按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
oor seamen haven't。 And you're brave。 Why let yourself be led away with that kind of scoundrel？ I'd rather die than…’
Suddenly ；there was a noise of distant shouting； then a long horrible scream 。I had found one honest man here； and that ter－rible； distant scream told me of another。
‘John！’said Tom。‘What was that？’
‘That？’replied Silver。 His eyes shone like pieces of broken glass in the sun。‘That'll be Alan。’
‘Alan！’cried poor Tom。‘An honest and true seaman ！John Silver； you've been a friend of mine； but for no longer 。You've killed Alan； have you？ Then kill me； too；if you can！’
The brave man turned his back on Silver and began to walk back to the beach 。With a shout ；Silver threw his crutch through the air。 It hit poor Tom between the shoulders； and he fell to the ground with a cry。 Silver； as quick as a monkey ；was on top of him in a moment。 Twice he dug his knife into that poor body。
As I watched； the whole world seemed to swim away before me in a mist…Silver； the birds above； the tall Spyglass hill。 When I was myself again； Silver was standing with his crutchunder his arm； cleaning the blood from his knife with some grass。
As silently as I could； I began to move away ；and as soon as was clear of the trees； began to run as I had never run before。
9
The man of the island
But almost immediately I ran into a new danger。As I ran； I heard some small stones falling from the side of a steep hill。 I stopped to look round； and saw a figure jump quickly behind a tree。Frightened； I turned back towards the boats； but the figure appeared again and moved with the speedof an animal。 But it was a man； I knew that now。
I remembered I had a pistol if I needed it； and turned back towards this man of the island。 He was hiding behind another tree but stepped out to meet me。
‘Who are you ？I asked； staring at him。
‘Ben Gunn ；’he answered； and his voice sounded rough andstrange 。His skin was burnt nearly black by the sun and his clothes were made from pieces of a ship's sail。‘Poor Ben Gunn；’he went on。‘Alone for three years。’
‘Were you shipwrecked？’I asked。
‘No ；my friend；’he said。‘Marooned。’
I had heard the word before； and knew it meant a cruel pun－ishment often used by pirates－leaving a man alone on some distant； empty island。
‘Marooned three years； he continued；‘ living on wild goats and fish。 But I'm desperate for real English food。 You don't have a piece of cheese； do you？ Many nights I've dreamed of cheese。’
‘If I can get on board ship again； ’I said； ‘you can have as much cheese as you want。’
‘Who's going to prevent you？’he said。‘And tell me your name。
‘Jim；’I told him。
‘Well； Jim；’he said； looking around and lowering his voice to a whisper； ‘I'm rich。’I was now sure the poor man was crazy ；but he repeated his words。‘Rich； I say！ Now ；Jim ；that isn't Flint's ship； is it？’
I began to think that I had found a friend； and I answered him at once。‘It's not Flint's ship。 Flint is dead； but there are some of Flint's men aboard； and that's bad news for us。’
‘A man with one leg？’he asked； fear in his voice。
‘Silver？’I asked。
‘Yes ；Silver；’he said；‘that was his name。’
‘He's the cook； and their leader ；too。’ And I told him the whole story of our voyage； and the danger we were now in。
‘You're in trouble； Jim；’he said when I'd finished。‘Well； Ben Gunn will help you。 Will your squire be generous if I do； do you think？ I don't want him to give me a job； but will he give me one thousand pounds out of money that's really mine？’
‘I'm sure he will；’I said。
‘And take me home on your ship？’
‘If we can escape from the others；’I told him；‘we'll need your help to get the ship home。’
He seemed happy with this．‘I was in Flint's ship when he and six seamen hid the treasure，’he said．‘They were on shore nearly a week，then Flint came back alone．Not a man on board could guess how he had killed the others．Then I was in another ship，three years ago，and we saw this island．“Boys，”I said，“let's go ashore and find Flint's treasure．”Twelve days we searched，and the men got angrier with me every day．Then they went back to the ship．“Ben Gunn，”they said，“you can stay here and find Flint's money．Here's a gun，a spade and an axe．”Well，Jim，I've been here for three years，and no real food from that day to this．But I've found things to do，oh yes！’Here he closed one eye and smiled at me．‘Now go to your squire and tell him Ben Gunn is a good man．
‘I will，’I said，‘but how will I get on board？’
‘There's my boat that I made with my two hands，’he said．‘I keep her under the white rock．We might try that after dark．’
Although there was another hour before the sun went down，we suddenly heard the sound of the ship's gun．
‘They've begun to fight！’I cried．‘Follow me．’
10
Inside the stockade
We followed the noise of the fighting and came to a hill．There stood a strong wooden house，big enough for forty people，and with holes for guns on every side．All around the house was a wide open piece of land；and around that was a fence，two metres high，with no doors or openings，and too strong to pull down easily．
As soon as Ben Gunn saw the English flag flying over thehouse，he said，‘There are your friends．’
‘More likely to be the pirates，’I answered．
‘Silver would put up the pirate's flag，the Jolly Roger，’said Ben．‘No，there's been a fight，and your friends have won．They're inside the stockade that Flint made years ago．’
‘Then I must hurry and join them，’I said．
He wouldn't come with me．‘I won't come until you've seen your gentleman and got his promise．You know where to find me，Jim．And if the pirates sleep on shore tonight，one of them might have an unpleasant surprise！’
The ship's gun BOOMED！and the shot fell only a hundredmetres away．Ben Gunn and I each ran our different ways．Thefiring continued for another hour，and I moved quietly through the trees to the shore．There I saw the Hispaniola in the bay—but the Jolly Roger was flying over her！
On the beach，the pirates were breaking up the captain's little boat with axes．When the ship's gun stopped firing，I went back to the stockade．
‘Doctor！’I shouted．‘Squire！Captain！Hello，Hunter，is that you？’
Dr Livesey came out of the house in time to see me climbing into the stockade，and my friends welcomed me happily They gave me supperalthough they were worried because there was little food left．As I ate，Dr Livesey told me their story．
We heard you had gone ashore on one of the boats，Jim，’he said．‘We never doubted your honesty，but we were afraid you wouldn't be safe．Hunter and I came ashore to see what was happening，and found the stockade．It seemed a good place to defend ourselves against Silver and his men，because we were sure they would kill us when they returned to the ship Here，all we needed was enough food，and people to watch for enemies．You see，we know that if the Hispaniola does not return to Bristol by the end of August，a rescue ship will be sent to look for us．
‘So we made a plan to get ourselves off the ship，’Dr Livesey went on．‘Hunter，Redruth，and Joyce helped us．Hunter brought the captain's little boat round under the cabin window，and Joyce and I put guns and food and my medicine chest in it．Redruth took four guns and went on deck with Trelawney and the captain They were able to surprise Israel Hands and the other men，and they managed to persuade one man，Abraham Gray，to join us again．’
‘So you left five pirates on the ship？’I said．
‘Yes，’said Dr Livesey．‘And we dropped the rest of the weapons over the side into the sea before leaving the ship．But we forgot the ship's gun．We were half…way to the island when the pirates fired it at us．’
‘ I heard it，’I told him．
‘Trelawney tried to shoot Hands but killed another man instead，’said Dr Livesey．‘The pirates on the island heard the gun and ran out of the trees towards their boats．Then our small boat began to go down and we found ourselves in the water．Most of the food was lost and we had only two dry guns out of five．Somehow we got ashore and into the stockade，but we knew there was going to be a fight．’
‘But you won，’I said．
‘Yes，’agreed Dr Livesey．‘We killed another of their men．badly wounded another，but lost one of our own poor Tom Redruth．’
After the doctor had finished，I told them my story，andabout Ben Gunn．Then we began to talk about what to donext．Our best plan was to kill the pirates one by one until the rest ran off or sailed away in the ship．
I was very tired，and fell asleep as the three men talked．It was the sound of voices shouting that woke me the next morning．
‘A white flag！’I heard someone say．‘It's Silver！’
I ran to a hole in the wall and looked through．Two men were outside the stockade，one waving a white cloth The other man was Silver．It was a very cold morning，the sky bright and without a cloud，but Silver and his man were standing in a low mist．
‘What do you want？’shouted Captain Smollett．
The man beside Silve