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09 - Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson · Thrilling Adventures - Daily

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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen narrative continued by the Doctor the Jolly Boat's
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Speaker 1: last trip. This fifth trip was quite different from any
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Speaker 1: of the others. In the first place, the little galley
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Speaker 1: part of a boat that we were in was gravely
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Speaker 1: overloaded five grown men, and three of them trelawny read ruth,
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Speaker 1: and the captain, over six feet high, was already more
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Speaker 1: than she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder,
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Speaker 1: pork and the bread bags. The gunwales were lipping astern.
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Speaker 1: Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches
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Speaker 1: and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet.
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Speaker 1: Before we had got a hundred yards. The captain made
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Speaker 1: us trim the boat, and we got her to lie
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Speaker 1: a little more evenly. All the same we were afraid
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Speaker 1: to breathe. In the second place, the ebb was now
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Speaker 1: making a strong rippling current, running westward through the basin
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Speaker 1: and then southered and seaward down the straits by which
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Speaker 1: we had entered in the even the ripples were a
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Speaker 1: danger to our overloaded craft. But the worst of it
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Speaker 1: was that we were swept out of our true course
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Speaker 1: and away from our proper landing place behind the point.
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Speaker 1: If we let the current have its way. We should
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Speaker 1: come ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear
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Speaker 1: at any moment. I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,
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Speaker 1: said I to the captain. I was steering while he
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Speaker 1: and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. The
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Speaker 1: tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger,
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Speaker 1: not without swamping the boat, said he. You must bear up, sir,
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Speaker 1: if you please bear up until you see your gaining.
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Speaker 1: I tried, and found by experiment that the tide kept
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Speaker 1: sweeping us westward till I had laid her head due east,
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Speaker 1: or just about right angles to the way we ought
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Speaker 1: to go. We'll never get ashore at this rate, said I.
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Speaker 1: If it's the coarse we can lie, Sir, we must
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Speaker 1: even lie, it, returned the captain. We must keep upstream,
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Speaker 1: you see, sir, He went on. If once we dropped
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Speaker 1: to leeward of the landing place, it's hard to say
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Speaker 1: where we should get ashore, besides the chance of being
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Speaker 1: boarded by the gigs.
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Speaker 2: Whereas the way we.
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Speaker 1: Go, the current must slacken, and then we can dodge
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Speaker 1: back along the shore the current's lesser. Ready, sir, said
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Speaker 1: the man Gray, who was sitting in the fore sheets.
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Speaker 1: You can ease her off a bit. Thank you, my man,
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Speaker 1: said I, as if nothing had happened, for we had
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Speaker 1: all quietly made up our minds to treat him like
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Speaker 1: one of ourselves. Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and
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Speaker 1: I thought his voice was a little changed. The gun
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Speaker 1: said he. I have thought of that, said I, for
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Speaker 1: I made sure he was thinking of a bombardment of
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Speaker 1: the fort. They could never get the gun ashore, and
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Speaker 1: if they did, they could never haul it through the woods. Look,
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Speaker 1: astern doctor, replied the captain. We had entirely forgotten the
3:14
Speaker 1: Long nine. And there, to our horror, were the five
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Speaker 1: rogues busy about her getting off her jacket, as they
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Speaker 1: called the stout tophall in cover under which she sailed.
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Speaker 1: Not only that, but it flashed into my mind at
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Speaker 1: the same moment that the round shot and the powder
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Speaker 1: for the gun had been left behind, and the stroke
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Speaker 1: of an axe would put it all into the possession
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Speaker 1: of the evil ones aboard Israel was Flint's gunner, said
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Speaker 1: Gray hoarsely, At any risk, we put the boat's head
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Speaker 1: directly for the landing place. By this time we had
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Speaker 1: got so far out of the run of the current
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Speaker 1: that we kept steerage way even at our necessarily gentle
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Speaker 1: rate of rowing, and I could keep her steady for
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Speaker 1: the goal. But the worst of it was that, with
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Speaker 1: the corse I now held, we turned our broadside instead
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Speaker 1: of our stern to the Hispaniola and offered a target
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Speaker 1: like a barn door. I could hear as well as
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Speaker 1: see that brandy faced rascal israel hands plumping down a
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Speaker 1: round shot on the deck. Who's the best shot, asked
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Speaker 1: the captain. Mister Trelawney out in a way, said I,
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Speaker 1: mister Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of
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Speaker 1: those men, sir, hands, if are possible, said the captain.
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Speaker 1: Trelawney was as cold as steel. He looked to the
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Speaker 1: priming of his gun. Now, cried the captain. Easy with
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Speaker 1: that gun, sir, or you'll swamp the boat. All hands
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Speaker 1: stand by to trim her. When he aims. The squire
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Speaker 1: raised his gun. The rowing ceased, and we leaned over
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Speaker 1: to the other side to keep the balance. And all
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Speaker 1: was so nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop.
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Speaker 1: They had the gun by this time slewed around upon
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Speaker 1: the swivel and Hans, who was at the muzzle with
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Speaker 1: the rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. However, we
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Speaker 1: had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired down, he
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Speaker 1: stooped the ball whistling over him, and it was one
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Speaker 1: of the other four who fell. The cry he gave
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Speaker 1: was echoed not only by his companions on board, but
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Speaker 1: by a great number of voices from the shore. And
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Speaker 1: looking out in that direction, I saw the other pirates
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Speaker 1: trooping out from among the trees and tumbling into their
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Speaker 1: places in the boats. Here come the gigs, Sir said,
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Speaker 1: I give way, then said the Captain. We mustn't mind
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Speaker 1: if we swamp her. Now. If we can't get ashore,
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Speaker 1: all's up. Only one of the gigs is being manned, Sir,
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Speaker 1: I added. The crew of the other is most likely
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Speaker 1: going around by shore to cut us off. They'll have
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Speaker 1: a hot run, Sir, returned the captain Jack ashore. You know,
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Speaker 1: if it's not near my mind, it's the round shot
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Speaker 1: carpet bowls. My lady's maid couldn't miss. Tell us, squire
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Speaker 1: when you see the match, and we'll hold water. In
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Speaker 1: the meantime, we had been making headway at a good
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Speaker 1: pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped
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Speaker 1: but little water in the process. We were now close
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Speaker 1: in thirty or forty strokes, and we should beach her,
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Speaker 1: for the Ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of
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Speaker 1: sand below the clustering trees. The gig was no longer
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Speaker 1: to be feared. The little point had already concealed it
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Speaker 1: from our eyes. The ebb tide, which had so cruelly
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Speaker 1: delayed us, was now making reparation and delaying our assailants.
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Speaker 1: The one source of danger was the gun. If I durst,
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Speaker 1: said the Captain, I'd stop and pick off another man.
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Speaker 1: It was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot.
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Speaker 1: They had never so much as looked at their fallen comrade,
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Speaker 1: though he was not dead, and I could see him
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Speaker 1: trying to crawl away. Ready, cried the squire. Hold cried
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Speaker 1: the captain quick as an echo, and he and Redruth
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Speaker 1: backed with a great heave that sent her a stern
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Speaker 1: bodily under water. The report fell into the same instant
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Speaker 1: of time. This was the first that Jim heard the
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Speaker 1: sound of the Squire's shot, not having reached him. When
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Speaker 1: the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but
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Speaker 1: I fancy it must have been over our heads, and
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Speaker 1: that the wind of it may have contributed to our disaster.
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Speaker 1: At any rate, the boats sunk by the stern quite
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Speaker 1: gently in three feet of water, leaving the captain and
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Speaker 1: myself facing each other on our feet. The other three
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Speaker 1: took complete headers and came up again drenched and bubbling.
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Speaker 1: So far there was no great harm, no lives were lost,
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Speaker 1: and we wade ashore in safety. But there were all
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Speaker 1: our stores at the bottom, and to make things worse,
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Speaker 1: only two guns out of five remained in a state
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Speaker 1: for service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and
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Speaker 1: held over my head by a sort of instinct. As
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Speaker 1: for the captain, he had carried his over his shoulder
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Speaker 1: by a bandolier, and like a wise man, lock uppermost.
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Speaker 1: The other three had gone down with the boat. To
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Speaker 1: add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing nearer
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Speaker 1: to us in the wood along the shore, and we
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Speaker 1: had only the danger of being cut off from the
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Speaker 1: stockade in our half crippled state. But the fear before
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Speaker 1: us whether if Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half
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Speaker 1: a dozen, they would have the sense and conduct to
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Speaker 1: stand firm. Hunter was steady that we knew. Joyce was
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Speaker 1: a doubtful case. A pleasant polite man for a valet
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Speaker 1: and to brush one's clothes, but not entirely fitted for
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Speaker 1: a man of war. All this in our minds, we
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Speaker 1: waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving behind us
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Speaker 1: the poor jolly boat and a good half of all
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Speaker 1: our powder and provisions. End of chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen
9:15
Speaker 1: narrative continued by the doctor end of the first day's fighting.
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Speaker 1: We made our best speed across the strip of wood
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Speaker 1: that now divided us from the stockade, and at every
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Speaker 1: step we took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer.
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Speaker 1: Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran, and
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Speaker 1: the cracking of the branches as they breasted across a
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Speaker 1: bit of thicket. I began to see we should have
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Speaker 1: a brush for it in earnest and looked to my
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Speaker 1: priming captain, said I, Trelawny is the dead shot. Give
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Speaker 1: him your gun. His own is useless. They exchanged guns,
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Speaker 1: and Trelawney, silent and cool as he had been since
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Speaker 1: the beginning of the bustle, hung a moment on his
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Speaker 1: heel to see that all was fit for service. At
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Speaker 1: the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I handed
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Speaker 1: him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to
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Speaker 1: see him spit in his hand, knit his brows, and
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Speaker 1: make the blades sing through the air. It was plain
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Speaker 1: from every line of his body that our new hand
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Speaker 1: was worth his salt. Forty paces farther, we came to
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Speaker 1: the edge of the wood and saw the stockade in
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Speaker 1: front of us. We struck the enclosure about the middle
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Speaker 1: of the south side, and almost at the same time,
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Speaker 1: seven mutineers Job Anderson, the Bowswain at their head, appeared
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Speaker 1: in full cry at the southwestern corner. They paused as
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Speaker 1: if taken aback, and before they recovered not only the
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Speaker 1: Squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce from the block
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Speaker 1: house had time to fire. The four shots came in
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Speaker 1: rather a scattering volley, but they did the business. One
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Speaker 1: of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without hesitation,
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Speaker 1: turned and plunged into the trees. After reloading, we walked
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Speaker 1: down the outside of the palisade to see the fallen enemy.
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Speaker 1: He was stone dead, shot through the heart. We began
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Speaker 1: to rejoice over our good success, when just at that
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Speaker 1: moment a pistol cracked in the bush, and a ball
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Speaker 1: whistled close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth stumbled
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Speaker 1: and fell his length on the ground. Both the Squire
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Speaker 1: and I returned the shot, but as we had nothing
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Speaker 1: to aim at, it was probable we only wasted powder.
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Speaker 1: Then we reloaded and turned our attention to poor Tom.
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Speaker 1: The Captain and Gray were already examining him, and I
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Speaker 1: saw with half an eye that all was over. I
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Speaker 1: believe the readiness of our returned volley had scattered the
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Speaker 1: mutineers once more, for we were suffered without further molestation
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Speaker 1: to get the poor old gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade
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Speaker 1: and carried, groaning and bleeding into the log house. Poor
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Speaker 1: old fellow, he had not uttered one word of surprise, complaint,
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Speaker 1: to fear, or even acquiescence from the very beginning of
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Speaker 1: our troubles till now, when we had laid him down
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Speaker 1: on the log house to die. He had lain like
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Speaker 1: a trojan behind his mattress in the gallery. He had
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Speaker 1: followed every order silently, doggedly and well. He was the
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Speaker 1: oldest of our party by a score of years, and
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Speaker 1: now sullen, old, serviceable servant it was he that was
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Speaker 1: to die. The Squire dropped down beside him on his
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Speaker 1: knees and kissed his hand, crying like a child. Be
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Speaker 1: I going doctor, he asked tom My man said, I
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Speaker 1: you're going home.
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Speaker 2: I wish I had had a liquet em with the
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Speaker 2: gun first, he replied. Tom said, the Squire say you
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Speaker 2: forgive me, won't you? Would that be respectful like from
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Speaker 2: me to you, squire? Was the answer, howsoever it be amen.
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Speaker 2: After a little while of silence, he said he thought
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Speaker 2: somebody might read a prayer. It's the custom, sir, he
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Speaker 2: added apologetically, and not long after, without another word, he
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Speaker 2: passed away. In the meantime, the captain, whom I had
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Speaker 2: observed to be wonderfully swollen about the chest and pockets,
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Speaker 2: had turned out a great many various stores, the British colors,
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Speaker 2: a bible, a coil of Stoutish rope, pen ink, the
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Speaker 2: log book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a
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Speaker 2: longish fir tree lying felled and cleared in the enclosure,
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Speaker 2: and with the help of Hunter, he had set it
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Speaker 2: up at the corner of the log house, where the
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Speaker 2: trunks crossed and made an angle. Then climbing up on
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Speaker 2: the roof he had with his own hand bent and
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Speaker 2: run up the colors. This seemed mightily to relieve him.
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Speaker 2: He entered the log house and set about counting up
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Speaker 2: the stores as if nothing else existed. But he had
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Speaker 2: an eye on Tom's passage for all that, And as
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Speaker 2: soon as all was over, came forward with another flag
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Speaker 2: and reverently spread it.
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Speaker 1: On the body. Don't you take on, sir, he said,
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Speaker 1: shaking the squire's hand. All's well with him, No fear
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Speaker 1: for a hand that's been shot down in his duty
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Speaker 1: to captain named owner. It mayn't be good, divinity, but
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Speaker 1: it's a fact. Then he pulled me aside. Doctor Livesey,
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Speaker 1: He said, in how many weeks do you and Squire
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Speaker 1: expect the consort? I told him it was a question
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Speaker 1: not of weeks, but of months, that if we were
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Speaker 1: not back by the end of August, Blandly was to
14:52
Speaker 1: send to find us. But neither sooner nor later. You
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Speaker 1: can calculate for yourself, I said, why, yes, returned the captain,
15:02
Speaker 1: scratching his head and making a large allowance. Sir, for
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Speaker 1: all the gifts of providence, I should say we were
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Speaker 1: pretty close hauled. How do you mean, I asked. It's
15:16
Speaker 1: a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's what
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Speaker 1: I mean, replied the captain. As for powder and shot,
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Speaker 1: we'll do, but the rations are short, very short. So
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Speaker 1: shocked doctor Livesey that we're perhaps as well without that
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Speaker 1: extra mouth, and he pointed to the dead body under
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Speaker 1: the flag. Just then, with a roar and a whistle,
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Speaker 1: a round shot passed high above the roof of the
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Speaker 1: log house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. Oho,
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Speaker 1: said the captain, Blaze away, you've litten enough powder already,
15:55
Speaker 1: my lads. At the second trial, the aim was better,
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Speaker 1: and the ball descended inside the stockade, scattering a cloud
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Speaker 1: of sand, but doing no further damage. Captain said the squire.
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Speaker 1: The house is quite invisible from the ship. It must
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Speaker 1: be the flag they're aiming at. Would it not be
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Speaker 1: whiter to take it in strike? My colors cried the captain, No, sir,
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Speaker 1: not I And as soon as he had said the word,
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Speaker 1: I think we all agreed with him, for it was
16:27
Speaker 1: not only a piece of stout seemingly good feeling, it
16:31
Speaker 1: was a good policy besides, and showed our enemies that
16:35
Speaker 1: we despised their cannonade. All through the evening, they kept
16:40
Speaker 1: thundering away. Ball after ball flew over, or fell short,
16:45
Speaker 1: or kicked up the sand in the enclosure, but they
16:48
Speaker 1: had to fire so high that the shot fell dead
16:51
Speaker 1: and buried itself in the soft sand. We had no
16:54
Speaker 1: ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the
16:57
Speaker 1: roof of the log house and out again through the floor,
17:01
Speaker 1: we soon got used to that sort of horseplay, and
17:03
Speaker 1: minding it no more than cricket. There is one good
17:07
Speaker 1: thing about all this, observed the Captain. The wood in
17:11
Speaker 1: front of us is likely clear. The EBB has made
17:16
Speaker 1: a good while our stores should be uncovered. Volunteers to
17:21
Speaker 1: go and bring in pork. Gray and Hunter were the
17:25
Speaker 1: first to come forward. Well armed, they stole out of
17:29
Speaker 1: the stockade, but it proved a useless mission. The mutineers
17:33
Speaker 1: were bolder than we fancied, or they put more trust
17:37
Speaker 1: in Israel's gunnery, for four or five of them were
17:40
Speaker 1: busy carrying off our stores and wading out with them
17:43
Speaker 1: to one of the gigs that lay close by, pulling
17:46
Speaker 1: an oar or so to hold her steady against the current.
17:50
Speaker 1: Silver was in the stern sheets in command, and every
17:53
Speaker 1: man of them was now provided with a musket from
17:56
Speaker 1: some secret magazine of their own. The captain sat down
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Speaker 1: to his log and here is the beginning of the entry.
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Speaker 1: Alexander Smollett, Master, David Livesey, ship's doctor, Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate,
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Speaker 1: John Trelawney, Owner, John Hunter, and Richard Joyce, owner's servants,
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Speaker 1: land's men, being all that is left faithful of the
18:23
Speaker 1: ship's company, with stores for ten days at short rations,
18:28
Speaker 1: came ashore this day and flew British colors on the
18:32
Speaker 1: log house in Treasure Island. Thomas Redruth, owner's servant, landsman
18:38
Speaker 1: shot by the mutineers. James Hawkins, cabin boy. And at
18:43
Speaker 1: the same time I was wondering over poor Jim hawkins
18:47
Speaker 1: fate a hail on the land side. Somebody hailing us,
18:52
Speaker 1: said Hunter, who was on guard, Doctor Squire, Captain, helloo, Hunter,
18:58
Speaker 1: is that you came the And I ran to the
19:02
Speaker 1: door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe and sound,
19:06
Speaker 1: come climbing over the stockade. End of chapter eighteen