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the head.

ā€œYouā€™re a good lad, Jim,ā€ he said; ā€œand youā€™re all in a clove hitch, ainā€™t you? Well, you just put your trust in Ben Gunnā€”Ben Gunnā€™s the man to do it. Would you think it likely, now, that your squire would prove a liberal-minded one in case of helpā€”him being in a clove hitch, as you remark?ā€

I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.

ā€œAye, but you see,ā€ returned Ben Gunn, ā€œI didnā€™t mean giving me a gate to keep, and a suit of livery clothes, and such; thatā€™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 thatā€™s as good as a manā€™s own already?ā€

ā€œI am sure he would,ā€ said I. ā€œAs it was, all hands were to share.ā€

ā€œAnd a passage home?ā€ he added with a look of great shrewdness.

ā€œWhy,ā€ I cried, ā€œthe squireā€™s a gentleman. And besides, if we got rid of the others, we should want you to help work the vessel home.ā€

ā€œAh,ā€ said he, ā€œso you would.ā€ And he seemed very much relieved.

ā€œNow, Iā€™ll tell you what,ā€ he went on. ā€œSo much Iā€™ll tell you, and no more. I were in Flintā€™s ship when he buried the treasure; he and six alongā€”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 deadā€”dead and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden death, leastwaysā€”him against six. Billy Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him where the treasure was. ā€˜Ah,ā€™ says he, ā€˜you can go ashore, if you like, and stay,ā€™ he says; ā€˜but as for the ship, sheā€™ll beat up for more, by thunder!ā€™ Thatā€™s what he said.

ā€œWell, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this island. ā€˜Boys,ā€™ said I, ā€˜hereā€™s Flintā€™s treasure; letā€™s land and find it.ā€™ The capā€™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. ā€˜As for you, Benjamin Gunn,ā€™ says they, ā€˜hereā€™s a musket,ā€™ they says, ā€˜and a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flintā€™s money for yourself,ā€™ they says.

ā€œWell, 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 werenā€™t, neither, I says.ā€

And with that he winked and pinched me hard.

ā€œJust you mention them words to your squire, Jim,ā€ he went on. ā€œNor he werenā€™t, neitherā€”thatā€™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 sheā€™s alive (youā€™ll say); but the most part of Gunnā€™s time (this is what youā€™ll say)ā€”the most part of his time was took up with another matter. And then youā€™ll give him a nip, like I do.ā€

And he pinched me again in the most confidential manner.

ā€œThen,ā€ he continued, ā€œthen youā€™ll up, and youā€™ll say this: Gunn is a good man (youā€™ll say), and he puts a precious sight more confidenceā€”a precious sight, mind thatā€”in a genā€™leman born than in these genā€™leman of fortune, having been one hisself.ā€

ā€œWell,ā€ I said, ā€œI donā€™t understand one word that youā€™ve been saying. But thatā€™s neither here nor there; for how am I to get on board?ā€

ā€œAh,ā€ said he, ā€œthatā€™s the hitch, for sure. Well, thereā€™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!ā€ he broke out. ā€œWhatā€™s that?ā€

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.

ā€œThey have begun to fight!ā€ I cried. ā€œFollow me.ā€

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.

ā€œLeft, left,ā€ says he; ā€œkeep to your left hand, mate Jim! Under the trees with you! Theerā€™s where I killed my first goat. They donā€™t come down here now; theyā€™re all mastheaded on them mountings for the fear of Benjamin Gunn. Ah! And thereā€™s the cetemeryā€ā€”cemetery, he must have meant. ā€œYou see the mounds? I come here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought maybe a Sunday would be about doo. It werenā€™t quite a chapel, but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you, Ben Gunn was short-handedā€”no chapling, nor so much as a Bible and a flag, you says.ā€

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 FOURā€”The Stockade





16

Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned

T was about half past oneā€”three bells in the sea phraseā€”that the two boats went ashore from the Hispaniola. The captain, the squire, and I were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that Jim Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest.

It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins, but we were alarmed for his safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck.

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