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

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, how my shore adventure began. The appearance of
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Speaker 1: the island when I came on deck next morning, was
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Speaker 1: altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased. We
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Speaker 1: had made a great deal of whey during the night,
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Speaker 1: and were now lying becalmed about half a mile to
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Speaker 1: the southeast of the low eastern coast. Gray colored woods
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Speaker 1: covered a large part of the surface. This even tint
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Speaker 1: was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand break
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Speaker 1: in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of
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Speaker 1: the pine family, out topping the others, some singly, some
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Speaker 1: in clumps, but the general coloring was uniform and sad.
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Speaker 1: The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires
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Speaker 1: of naked rock. All were strangely shaped, and the spy glass,
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Speaker 1: which was by three or four hundred feet the tallest
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Speaker 1: on the island, was likewise the strangest in configuration, running
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Speaker 1: up sheer from almost every side, and then suddenly cut
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Speaker 1: off at the top like a pedestal to put a
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Speaker 1: statue on the Hispaniola was rolling scuppers under in the
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Speaker 1: ocean's swell. The booms were tearing at the blocks, the
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Speaker 1: rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole ship creaking,
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Speaker 1: groaning and jumping like a manufactory. I had to cling
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Speaker 1: tight to the back stay, and the world turned giddily
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Speaker 1: before my eyes. For though I was a good enough
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Speaker 1: sailor when there was way on this, standing still and
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Speaker 1: being rolled about like a bottle was a thing. I
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Speaker 1: never learned to stand without a qualm or two, above
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Speaker 1: all in the morning, on an empty stomach. Perhaps it
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Speaker 1: was this. Perhaps it was the look of the island,
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Speaker 1: with its gray, melancholy woods and wild stone spires, and
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Speaker 1: the surf that we could both see and hear foaming
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Speaker 1: and thundering on the steep beach at least, although the
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Speaker 1: sun shone bright and hot, and the shore birds were
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Speaker 1: fishing and crying all around us, and you would have
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Speaker 1: thought anyone would have been glad to get to land
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Speaker 1: after being so long at sea. My heart sank as
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Speaker 1: the saying is into my boots, and from that first
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Speaker 1: look onward I hated the very thought of Treasure Island.
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Speaker 1: We had a dreary morning's work before us, and there
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Speaker 1: was no sign of any wind, and the boats had
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Speaker 1: to be got out and manned, and the ship warped
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Speaker 1: three or four miles round the corner of the island
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Speaker 1: and up the narrow passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island.
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Speaker 1: I volunteered for one of the boats, where I had,
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Speaker 1: of course no business. The heat was sweltering, and the
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Speaker 1: men grumbled fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command
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Speaker 1: of my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order,
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Speaker 1: he grumbled as loud as the worst. Well, he said,
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Speaker 1: with an oath, it's not forever. I thought this was
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Speaker 1: a very bad sign, for up to that day the
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Speaker 1: men had gone briskly and willingly about their business. But
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Speaker 1: the very sight of the island had relaxed the cords
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Speaker 1: of discipline all the way in long. John stood by
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Speaker 1: the steersman and conned the ship. He knew the passage
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Speaker 1: like the palm of his hand, and though the man
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Speaker 1: in the chains got everywhere more water than was down
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Speaker 1: on the chart, John never hesitated once. There's a strong
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Speaker 1: score with the EBB, he said, and this ere passage
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Speaker 1: has been dug out in a manner of speaking with
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Speaker 1: a spade. We brought up just where the anchor was
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Speaker 1: on the chart, about a third of a mile from
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Speaker 1: each shore, the mainland on one side and Skeleton island
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Speaker 1: on the other the bottom was clean sand. The plunge
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Speaker 1: of our anchor sent up klowd of birds, wheeling and
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Speaker 1: crying over the woods, but in less than a minute
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Speaker 1: they were down again, and all was once more silent.
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Speaker 1: The place was entirely land locked, buried in woods, the
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Speaker 1: trees coming right down to high water mark, the shores
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Speaker 1: mostly flat, and the hilltops standing round at a distance
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Speaker 1: in a sort of amphitheater. One here, one there. Two
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Speaker 1: little rivers, or rather two swamps, emptied out into this pond,
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Speaker 1: as you might call it, and the foliage around that
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Speaker 1: part of the shore had a kind of poisonous brightness.
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Speaker 1: From the ship, we could see nothing of the house
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Speaker 1: or stockade, for they were quite buried among trees. And
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Speaker 1: if it had not been for the chart on the companion,
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Speaker 1: we might have been the first that ever anchored there.
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Speaker 1: Since the islands arose out of the seas. There was
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Speaker 1: not a breath of air moving, nor a sound, but
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Speaker 1: that of the surf booming half a mile away along
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Speaker 1: the beach and against the rocks outside. A peculiar, stagnant
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Speaker 1: smell hung over the anchorage, a smell of sodden leaves
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Speaker 1: and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing,
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Speaker 1: like someone tasting a bad egg. I don't know about treasure,
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Speaker 1: he said, but I'll stick my wig. There's fever here.
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Speaker 1: If the conduct of the men had been alarming in
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Speaker 1: the boat, it became truly threatening when they had come aboard.
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Speaker 1: They lay about the deck, growling together in talk. The
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Speaker 1: slightest order was received with a black look, and grudgingly
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Speaker 1: and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest hands must have caught
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Speaker 1: the infection, for there was not one man aboard to
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Speaker 1: mend another mutiny. It was plain hung over us like
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Speaker 1: a thundercloud. And it was not only we of the
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Speaker 1: cabin party who perceived the danger. Long John was hard
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Speaker 1: at work, going from group to group, spending himself in
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Speaker 1: good advice and and as for example, no man could
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Speaker 1: have shown a better He fairly outstripped himself in willingness
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Speaker 1: and civility. He was all smiles to everyone. If an
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Speaker 1: order were given, John would be on his crutch in
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Speaker 1: an instant, with the cheeriest aye aye sir in the world.
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Speaker 1: And when there was nothing else to do, he kept
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Speaker 1: up one song after another, as if to conceal the
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Speaker 1: discontent of the rest. Of all the gloomy features of
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Speaker 1: that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety on the part of
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Speaker 1: Long John appeared the worst. We held a council in
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Speaker 1: the cabin, Sir, said the captain. If I risk another order,
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Speaker 1: the whole ship will come about our ears by the run.
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Speaker 1: You see, sir, here it is. I get a rough answer.
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Speaker 1: Do not well? If I speak back, pikes will be
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Speaker 1: going in two shakes. If I don't, Silver will see
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Speaker 1: there's something under that. And the game's up. Now we've
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Speaker 1: only one man to rely on. And who's that, asked
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Speaker 1: the squire Silver, Sir, returned the captain. He's as anxious
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Speaker 1: as you and I to some other things up. This
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Speaker 1: is a tiff. He'd soon talk him out of it
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Speaker 1: if he had the chance. And what I propose to
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Speaker 1: do is to give him the chance. Let's allow the
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Speaker 1: men an afternoon. Sure. If they all go, why we'll
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Speaker 1: fight the ship.
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Speaker 2: If they none of them go, well then we hold
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Speaker 2: the cabin and God defend the right. If some go,
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Speaker 2: you mark my words, Sir, Silver, bring em aboard again
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Speaker 2: as mild as lambs. It was so decided loaded pistols
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Speaker 2: were served out to all the shore men. Hunter Joyce
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Speaker 2: and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received the
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Speaker 2: news with no less surprise and a better spirit than
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Speaker 2: we had looked for. And then the captain went on
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Speaker 2: deck and addressed the crew.
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Speaker 1: My lads, said he, We've had a hot day and
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Speaker 1: are all tired and out of sorts. A turn ashore
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Speaker 1: will hurt nobody. The boats are still in the water.
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Speaker 1: You can take the gigs and as many as please
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Speaker 1: can go ashore for the afternoon. I'll fire a gun
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Speaker 1: half an hour before sundown. I believe the silly fellows
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Speaker 1: must have thought that they would break their shins over
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Speaker 1: treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all
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Speaker 1: came out of their salts in a moment and gave
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Speaker 1: a cheer that started the echo in a far away
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Speaker 1: hill and sent the birds once more flying and squalling
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Speaker 1: round the anchorage. The captain was too bright to be
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Speaker 1: in the way. He whipped out of sight in a moment,
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Speaker 1: leaving Silver to arrange the party. And I fancy it
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Speaker 1: was as well he did so. Had he been on deck,
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Speaker 1: he could no longer so much as have pretended not
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Speaker 1: to understand the situation. It was as plain as day
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Speaker 1: Silver was the captain and a mighty rebellious crew. He
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Speaker 1: had of it the honest hands, and I was soon
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Speaker 1: to see it proved that there were such on board
9:36
Speaker 1: must have been very stupid fellows. Or rather, I suppose
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Speaker 1: the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by
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Speaker 1: the example of the ringleaders. Only some more, some less,
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Speaker 1: and a few, being good fellows in the main, could
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Speaker 1: neither be led nor driven any farther. It is one
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Speaker 1: thing to be idle and skulk, and quite another to
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Speaker 1: take a ship and murder number of innocent men. At last, however,
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Speaker 1: the party was made up. Six fellows were to stay
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Speaker 1: on board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark.
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Speaker 1: Then it was that there came into my head the
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Speaker 1: first of the mad notions that contributed so much to
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Speaker 1: save our lives. If six men were left by Silver,
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Speaker 1: it was plain our party could not take and fight
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Speaker 1: the ship. And since only six were left, it was
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Speaker 1: equally plain that the cabin party had no present need
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Speaker 1: of my assistance. It occurred to me at once to
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Speaker 1: go ashore. In a jiffy. I had slipped over the
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Speaker 1: side and curled up in the four sheets of the
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Speaker 1: nearest boat, and almost at the same moment she shoved off.
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Speaker 1: No one took notice of me, only the bow or
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Speaker 1: saying is that you, Jim, keep your head down. But
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Speaker 1: Silver from the other boat looked sharply over and called
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Speaker 1: out to know if that were me, And from that
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Speaker 1: moment I began to regret what I had done. The
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Speaker 1: crews raced for the beach, and in the boat I
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Speaker 1: was in, having some start and being at once the
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Speaker 1: lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of her consort,
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Speaker 1: and the bough had struck among the shore side trees,
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Speaker 1: and I had caught a branch and swung myself out
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Speaker 1: and plunged into the nearest thicket, while Silver and the
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Speaker 1: rest were still a hundred yards away. Jim, Jim, I
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Speaker 1: heard him shouting, but you may suppose I paid no heed. Jumping, ducking,
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Speaker 1: and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose till
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Speaker 1: I could run no longer. End of Chapter thirteen, Chapter fourteen,
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Speaker 1: the first blow. I was so pleased at having given
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Speaker 1: the slip to long John that I began to enjoy
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Speaker 1: myself and look around me with some interest on the
11:56
Speaker 1: strange land that I was in I had crossed a
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Speaker 1: marshy tree full of willows, bulrushes, and odd outlandish swampy trees,
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Speaker 1: and now had come out upon the skirts of an
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Speaker 1: open piece of undulating sandy country about a mile long,
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Speaker 1: dotted with a few pines, and a great number of
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Speaker 1: contorted trees, not unlike the oak in growth, but pale
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Speaker 1: in the foliage like willows. On the far side of
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Speaker 1: the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint,
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Speaker 1: craggy peaks shining vividly in the sun. I now felt
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Speaker 1: for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle
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Speaker 1: was uninhabited, but my shipmates I have left behind, and
12:39
Speaker 1: nothing lived in front of me but dumb brutes and fowls.
12:43
Speaker 1: I turned hither and thither among the trees. Here and
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Speaker 1: there were flowering plants unknown to me. Here and there
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Speaker 1: I saw snakes, And one raised his head from a
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Speaker 1: ledge of rock and hissed at me with a noise
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Speaker 1: not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did I
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Speaker 1: suppose that he was a dead enemy, and the noise
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Speaker 1: was the famous rattle. Then I came to a long
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Speaker 1: thicket of these oak like trees, live or evergreen oaks.
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Speaker 1: I heard afterward they should be called, which grew low
13:13
Speaker 1: along the sand like brambles. The boughs curiously twisted, the
13:17
Speaker 1: foliage compact like thatch. The thickets stretched down from the
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Speaker 1: top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing
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Speaker 1: taller as it went, until it reached the margin of
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Speaker 1: the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest of the
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Speaker 1: little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh
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Speaker 1: was streaming in the strong sun, and the outline of
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Speaker 1: the spyglass trembled through the haze. All at once there
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Speaker 1: began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes.
13:47
Speaker 1: A wild duck flew up with a quack. Another followed,
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Speaker 1: and soon over the whole surface of the marsh, a
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Speaker 1: great cloud of birds hung, screaming and circling in the air.
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Speaker 1: I judged at once that some of my shipmates must
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Speaker 1: be drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor
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Speaker 1: was I deceived, for soon I heard the very distant
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Speaker 1: and low tones of a human voice, which, as I
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Speaker 1: continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. This
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Speaker 1: put me in great fear, and I crawled under cover
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Speaker 1: of the nearest live oak and squatted there, hearkening as
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Speaker 1: silent as a mouse. Another voice answered, and then the
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Speaker 1: first voice, which I now recognized to be Silver's, once
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Speaker 1: more took up the story and ran on for a
14:32
Speaker 1: long while in a stream, only now and again interrupted
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Speaker 1: by the other. By the sound, they must have been
14:39
Speaker 1: talking earnestly and almost fiercely, but no distinct word came
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Speaker 1: to my hearing. At last, the speakers seemed to have paused,
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Speaker 1: and perhaps to have sat down, for not only did
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Speaker 1: they cease to draw any nearer, but the birds themselves
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Speaker 1: began to grow more quiet and to settle again into
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Speaker 1: their places in the swamp. And began to feel that
15:00
Speaker 1: I was neglecting my business. But since I had been
15:03
Speaker 1: so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the
15:07
Speaker 1: least I could do was to overhear them at their councils,
15:10
Speaker 1: and that my plain and obvious duty was to draw
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Speaker 1: as close as I could manage. Under the favorable ambush
15:17
Speaker 1: of the crouching trees. I could tell the direction of
15:20
Speaker 1: the speakers pretty exactly, not only by the sound of
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Speaker 1: their voices, but by the behavior of the few birds
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Speaker 1: that still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders,
15:31
Speaker 1: crawling on all fours, I made steadily bar slowly towards them,
15:36
Speaker 1: till at last, raising my head to an aperture among
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Speaker 1: the leaves, I could see clear down into a little
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Speaker 1: green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about with trees,
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Speaker 1: where long John Silver and another of the crew stood
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Speaker 1: face to face in conversation. The sun beat full upon them.
15:56
Speaker 1: Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the ground,
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Speaker 1: and his great smooth blonde face, all shining with heat,
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Speaker 1: was lifted to the other man's in a kind of appeal. Mate.
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Speaker 1: He was saying, that's because I thinks gold dust of you,
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Speaker 1: gold dust, and you may late that. And if I
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Speaker 1: hadn't took to you light pitch, do you think I'd
16:22
Speaker 1: have been here a warning of you. All's up? You
16:26
Speaker 1: can't make no amend. It's the savior neck that I
16:30
Speaker 1: must speak in. And if one of the wild uns
16:33
Speaker 1: knew it, where it'd I be? Tom, Now tell me
16:36
Speaker 1: where it'd I be? Silver said the other man, and
16:40
Speaker 1: I observed he was not only red in the face,
16:43
Speaker 1: but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice
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Speaker 1: shook too, like a taut rope silver, says he you're old,
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Speaker 1: and you're honest, or has the name of it, And
16:55
Speaker 1: you've money too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't, And
16:59
Speaker 1: you're brave or are mistook? And will you tell me
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Speaker 1: you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of
17:06
Speaker 1: a mess of swabs. Not you? As sure as God
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Speaker 1: seized me, I'd sooner lose my hand if I turn
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Speaker 1: again my duty. And then all of a sudden he
17:18
Speaker 1: was interrupted by a noise. I'd found one of the
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Speaker 1: honest hands. Well here. At that same moment came news
17:26
Speaker 1: of another far away out in the marsh. There arose,
17:29
Speaker 1: all of a sudden a sound like the cry of anger,
17:33
Speaker 1: then another on the back of it, and then one horrid,
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Speaker 1: long drawn scream. The rocks of the spyglass re echoed
17:41
Speaker 1: it a score of times. The whole troop of marsh
17:45
Speaker 1: birds rose again, darkening heaven with the simultaneous whirr, And
17:50
Speaker 1: long after that death yell was still ringing in my brain.
17:54
Speaker 1: Silence had re established its empire, and only the rustle
17:58
Speaker 1: of the redescending birds and the boom of the distant
18:02
Speaker 1: surges disturbed the languor of the afternoon. Tom had leaped
18:07
Speaker 1: at the sound like a horse at the spur, but
18:10
Speaker 1: Silver had not winked an eye. He stood where he was,
18:14
Speaker 1: resting lightly on his crutch, watching his companion like a
18:18
Speaker 1: snake about the spring, John said the sailor, stretching out
18:24
Speaker 1: his hand, ends off, cried Silver, leaping back a yard,
18:28
Speaker 1: as it seemed to me with the speed and security
18:31
Speaker 1: of a trained to gymnast. Ends off. If you like John,
18:35
Speaker 1: Silver said the other. It's a black conscience that can
18:39
Speaker 1: make you fear of me. But in Eaven's name, tell
18:43
Speaker 1: me what was that?
18:45
Speaker 2: That?
18:46
Speaker 1: Returned Silver, smiling away but warier than ever, his eye
18:51
Speaker 1: a mere pinpoint in his big face, but gleaming like
18:55
Speaker 1: a crumb of glass. That, oh, I wreck, and that
18:59
Speaker 1: I be alln And at this poor Tom flashed out
19:03
Speaker 1: like a hero. Allan, he cried, Then rest your soul
19:07
Speaker 1: for a true seaman. And as for you, John Silver, long,
19:11
Speaker 1: you've been a mate o mine, but you're a mate
19:13
Speaker 1: o mine no longer. If I die like a dog,
19:17
Speaker 1: I'll die in my duty. You've killed Allan. Have you
19:21
Speaker 1: kill me too if you can? But I defies you.
19:25
Speaker 1: And with that this brave fellow turned his back directly
19:28
Speaker 1: on the cook and set off walking for the beach.
19:31
Speaker 1: But he was not destined to go far. With a cry,
19:35
Speaker 1: John seized the branch of a tree, whipped the crutch
19:38
Speaker 1: out of his armpit, and sent that uncouth missile hurling
19:43
Speaker 1: through the air. It struck poor Tom point foremost, and
19:47
Speaker 1: with stunning violence, right between the shoulders in the middle
19:50
Speaker 1: of his back. His hands flew up, and he gave
19:54
Speaker 1: a sort of gasp and fell. Whether he was injured
19:57
Speaker 1: much or little, none could ever tell, like enough to
20:00
Speaker 1: judge from the sound. His back was broken on the spot,
20:04
Speaker 1: but he had no time given him to recover. Silver,
20:08
Speaker 1: agile as a monkey, even without leg or crutch, was
20:12
Speaker 1: on the top of him next moment, and had twice
20:16
Speaker 1: buried his knife up to their hilt in that defenseless body.
20:21
Speaker 1: From my place of ambush, I could hear him pant
20:23
Speaker 1: aloud as he struck the blows. I do not know
20:27
Speaker 1: what it rightly is to faint, but I do know
20:30
Speaker 1: that for the next little while the whole world swam
20:33
Speaker 1: away from before me in a whirling mist. Silver and
20:38
Speaker 1: the birds, and the tall spyglass hilltop going round and
20:42
Speaker 1: round and topsy turvy before my eyes, and all manner
20:47
Speaker 1: of bells ringing, and distant voices shouting in my ear.
20:52
Speaker 1: When I came again to myself, the monster had pulled
20:54
Speaker 1: himself together, his crutch under his arm, his hat upon
20:58
Speaker 1: his head. Just before him, Tom lay motionless upon the sword,
21:03
Speaker 1: But the murderer minded him not a whit, cleansing his
21:06
Speaker 1: blood stained a knife, the while upon a wisp of grass.
21:10
Speaker 1: Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining mercilessly upon
21:15
Speaker 1: the steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain.
21:19
Speaker 1: And I could scarcely persuade myself that the murder had
21:22
Speaker 1: actually been done, and a human life cruelly cut short
21:27
Speaker 1: moment since before my eyes. And now John put his
21:31
Speaker 1: hand into his pocket, brought out a whistle and blew
21:34
Speaker 1: upon its several modulated blasts that rang far across the
21:39
Speaker 1: heated air. I could not tell, of course, the meaning
21:42
Speaker 1: of the signal, but it instantly awoke my fears more
21:46
Speaker 1: men would be coming. I might be discovered they had
21:50
Speaker 1: already slain two of the honest people after Tom, and
21:53
Speaker 1: Allan might not I come next. Instantly I began to
21:58
Speaker 1: extricate myself and all back again with what speed and
22:02
Speaker 1: silence I could manage to the more open portion of
22:05
Speaker 1: the wood. And as I did so, I could hear
22:08
Speaker 1: hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades,
22:12
Speaker 1: and this sound of danger lent me wings. As soon
22:16
Speaker 1: as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as
22:18
Speaker 1: I never ran before, scarce minding the direction of my
22:22
Speaker 1: flight so long as it led me from the murderers.
22:25
Speaker 1: And as I ran, fear grew and grew upon me,
22:28
Speaker 1: until it turned into a kind of frenzy. Indeed, could
22:32
Speaker 1: any one be more entirely lost than I? When the
22:37
Speaker 1: gun fired? How should I dare to go down to
22:40
Speaker 1: the boats among those fiends still smoking from their crime?
22:46
Speaker 1: Would not the first of them who saw me wring
22:49
Speaker 1: my neck like a snipe's. Would not my absence itself
22:54
Speaker 1: be in evidence to them of my alarm and therefore
22:57
Speaker 1: of my fatal knowledge. It was all over. I thought,
23:02
Speaker 1: good bye to the Hispaniola, good bye to the squire,
23:05
Speaker 1: the doctor, and the captain. There was nothing left for
23:08
Speaker 1: me but death by starvation or death by the hands
23:12
Speaker 1: of the mutineers. All this while, as I say, I
23:16
Speaker 1: was still running, and without taking any notice, I had
23:19
Speaker 1: drawn near to the foot of the little hill with
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Speaker 1: the two peaks, and had got into a part of
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Speaker 1: the island where the wild oaks grew more widely apart,
23:27
Speaker 1: and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and dimensions.
23:32
Speaker 1: Mingled with these, there were a few scattered pines, some
23:36
Speaker 1: fifty some nearer seventy feet high. The air, too, smelled
23:41
Speaker 1: more fresh than down beside the marsh, and here a
23:45
Speaker 1: fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with a thumping heart.
23:52
Speaker 1: End of Chapter fourteen.