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13 - Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen, I strike the Jolly Roger. I had scarce
0:05
Speaker 1: gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib
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Speaker 1: flapped and filled on the other tack with a report
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Speaker 1: like a gun. The schooner trembled to her keel under
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Speaker 1: the reverse. But the next moment the other sails, still drawing,
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Speaker 1: the jib flapped back again and hung idle. This had
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Speaker 1: nearly tossed me off into the sea, and now I
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Speaker 1: lost no time, crawled back along the bowsprit and tumbled
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Speaker 1: head foremost on the deck. I was on the lee
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Speaker 1: side of the forecastle, and the mainsail, which was still drawing,
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Speaker 1: concealed me from a certain portion of the after deck.
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Speaker 1: Not a soul was to be seen. The planks, which
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Speaker 1: had not been swabbed since the mutiny, bore the print
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Speaker 1: of many feet, and an empty bottle, broken by the neck,
0:53
Speaker 1: tumbled to and fro like a live thing in the scuppers.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly the Hispaniola came right into the wind. The jibs
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Speaker 1: behind me cracked aloud. The rudder slammed too. The whole
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Speaker 1: ship gave a sickening heave and shudder, and at the
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Speaker 1: same moment the main boom swung in board, the sheet
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Speaker 1: groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee after
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Speaker 1: deck there were the two watchmen, sure enough, Red Cap
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Speaker 1: on his back, as stiff as a handspike, with his
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Speaker 1: arms stretched out like those of a crucifix, and his
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Speaker 1: teeth showing through his open lips. Israel hands propped against
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Speaker 1: the bulwarks, his chin on his chest, his hands lying
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Speaker 1: open before him on the deck, his face as white
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Speaker 1: under his tan as a tallow candle. For a while
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Speaker 1: the ship kept bucking and sidling like a vicious horse,
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Speaker 1: the sails filling now on one tack, now on another,
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Speaker 1: and the boom swinging to and fro, till the mast
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Speaker 1: groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again too there
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Speaker 1: would come a cloud of light sprays under the bulwark
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Speaker 1: at a heavy blow of the ship's boughs against the swell,
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Speaker 1: So much heavier weather was made of it by this
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Speaker 1: great rigged ship than by my homemade lopsided coracle, now
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Speaker 1: gone to the bottom of the sea. At every jump
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Speaker 1: of the schooner, Red Cap slipped to and fro. But
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Speaker 1: what was ghastly to behold, neither his attitude nor his
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Speaker 1: fixed teeth disclosing Grin was in any way disturbed by
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Speaker 1: this rough usage. At every jump, too, Hands appeared still
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Speaker 1: more to sink into himself, and settled down upon the deck,
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Speaker 1: his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole
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Speaker 1: body canting toward the stern, so that his face became
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Speaker 1: little by little hid from me, and at last I
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Speaker 1: could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed ringlet
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Speaker 1: of one whisker. At the same time I observed around
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Speaker 1: both of them splashes of dark blood upon the planks,
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Speaker 1: and began to feel sure that they had killed each
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Speaker 1: other in their drug and wrath. While I was thus
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Speaker 1: looking and wondering, in a calm moment, when the ship
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Speaker 1: was still Israel, Hands turned partly round, and, with a
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Speaker 1: low moan, writhed himself back to the position in which
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Speaker 1: I had seen him first. The moan, which told of
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Speaker 1: pain and deadly weakness, and the way in which his
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Speaker 1: jaw hung open, went right to my heart. But when
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Speaker 1: I remembered the talk I had overheard from the apple barrel,
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Speaker 1: all pity left me. I walked aft until I reached
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Speaker 1: the mainmast. Come aboard, mister Hans, I said, ironically. He
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Speaker 1: rolled his eyes round heavily, but he was far too
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Speaker 1: gone to expressed surprise. All he could do was utter
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Speaker 1: one word, brandy. It occurred to me that there was
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Speaker 1: no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it
3:53
Speaker 1: once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and
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Speaker 1: down the companion stairs into the cabin. It was such
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Speaker 1: a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All
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Speaker 1: the lockfast places had been broken open in quest of
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Speaker 1: the chart. The floor was thick with mud where the
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Speaker 1: Ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading
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Speaker 1: in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted
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Speaker 1: in clear white and beaded round with gilt, bore a
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Speaker 1: pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles clinked together
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Speaker 1: in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of
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Speaker 1: the doctor's medical books lay open on the table, half
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Speaker 1: of the leaves gutted out, I suppose for pipe lights.
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Speaker 1: In the midst of all this, the lamp still cast
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Speaker 1: a smoky glow, obscure and brown. As umber I went
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Speaker 1: into the cellar, all the barrels were gone, and of
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Speaker 1: the bottle as a most surprising number had been drunk
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Speaker 1: out and thrown away. Certainly, since the mutiny began, not
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Speaker 1: a man of them could ever have been sober. Foraging about,
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Speaker 1: I found a bottle with brandy left for hands and
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Speaker 1: for myself. I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits,
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Speaker 1: a great bunch of raisins, and a piece of cheese.
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Speaker 1: With these, I came on deck, put down my own
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Speaker 1: stock behind the rudderhead, and well out of the cocksin's reach,
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Speaker 1: went forward to the water breaker and had a good
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Speaker 1: deep drink of water, and then, not until then, gave
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Speaker 1: hands the brandy. He must have drunk a chill before
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Speaker 1: he took the bottle from his mouth, ay said he
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Speaker 1: by thunder, But I wanted some of that, And he
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Speaker 1: sat down already in my corner and began to eat.
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Speaker 1: Much hurt, I asked him. He grunted, or rather I
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Speaker 1: might say he barked. If that doctor was aboard, he said,
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Speaker 1: I'd be right enough in a couple of turns. But
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Speaker 1: I don't have no manner of luck, you see. That's
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Speaker 1: what's the matter with me. And for that swab he's
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Speaker 1: good and dead, he is, he added, indicating the man
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Speaker 1: with the red cap. He weern't no seamen anyhow, and
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Speaker 1: where moret you've come from? Well, said I. I have
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Speaker 1: come aboard to take possession of the ship, mister Hans,
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Speaker 1: and you'll please regard me as your captain until further notice.
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Speaker 1: He looked at me sourly enough, but said nothing. Some
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Speaker 1: of the color had come back into his cheeks, though
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Speaker 1: he still looked very sick, and still continued to slip
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Speaker 1: out and settle down. As the ship banged about by
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Speaker 1: the bye, I continued, I can't have these colors, mister Hans,
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Speaker 1: and by your leave, i'll strike em better none than these,
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Speaker 1: And again, dodging the boom, I ran to the color
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Speaker 1: lines and hauled down their cursed black flag and chucked
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Speaker 1: it overboard. God save the King, said I, waving my cap,
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Speaker 1: and there's an end, Captain Silver. He watched me keenly
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Speaker 1: and slyly, his chin all the while on his breast.
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Speaker 1: I reckon, he said, at last, I reckon, Captain Hawkins,
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Speaker 1: you kinda want to get ashore? Now suppose we talks? Why, Yes,
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Speaker 1: says I, with all my heart, mister Hans, say on,
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Speaker 1: And I went back to my meal with a good appetite.
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Speaker 1: This man, he began nodding feebly at the corpse. O'Brien
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Speaker 1: was his name, A rank islander. This man and me
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Speaker 1: got the canvas on her, meaning for to sailor a back. Well,
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Speaker 1: he's dead now, he is as dead as bilge. And
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Speaker 1: who's to sail this ship? I don't see without I'll
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Speaker 1: give you a hint. You ain't that man, as far
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Speaker 1: as I can tell. Now. Look here you gives me
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Speaker 1: food and drink and an old scarf handkerchief to tie
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Speaker 1: my wound up. You do, and I'll tell you how
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Speaker 1: to sail her. And that's about square all round, I
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Speaker 1: take it. I'll tell you one thing, says I. I'm
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Speaker 1: not going back to Captain Kid's anchorage. I mean to
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Speaker 1: get into north Inlet and beach her quietly there to
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Speaker 1: be sure you did. He cried, Why I ain't such
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Speaker 1: an infernal lubber, After all I can see, can't I.
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Speaker 1: I've tried, my fling, I have, and I've lost. And
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Speaker 1: it's you as the wind of me north Inlet. Why
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Speaker 1: I haven't no choice, not I I'd to help you
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Speaker 1: sailor up to execution dock by thunder, so I would, well,
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Speaker 1: as it seemed to me, there was some sense in
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Speaker 1: this we struck our bargain on the spot. In three minutes,
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Speaker 1: I had the Hispaniola sailing easily before the wind along
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Speaker 1: the coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of turning
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Speaker 1: the northern point ere noon and beating down again as
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Speaker 1: far as north Inlet before high water, when we might
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Speaker 1: beach her safely and wait until the subsiding tide permitted
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Speaker 1: us to land. Then I lashed the tiller and went
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Speaker 1: below to my own chest, where I got a soft
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Speaker 1: silk handkerchief of my mother's. With this and with my
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Speaker 1: aid hands, bound up the great bleeding stab he had
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Speaker 1: received in the thigh, And after he had eaten a
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Speaker 1: little and had a swallow or two more of the brandy,
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Speaker 1: he began to pick up visibly, sat straighter, up, spoke
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Speaker 1: louder and clearer, and looked in every way another man.
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Speaker 1: The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before it like
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Speaker 1: a bird, the coast of the island flashing by, and
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Speaker 1: the view changing every minute. Soon we were past the
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Speaker 1: highlands and bowling beside low sandy country, sparsely dotted with
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Speaker 1: dwarf pines, And soon we were beyond that again and
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Speaker 1: had turned the corner of the rocky hill that ends
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Speaker 1: the Eye Island on the north. I was greatly elated
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Speaker 1: with my new command, and pleased with the bright sunshiny weather,
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Speaker 1: and these different prospects of the coast. I now had
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Speaker 1: plenty of water and good things to eat. And my conscience,
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Speaker 1: which had smitten me hard for my desertion, was quieted
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Speaker 1: by the great conquest I had made. I should, I think,
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Speaker 1: have had nothing left me to desire but for the
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Speaker 1: eyes of the cocks, and as they followed me derisively
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Speaker 1: about the deck, and the odd smile that appeared continually
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Speaker 1: on his face. It was a smile that had in
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Speaker 1: it something both of pain and weakness, a haggard old
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Speaker 1: man's smile. But there was besides that a grain of derision,
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Speaker 1: a shadow of treachery in his expression, as he craftily
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Speaker 1: watched and watched and watched me at my work. End
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Speaker 1: of chapter twenty five. Chapter twenty six, Israel hands the wind,
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Speaker 1: serving us to a desire. Now hauled into the west,
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Speaker 1: we could run so much easier from the northeast corner
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Speaker 1: of the island to the mouth of the North Inlet.
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Speaker 1: Only as we had no power to anchor, and dared
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Speaker 1: not beach her until the tide had flowed A good
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Speaker 1: deal farther time hung on our hands the cox and
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Speaker 1: told me how to lay the ship too. After a
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Speaker 1: good many trials, I succeeded, and we both sat in
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Speaker 1: silence over another meal. Cap'n said he at length, with
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Speaker 1: that same uncomfortable smile. Here is my old shipmate, O'Brian.
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Speaker 1: Suppose you was to leave him overboard. I ate particular
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Speaker 1: as a rule, and I don't take no blame for
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Speaker 1: settling his hash. But I don't reckon him ornamental, now
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Speaker 1: do you. I'm not strong enough and I don't like
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Speaker 1: the job. And there he lies for me, said I.
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Speaker 1: He is an unlucky ship. The Hispaniola Jim. He went
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Speaker 1: on blinking. There's a power of men being killed on
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Speaker 1: this Ispaniola. A sight, O poor seamen, dead and gone.
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Speaker 1: Since you and me took this ship to Bristol, I
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Speaker 1: never seen such dirty luck, not I there was this here, O'Brien.
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Speaker 1: Now he's dead, ain't he? Well? Now I'm no scholar,
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Speaker 1: and you're a ladders can read and figure. And to
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Speaker 1: put it straight, do you take it as a dead man?
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Speaker 1: He is dead for good, or do he come alive again?
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Speaker 1: You can kill the body, mister Hans, but not the spirit.
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Speaker 1: You must know that already, I replied, O'Brien, there is
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Speaker 1: in another world and maybe watching us, Ah says he. Well,
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Speaker 1: that's unfortunate. Appears as if killing parties was a waste
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Speaker 1: of time. Howso ever, spirits don't reckon for much, by
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Speaker 1: what I've seen. I'll chance it with the spirits, Jim.
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Speaker 1: And now you spoke up free and I'll take it
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Speaker 1: kind if you'll step down into that deer cabin and
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Speaker 1: get me a well shiver my timbers. I can't hit
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Speaker 1: the name on well, you can get me a butler
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Speaker 1: of wine, Jim. This here, Brandy's too strong for my head. Now.
13:28
Speaker 1: The Coxin's hesitation seemed to be unnatural. And as for
13:33
Speaker 1: the notion of his preferring wine to Brandy, I entirely
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Speaker 1: disbelieved it. The whole story was a pretext. He wanted
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Speaker 1: me to leave the deck, so much was plain. But
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Speaker 1: with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His
13:48
Speaker 1: eyes never met mine, and they kept wandering to and fro,
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Speaker 1: up and down. Now with a look to the sky,
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Speaker 1: now with a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All
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Speaker 1: the time, he kept smiling and putting his tongue out
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Speaker 1: in a most guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child
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Speaker 1: could have told that he was bent on some deception.
14:08
Speaker 1: I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw
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Speaker 1: where my advantage lay, and that with a fellow so
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Speaker 1: densely stupid, I could easily conceal my suspicions to the end.
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Speaker 1: Some wine, I said, far better? Will you have white
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Speaker 1: or red? Well, I reckon, it's about the blessed same
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Speaker 1: to me, shipmate, he replied, so it's stronger, plenty of it.
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Speaker 1: What's the odds? All right? I answered, I'll bring you port,
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Speaker 1: mister Hans, but I'll have to dig for it. And
14:42
Speaker 1: with that I scuttled down the companion with all the
14:44
Speaker 1: noise I could, slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along
14:48
Speaker 1: the sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, and popped my
14:52
Speaker 1: head out of the fore companion. I knew he would
14:55
Speaker 1: not expect to see me there, yet I took every
14:58
Speaker 1: precaution possible, and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved
15:03
Speaker 1: too true. He had risen from his position to his
15:06
Speaker 1: hands and knees, and though his leg obviously hurt him
15:10
Speaker 1: pretty sharply when he moved, for I could hear him
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Speaker 1: stifle a groan, yet it was at a good rattling
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Speaker 1: rate that he trailed himself across the deck. In half
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Speaker 1: a minute he had reached the port scuppers and picked
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Speaker 1: up a coil of rope with a long knife, or
15:25
Speaker 1: rather a short dirk, discolored to the hilt with blood.
15:29
Speaker 1: He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting forth his
15:32
Speaker 1: under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, and then,
15:35
Speaker 1: hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trembled
15:39
Speaker 1: back again into his old place against the bulwark. This
15:43
Speaker 1: was all that I required to know. Israel could move about.
15:47
Speaker 1: He was now armed, and if he had been at
15:50
Speaker 1: so much trouble to get rid of me, it was
15:52
Speaker 1: plain that I was meant to be the victim. What
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Speaker 1: would he do afterward? Whether he would try to crawl
15:59
Speaker 1: right across the island from north Inlet to the camp
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Speaker 1: among the swamps, or whether he would fire long tom
16:05
Speaker 1: trusting that his own comrades might first come to help him,
16:09
Speaker 1: was of course more than I could say. Yet I
16:12
Speaker 1: felt sure that I could trust him in one point,
16:15
Speaker 1: since in that our interests jumped together, and that was
16:19
Speaker 1: the disposition of the schooner. We both desired to have
16:22
Speaker 1: her stranded safe enough in a sheltered place, so that
16:26
Speaker 1: when the time came, she could be got off again
16:29
Speaker 1: with as little labor and danger as might be. And
16:32
Speaker 1: until that was done, I considered that my life would
16:35
Speaker 1: certainly be spared. While I was thus turning the business
16:39
Speaker 1: over in my mind, I had not been idle with
16:42
Speaker 1: my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped
16:46
Speaker 1: once more into my shoes, and laid my hand at
16:49
Speaker 1: random on a bottle of wine. And now, with this
16:51
Speaker 1: for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck,
16:55
Speaker 1: hands layers, I had left him all fallen together in
16:58
Speaker 1: a bundle, and with his eyes my lids lowered, as
17:01
Speaker 1: though he were too weak to bear the light. He
17:04
Speaker 1: looked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off
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Speaker 1: the bottle like a man who had done the same
17:10
Speaker 1: thing often, and took a good swig with his favorite
17:14
Speaker 1: toast of is luck. Then he lay quiet for a little,
17:19
Speaker 1: and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me
17:22
Speaker 1: to cut him a quid. Cut me a junker, that
17:26
Speaker 1: says he, for I haven't no knife and hardly the
17:29
Speaker 1: strength enough, so be as I had ah Jim Jim,
17:35
Speaker 1: I reckon I've missed stays. Cut me a quid as
17:38
Speaker 1: likely to be the last lad, For I'm for my
17:42
Speaker 1: long home and no mistake, Well said I, I'll cut
17:47
Speaker 1: you some tobacco. But if I was you and thought
17:50
Speaker 1: myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like
17:53
Speaker 1: a Christian man, Why said he? Nay, you tell me why? Why?
18:00
Speaker 1: I cried? You were asking me just now about the dead.
18:04
Speaker 1: You've broken your trust, You've lived in sin and lies
18:07
Speaker 1: and blood. There's a man you killed lying at your
18:10
Speaker 1: feet this very moment, and you asked me why. For
18:14
Speaker 1: God's mercy, mister Hans, That's why I spoke with a
18:18
Speaker 1: little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden
18:21
Speaker 1: in his pocket and designed in his ill thoughts to
18:26
Speaker 1: end me with. He, for his part, took a great
18:29
Speaker 1: draft of the wine and spoke with the most unusual solemnity.
18:35
Speaker 1: For thirty years, he said, I've sailed the seas and
18:39
Speaker 1: seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and
18:44
Speaker 1: foul provisions running out knives going and what not. Well,
18:50
Speaker 1: now I tell you I never seen good come out
18:54
Speaker 1: of goodness. Yet him as strikes first is my fancy
18:59
Speaker 1: dead men. Don't buy them's my views. Amen, so be it.
19:04
Speaker 1: And now you look here, he added, suddenly changing his tone.
19:09
Speaker 1: We've had enough for this foolery. The tides made good
19:13
Speaker 1: enough by now you just take my orders, Captain Hawkins,
19:18
Speaker 1: and we'll sail, slap in and be done with it.
19:21
Speaker 1: All told, we had scarce two miles to run, but
19:25
Speaker 1: the navigation was delicate. The entrance to this northern anchorage
19:29
Speaker 1: was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east and west,
19:33
Speaker 1: so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be
19:36
Speaker 1: got in. I think I was a good prompt subaltern,
19:40
Speaker 1: and I am sure that Hans was an excellent pilot.
19:43
Speaker 1: For we went about and about and dodged in, shaving
19:46
Speaker 1: the banks with a certainty and a neatness that were
19:49
Speaker 1: a pleasure to behold. Scarcely had we passed the head
19:53
Speaker 1: before the land closed around us. The shores of North
19:56
Speaker 1: Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southern
19:59
Speaker 1: anc achorage, but the space was longer and narrower, and
20:03
Speaker 1: more like what. In truth, it was the estuary of
20:06
Speaker 1: a river. Right before us, at the southern end, we
20:10
Speaker 1: saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages
20:12
Speaker 1: of dilapidation. It had been a great vessel of three masts,
20:17
Speaker 1: but had lain so long exposed to the injuries of
20:20
Speaker 1: the weather that it was hung about with great webs
20:23
Speaker 1: of dripping seaweed. And on the decks of its shore
20:26
Speaker 1: bushes had taken root and now flourished thick with flowers.
20:31
Speaker 1: It was a sad sight, but it showed us that
20:34
Speaker 1: the anchorage was calm. Now, said Hans, Look there there's
20:41
Speaker 1: a pet bit for to beach a ship in fine
20:45
Speaker 1: flat sand, never a cat's pour. Trees all around of it,
20:50
Speaker 1: and flowers are blowing like a guard in on that
20:53
Speaker 1: old ship. And once beached, I inquired, how shall we
20:58
Speaker 1: get her off again? Why so he replied, you take
21:03
Speaker 1: a line ashore there on the other side, at low water,
21:07
Speaker 1: take a turn about one of them big pines, bring
21:10
Speaker 1: it back, take a turn around the capstan, and lie
21:14
Speaker 1: to for the tide. Come high water, all hands, take
21:19
Speaker 1: a pull upon the line, and off she comes, as
21:22
Speaker 1: sweet as nature. And now, boy, you stand by, we've
21:26
Speaker 1: hit the bit now, and she's too much way on
21:29
Speaker 1: her starboard a little so stair d starboard larbered, a
21:34
Speaker 1: little stair d stair d. So he issued his commands,
21:39
Speaker 1: which I breathlessly obeyed, till all of a sudden he cried, now,
21:44
Speaker 1: my hearty laugh, and they put the helm hard up,
21:47
Speaker 1: and the Hispaniola swung round rapidly, and ran stem on
21:52
Speaker 1: for the low wooded shore. The excitement of these last
21:56
Speaker 1: maneuvers had somewhat interfered with the watch I had kept
21:59
Speaker 1: here the two sharply enough upon the coxswain. Even then
22:03
Speaker 1: I was still so much interested waiting for the ship
22:07
Speaker 1: to touch that I had quite forgotten the peril that
22:10
Speaker 1: hung over my head, and stood craning over the starboard
22:13
Speaker 1: bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading wide before the boughs.
22:18
Speaker 1: I might have fallen without a struggle for my life,
22:21
Speaker 1: had not a sudden disquietude seized upon me and made
22:25
Speaker 1: me turn my head. Perhaps I had heard a creak,
22:30
Speaker 1: or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye.
22:33
Speaker 1: Perhaps it was an instinct like a cat's, But sure enough,
22:37
Speaker 1: when I looked round, there was hands already half way
22:42
Speaker 1: toward me with the dirk in his right hand. We
22:45
Speaker 1: must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met,
22:49
Speaker 1: But while mine was the shrill cry of terror, his
22:53
Speaker 1: was a roar of fury, like a charging bull's. At
22:56
Speaker 1: the same instant, he threw himself forward, and I leaped
23:00
Speaker 1: ways toward the boughs. As I did so, I let
23:03
Speaker 1: go of the tiller, which sprung sharp to leeward, and
23:06
Speaker 1: I think this shaved my life, for it struck hands
23:09
Speaker 1: across the chest and stopped him for the moment dead.
23:13
Speaker 1: Before he could recover, I was safe out of the
23:15
Speaker 1: corner where he had me trapped, with all the deck
23:19
Speaker 1: to dodge, about just forward of the main mast, I stopped,
23:23
Speaker 1: drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim,
23:26
Speaker 1: though he had already turned and was once more coming
23:29
Speaker 1: directly after me, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell,
23:33
Speaker 1: but there followed neither flash nor sound. The priming was
23:37
Speaker 1: useless with sea water. I cursed myself for my neglect.
23:42
Speaker 1: Why had I not long before reprimed and reloaded my
23:46
Speaker 1: only weapons, then I should not have been as now
23:50
Speaker 1: a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher. Wounded as he was,
23:55
Speaker 1: it was wonderful, how fast he could move, his grizzled
23:58
Speaker 1: hair tumbling over his face, and his face itself as
24:02
Speaker 1: rad as a red ensign. With his haste and fury,
24:05
Speaker 1: I had no time to try my other pistol, nor
24:08
Speaker 1: indeed much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless.
24:12
Speaker 1: One thing I saw plainly, I must not simply retreat
24:16
Speaker 1: before him, or he would speedily hold me boxed in
24:19
Speaker 1: the boughs as a moment, since he had so neatly
24:22
Speaker 1: boxed me in the stern once so caught, and nine
24:26
Speaker 1: or ten inches of the blood stained dirk would be
24:29
Speaker 1: my last experience on this side of eternity. I placed
24:33
Speaker 1: my palms against the mainmast, which was of a goodish bigness,
24:37
Speaker 1: and waited every nerve upon the stretch. Seeing that I
24:41
Speaker 1: meant to dodge, he also paused, and a moment or
24:45
Speaker 1: two passed in feints on his part and corresponding movements
24:49
Speaker 1: upon mine. It was such a game as I had
24:51
Speaker 1: often played at home about the rocks of black Hill Cove,
24:55
Speaker 1: but never before, you may be sure, with such a
24:58
Speaker 1: wildly beating heart as now still as I say it.
25:04
Speaker 1: It was a boy's game, and I thought I could
25:06
Speaker 1: hold my own at it against an elderly seaman with
25:09
Speaker 1: a wounded thigh. Indeed, my courage had began to rise
25:13
Speaker 1: so high that I allowed myself a few darting thoughts
25:17
Speaker 1: on what would be the end of the affair. And
25:19
Speaker 1: while I saw certainly that I could spin it out
25:22
Speaker 1: for long, I saw no hope in any ultimate escape. Well,
25:26
Speaker 1: while things stood thus, suddenly the Hispaniola struck staggered ground
25:32
Speaker 1: for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as
25:35
Speaker 1: a blow, canted over to the port side, till the
25:38
Speaker 1: deck stood at an angle of forty five degrees, and
25:41
Speaker 1: about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes
25:44
Speaker 1: and lay in a pool between the deck and the bulwark.
25:48
Speaker 1: We were both of us capsized in a second, and
25:51
Speaker 1: both of us rolled almost together into the scuppers, the
25:54
Speaker 1: dead red cap with his arms still spread out, tumbling
25:58
Speaker 1: stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my
26:02
Speaker 1: head came against the coxswin's foot with a crack that
26:05
Speaker 1: made my teeth rattle below, And awe, I was the
26:09
Speaker 1: first a foot again, for hands had got involved with
26:12
Speaker 1: the dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had
26:16
Speaker 1: made the deck no place for running on. I had
26:19
Speaker 1: found some new way of escape, and that upon the
26:22
Speaker 1: instant for my foe was almost touching me. Quick as thought,
26:27
Speaker 1: I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand,
26:31
Speaker 1: and did not draw a breath till I was seated
26:34
Speaker 1: on the cross trees. I had been saved by being prompt.
26:38
Speaker 1: The dirk had struck not half a foot below me
26:42
Speaker 1: as I pursued my upward flight, and there stood Israel
26:46
Speaker 1: hands with his mouth open and his face upturned to
26:49
Speaker 1: mine a perfect statue of surprise and disappointment. Now that
26:54
Speaker 1: I had a moment to myself, I lost no time
26:57
Speaker 1: in changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having
27:00
Speaker 1: one ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure,
27:04
Speaker 1: I proceeded to draw the load of the other and
27:06
Speaker 1: recharge it afresh. From the beginning my new employment struck
27:10
Speaker 1: hands all of a heap. He began to see the
27:13
Speaker 1: dice going against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he
27:17
Speaker 1: also hauled himself heavily into the shrouds, and with the
27:21
Speaker 1: dirk in his teeth, began slowly and painfully to mount.
27:26
Speaker 1: It cost him no end of time and groans to
27:28
Speaker 1: haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had quietly
27:32
Speaker 1: finished my arrangements before he was much more than a
27:35
Speaker 1: third of the way up. Then, with a pistol in
27:38
Speaker 1: either hand, I addressed him one more step, mister hands,
27:43
Speaker 1: said I, and I'll blow your brains out. Dead men
27:47
Speaker 1: don't bite you, know, I added, with a chuckle. He
27:50
Speaker 1: stopped instantly. I could see by the workings of his
27:54
Speaker 1: face that he was trying to think, and the process
27:57
Speaker 1: was so slow and laborious that in my when you
28:00
Speaker 1: found security, I laughed out loud. At last, with a
28:04
Speaker 1: swallow or two, he spoke, his face still wearing the
28:07
Speaker 1: same expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak, he
28:12
Speaker 1: had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in
28:15
Speaker 1: all else he remained unmoved. Jim says he, I reckon,
28:21
Speaker 1: we're fouled, you and me, and we'll have to sign articles.
28:26
Speaker 1: I'd have had you but for that there lurch. But
28:30
Speaker 1: I don't have no luck, not I and I reckon.
28:33
Speaker 1: I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, for
28:36
Speaker 1: a master mariner to a ship's yunker like you. Jim.
28:41
Speaker 1: I was drinking in his words, and smiling away as
28:44
Speaker 1: conceited as a cock. Upon a walk, when all in
28:47
Speaker 1: a breath, back went his right hand over his shoulder.
28:51
Speaker 1: Something sang like an arrow through the air. I felt
28:54
Speaker 1: a blow, and then a sharp pang, and there I
28:57
Speaker 1: was pinned by the shoulder to the mast. In the
29:01
Speaker 1: horrid pain and surprise of the moment, I scarce can
29:04
Speaker 1: say it was by my own volition, and I am
29:07
Speaker 1: sure it was without a conscious aim. Both of my
29:10
Speaker 1: pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands.
29:15
Speaker 1: They did not fall alone. With a choked cry, the
29:19
Speaker 1: Coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged head
29:24
Speaker 1: first into the water. And of Chapter twenty six