Treasure Island by RL Stevenson. Part 13.
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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 comes – and 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 saved our lives, Jim, and now we’ll save yours. Silver!’ he called, then as the cook came nearer, said, ‘Some advice – don’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.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.