I'll save you all I
can. It is for you tochoose kill another and do yourselves no good,

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or spare me and keep a witnessto save you from the gallows.
I stopped now, for I tellyou I was out of breath, and
to my wonder, not a manof them moved, but all sat staring
at me like as many sheep.And while they were still staring, I
broke out again. And now,mister Silver, I said, I believe

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you're the best man here, andif things go to the worst, I'll
take it kind of you to letthe doctor know the way I took it.
I'll bear it in mind, saidSilver, with an accent so curious
that I could not, for thelife of me decide whether he was laughing
at my request or had been favorablyaffected by my courage. Oh put one

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to that, cried the old mahoganyfaced seaman Morgan by name, whom I
had seen in Long John's public houseupon the keys of Bristol. It was
him that no black dog well andsee her, added the sea cook.
I'll put another to that boy thunder. It was this same boy that faked

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the chat from Billy Bones. Firstand last we've split upon Jim Harkins.
Then here goes said Morgan, withan oath, and he sprang up,
drawing his knife as if he hadbeen twenty a vast there, cried Silver.
Were you Tom Morgan? Maybe youthought you were captain here? Perhaps

(24:36):
boy the powers, But I'll teachyou better. Cross me and you'll go
where many a good man's gone beforeyou. First and last, he's thirty
years back some to the yard armsshiver moist sides, and some by the
board, and all to feed thefishes. There's never man luck me between

(24:57):
the eyes and seen a good deepAfterwards, Tom mork and you may let
that. Morgan paused, But ahoarse murmur rose from the others Tom's right
said one, I stood hazing loine. After from one added another, I'll
be hanged if I'll be hazed byyou, John Silver, did any of

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you gentlemen want to have it outwith me? Roared Silver, bending far
forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing in his
right hand, put a name onwhat you're at. You ain't dumb.
I wreck him that once shall getit? Have I lived this many years

(25:41):
to have a son of a rumpunch and cockies at thwart my org or
at the latter end of it?You know the way you're all gentleman of
fortune by your account. Well,I am ready take a cutlass in the
dares and I'll see the color ofhis insight. Crutch it all before that

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pipe's empty. Not a man stood. Not a man answered. That's your
sword, is it? He added, returning his pipe to his mouth.
Well, you're a gay lot tolook at anyway, not worth much in
a foot you ain't. Perhaps youcan understand King George's English. I'm capt'n

(26:23):
here by election. I'm camp herebecause I'm the best man by a long
sea oil. You won't fight asgentleman of fortune should, then, by
thunder, yellow bae, and youmade late to it. I like that
boy, No, I've never seena better boy than that. He's more

(26:47):
a man than any pair of ratsof you in this here house. And
what I say is this, letme 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 sledgehammer, but with a ray of

(27:07):
hope now shining in my bosom silver. Leant back against the wall, his
arms crossed his pipe in the cornerof his mouth, as calm as though
he had been in church. Yethis eye kept wandering furtively, and he
kept the tail of it on hisunruly followers. They, on their part,
drew gradually together toward the far endof the block house, and the

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low hiss of their whispering sounded inmy ears continuously like a stream. One
after another. They would look upand the red light of the torch would
fall for a second on their nervousfaces. But it was not toward me.
It was towards Silver that they turnedtheir eyes. You seem to have
a lot to say, remarked Silver, spitting far into the air pipe.

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Up and let me hear iturly too. Axe your pardon, sir, returned
one of the men. You're prettyfree with some of the rules. Maybe
you kindly keep an eye upon therest this cruise, dissatisfied, this crew
don't valley bully in lamalin spike.This crew has its rights like other crews.

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I'll make so free as that,and by your own rules. Ah,
I take it. We can talktogether. I ax your pardon,
sir, acknowledging you for the captainat this present, but I claim my
right, and steps outside for acouncil and with an elaborate sea salute.
This fellow, a long, illlooking, yellow eyed man of five and

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thirty, stepped coolly toward the doorand disappeared out of the house. One
after another, the rest followed hisexample, each making a salute as he
passed, each adding some apology calledinto rules, said one folks or counsel,
said Morgan, And so with oneremark or another, all march out

(29:00):
and left silver and meat alone withthe torch. The sea cook instantly removed
his pipe. Now look you here, Jim Hawkins, he said, in
a steady whisper that was no morethan audible. You're within half a plank
of death, and what's a longsight worse of torture. They're going to
throw me off, But you Mark, I stand by you through thick and

(29:23):
thin. I didn't mean to no, not till you spoke up. I
was about desperate to lose that muchblunt and be hanged into the bargain.
But I see you as the rightsword, I says to myself. You
stand by Hawkins, john and Hawkinsor stand by you. You're his last
card, and by the living thunderJohnny's yours back to back, says I.

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You save your witness and he'll saveyour neck. I began dimly to
understand you mean all's lost? Iasked, aye, by gum, I
do who? He answered? Shipgone? Neck gone, that's the size
of it. Once I looked intothat BEI Jim Harkins, and see no
schooner. Well I'm tough, butI gave out as for that lot in

(30:12):
their council. Mark me, they'reoutright fools and cowards. I'll save your
life if so be as I canfrom them. But see here, Jim,
dip for a tart. You saveLong John from swinging. I was
bewildered. It seemed a thing sohopeless. He was asking, He,

(30:33):
the old buccaneer, the ringleader,throw out what I can do that I'll
do. I said, it's abargain, cried Long John. You speak
up, plucky and both thunder.I have a chance. He hobbled to
the torch where it stood propped amongthe firewood, and took a fresh light
to his pipe. Understand me,Jim, he said, returning, I've

(30:56):
had on my shoulders I have onSquire's side. Now I know you've got
that ship safe somewheres. Now you'vedone it. I don't know, but
safe it is. I guess handsand old Brian turn soft. I never
much believed in neither of them.No you, mark me. Oh,

(31:18):
I ask no questions, nor won'tlet others. I know when a game's
up, I do, and Iknow a lad that's stauch Ah. You
that's young. You might you andme might have done a power of good
together. He drew some cognac fromthe cask into a tin cannikin. Will

(31:41):
you taste mess me? He asked, And when I had refused, well,
I'd take a drain myself, Jimsaid he I need a corker for
this trouble on hand. And then, and talking a trouble, why did
that dot to give me the chart? Jim My face expressed a wonder so

(32:04):
unaffected that he saw the needlessness offurther questions. Ah well he did,
though, said he. And thereis something under that, no doubt,
something surely under that, Jim bador good? And he took another swallow
of the brandy, shaking his greatfair head like a man who looks forward

(32:24):
to the worst. End of Chaptertwenty eight.