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！
‘You seem to have a lot to say，’said Silver．‘Let me hear it，or stop talking．’
‘We'll go outside and talk，’replied one man．And he stepped calmly towards the door and disappeared out of the house．One after another，the rest of the men did the same．
‘They're going to kill you，Jim，’said Silver when the two of us were alone，‘and they're going to stop me being their captain．When I looked into that bay and saw the ship was gone，I knew it was all over．Now，I'll save your life，if I can，but it must be a bargainyou must save Long John from dying under the law．’
‘I'll do what I can，’I told him．
‘There's trouble coming，Jim，’he said．‘And talking of trouble，why did the doctor give me the map？’
I stared at him in great surprise．Why indeed？
‘Well，he did，’Silver went on．‘And that's strange．’
The door opened and the five pirates came in．They pushed one man forward and he gave something to Silver．
The sea cook looked at what the man had given him．‘The black spot！’he said．He turned the paper over．‘What's this？No longer captain．You're becoming quite a leading man in this crew，George Merry．You'll be cap’n next，I suppose．But tell me what's wrong．’
‘I'll tell you what's wrong！’said George．‘First，you made too many mistakes on this trip．Second，you let the enemy out of this trap for nothing．And then there's this boy．’
‘Is that all？’asked Silver quietly．
‘It's enough，’replied George．
‘Well，I'll answer you，’said Silver．‘You all know what I wanted but you wouldn't listen，would you？In my plan，we'd be on the Hispaniola now，every dead man alive and the treasure on ship，by thunder！Next，this boy．Well，we'll use him to bargain with．He might be our last chance．And the doctor？You've been glad enough to have a doctor coming to see you every dayyou，John，with your head broken…or you，George，sick and shaking with fever only a few hours ago．I made a bargain，that's why I let’em go！’He threw a piece of paper on to the floor．It was the map with the three crosses．
The pirates jumped on it like cats upon a mouse．
‘Very pretty，’said George，‘but how are we going to get away with the treasure，when we have no ship？’
‘You tell me，George！’shouted Silver．‘You and the others lost the ship；I found the treasure．But I'll not be your captain any longer！’
‘Silver for cap’n！’shouted the pirates．
After a moment，the sea cook smiled．‘George，’he said．‘I think you'll have to wait a while before you get another chance to be captain．’
Early in the morning Dr Livesey came to the stockade．
‘We've a surprise for you，doctor，’Silver called out．‘We've a little stranger here．’
The doctor was now inside the stockade．‘Not Jim？’
‘The very same Jim，’said Silver．
The doctor stopped．‘Well，well，’he said．Then he went on，Let's see these sick men of yours，Silver．’
A moment afterwards，he entered the house．With one look at me，he went to his work among the sick．
‘Well，that's done，’he said，after visiting each man．‘And now I'd like to talk to that boy，please．’
‘No！’cried George Merry．
‘Silence！’shouted Silver．‘Hawkins，’he went on in his usual voice，‘will you promise not to escape？’I gave the promise．‘Then，doctor，’said Silver，‘you just step outside that stockade，and when you're there，I'll bring the boy down on the inside．You can talk through the fence．’
The men's anger exploded after the doctor left the house，and they accused Silver of trying to make a separate peace for himself．Silver waved the map in front of them and told them they were stupid．
‘By thunder！’he cried．‘We'll break the peace when the right time comesand that's not now！’And then he walked out on his crutch，his hand on my shoulder．‘Slowly，boy，’he whispered to me．‘We don't want to worry them．’
Dr Livesey was waiting outside the stockade．‘The boy will tell you how I saved his life，’Silver said through the fence．‘Will you say a good word for me？’
‘You're not afraid，John，are you？’asked Dr Livesey．
‘I don't like the idea of dying by the law，’said Silver．‘And now I'll leave you and Jim alone．’
‘So，Jim，’said the doctor，‘here you are．I'm disappointed in you．You went away when Captain Smollett was wounded，which wasn't a brave thing to do．’
‘Doctor，’I cried，‘I've blamed myself enough．’
‘Jim，’said the doctor，his voice changed．‘Jim，I can't have this．Jump over and we'll run！’
‘No，’I said．‘I promised Silver I wouldn't escape，and I must go back．But listen，I took the ship and she's in North Inlet，on the beach．’
‘The ship！’cried the doctor．
I told him my story and he listened in silence Then he said，‘It's you that saves our lives，Jim，and now we'll save yours．Silver！’he called，then as the cook came nearer，said，‘Some Advicedon't hurry to find that treasure．If you do，watch out for storms．’
‘What's the game，doctor？’said Silver．‘Why did you give me the map？’
‘I can't say more，’said the doctor．‘It's not my secret to tell．But if we both get out of this alive，Silver，I'll do my best to save you．Now，keep the boy close beside you，and when you need help，shout for it．’
Then Dr Livesey hurried off into the wood．
14
Looking for the treasure
We went back to eat our breakfast．
‘They have the ship，’Silver told the men，‘and I don't know where it is．But once we have the treasure，we'll find it soon enough．I'll keep the boy close by me when we look for the treasure；then，when we have both ship and treasure，we'll persuade Jim to join us，and give him some of the treasure for all his help．’
The men were happy，but I was afraid．If Silver's plan came true，he would forget Dr Livesey and the others，I was sure And if things went wrong，how could a boy and a one…legged man fight five strong men？
When we left the stockade，everyone had weapons except me．Silver had two guns；and the parrot，Captain Flint，sat on his shoulder．There was a rope around me and I followed after Silver，who held the other end．
Some of the men carried spades，others food and rum，and we made our way to the beach where the two boats were waiting．The men talked about the map．The cross was too large to be of much help，and the words on the back of the map were no better．
Tall tree．Spyglass shoulder，to the North of North…
North…East．
Skeleton Island East…South…East and by East．
We landed the boats at the mouth of the second river，then began to climb Spyglass Hill．Silver and I followed a long way behind the rest，and I had to help him．We were near the top when a man on the left cried aloud．The others started to run towards him．
‘He can't have found the treasure，’said Morgan．
And indeed it was something very different—the bones of a human skeleton，a few pieces of clothing still on it．Cold fear filled every heart．
‘He was a seaman，’said George Merry．
‘Yes，’agreed Silver But look at the way those bones are lying—it isn't natural．’The man lay perfectly straight—his feet pointing one way，his hands，over his head，pointing the opposite way．‘I've got an idea，’said Silver．‘Look！We can see the top of Skeleton Island from here．These bones are a pointer，telling us which way to go！’
He was right．Our compass showed that the body pointed straight towards Skeleton Island，and in a line East…South…East and by East．
We left the skeleton behind，but now the pirates kept together and talked in frightened whispers．At the top of the hill，Silver took out his compass again．
‘There are three tall trees，’he said，‘in about the right place．Spyglass shoulder must be that lower place，there．A child could find the treasure now！’
Suddenly，out of the middle of the trees in front of us，a high shaking voice began to sing：
Fifteen men on the dead man's chest
Yo…ho…ho，and a bottle of rum！
The effect on the pirates was terrible to see．The colour went from their six faces，and they caught hold of each other like frightened children．Morgan fell to the ground，trembling with fear．
‘It's Flint！’cried George Merry．
‘No！’said Silver，fighting to get the word out．‘It's someone playing gamesit's no ghost！’
Then the voice came again：‘Darby M’Graw！’it screamed．‘Darby M’Graw！Fetch the rum！’
The pirates were fixed to the ground after the voice died away，their staring eyes full of horror．
‘That does it！’said one．‘Let's go！’
‘Those were Flint's last words before he died，’cried Morgan．
‘I'm here to get that treasure，’shouted Silver，‘and I'll not be beaten by man or ghost！I was never afraid of Flint in his life and，by thunder，I'll face him dead！There's seven hundred thousand pounds not a quarter of a mile from here．I'll not leave that much money for a drunken old seamanhim dead，too！And there's something strange．There was an echo，and no man ever saw a ghost with a shadow，so why should a ghost's voice have an echo？It's not natural．’
The words calmed George Merry．‘Yes，that's right，’he said．‘