Part Six: Captain Silver - Chapter 31: The Treasure-hunt--Flint's Pointer

by Robert Louis Stevenson

　　"Jim," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved yourlife, you saved mine; and I'll not forget it. I seenthe doctor waving you to run for it--with the tail ofmy eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing.Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hopeI had since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now,Jim, we're to go in for this here treasure-hunting, withsealed orders too, and I don't like it; and you and memust stick close, back to back like, and we'll save ournecks in spite o' fate and fortune."

　　Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfastwas ready, and we were soon seated here and there aboutthe sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had lit afire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hotthat they could only approach it from the windward, andeven there not without precaution. In the samewasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, threetimes more than we could eat; and one of them, with anempty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, whichblazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. Inever in my life saw men so careless of the morrow;hand to mouth is the only word that can describe theirway of doing; and what with wasted food and sleepingsentries, though they were bold enough for a brush andbe done with it, I could see their entire unfitness foranything like a prolonged campaign.

　　Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon hisshoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness.And this the more surprised me, for I thought he hadnever shown himself so cunning as he did then.

　　"Aye, mates," said he, "it's lucky you have Barbecue tothink for you with this here head. I got what I wanted,I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where they haveit, I don't know yet; but once we hit the treasure, we'llhave to jump about and find out. And then, mates, us thathas the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand."

　　Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of the hotbacon; thus he restored their hope and confidence, and,I more than suspect, repaired his own at the same time.

　　"As for hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk,I guess, with them he loves so dear. I've got my pieceo' news, and thanky to him for that; but it's over anddone. I'll take him in a line when we go treasure-hunting, for we'll keep him like so much gold, in caseof accidents, you mark, and in the meantime. Once wegot the ship and treasure both and off to sea likejolly companions, why then we'll talk Mr. Hawkins over,we will, and we'll give him his share, to be sure, forall his kindness."

　　It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now.For my part, I was horribly cast down. Should thescheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver,already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adoptit. He had still a foot in either camp, and there wasno doubt he would prefer wealth and freedom with thepirates to a bare escape from hanging, which was thebest he had to hope on our side.

　　Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forcedto keep his faith with Dr. Livesey, even then whatdanger lay before us! What a moment that would be whenthe suspicions of his followers turned to certainty andhe and I should have to fight for dear life--he a crippleand I a boy--against five strong and active seamen!

　　Add to this double apprehension the mystery that stillhung over the behaviour of my friends, theirunexplained desertion of the stockade, theirinexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still tounderstand, the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Lookout for squalls when you find it," and you will readilybelieve how little taste I found in my breakfast andwith how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captorson the quest for treasure.

　　We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to seeus--all in soiled sailor clothes and all but me armedto the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about him--onebefore and one behind--besides the great cutlass at hiswaist and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailedcoat. To complete his strange appearance, CaptainFlint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling oddsand ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line aboutmy waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook,who held the loose end of the rope, now in his freehand, now between his powerful teeth. For all theworld, I was led like a dancing bear.

　　The other men were variously burthened, some carryingpicks and shovels--for that had been the very firstnecessary they brought ashore from the Hispaniola--others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for themidday meal. All the stores, I observed, came from ourstock, and I could see the truth of Silver's words thenight before. Had he not struck a bargain with the doctor,he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have beendriven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds of theirhunting. Water would have been little to their taste; asailor is not usually a good shot; and besides all that,when they were so short of eatables, it was not likelythey would be very flush of powder.

　　Well, thus equipped, we all set out--even the fellowwith the broken head, who should certainly have kept inshadow--and straggled, one after another, to the beach,where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore traceof the drunken folly of the pirates, one in a brokenthwart, and both in their muddy and unbailed condition.Both were to be carried along with us for the sake ofsafety; and so, with our numbers divided between them,we set forth upon the bosom of the anchorage.

　　As we pulled over, there was some discussion on thechart. The red cross was, of course, far too large tobe a guide; and the terms of the note on the back, asyou will hear, admitted of some ambiguity. They ran,the reader may remember, thus:

　　Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. Ten feet.A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, rightbefore us the anchorage was bounded by a plateau fromtwo to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the norththe sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass andrising again towards the south into the rough, cliffyeminence called the Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of theplateau was dotted thickly with pine-trees of varyingheight. Every here and there, one of a differentspecies rose forty or fifty feet clear above itsneighbours, and which of these was the particular "talltree" of Captain Flint could only be decided on thespot, and by the readings of the compass.

　　Yet, although that was the case, every man on board theboats had picked a favourite of his own ere we werehalf-way over, Long John alone shrugging his shouldersand bidding them wait till they were there.

　　We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to wearythe hands prematurely, and after quite a long passage,landed at the mouth of the second river--that whichruns down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence,bending to our left, we began to ascend the slopetowards the plateau.

　　At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted,marish vegetation greatly delayed our progress; but bylittle and little the hill began to steepen and becomestony under foot, and the wood to change its characterand to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, amost pleasant portion of the island that we were nowapproaching. A heavy-scented broom and many floweringshrubs had almost taken the place of grass. Thicketsof green nutmeg-trees were dotted here and there withthe red columns and the broad shadow of the pines; andthe first mingled their spice with the aroma of theothers. The air, besides, was fresh and stirring, andthis, under the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderfulrefreshment to our senses.

　　The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape,shouting and leaping to and fro. About the centre, anda good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed--Itethered by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants,among the sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, Ihad to lend him a hand, or he must have missed hisfooting and fallen backward down the hill.

　　We had thus proceeded for about half a mile and wereapproaching the brow of the plateau when the man uponthe farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in terror.Shout after shout came from him, and the others beganto run in his direction.

　　"He can't 'a found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurryingpast us from the right, "for that's clean a-top."

　　Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, itwas something very different. At the foot of a prettybig pine and involved in a green creeper, which had evenpartly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeletonlay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground. Ibelieve a chill struck for a moment to every heart.

　　"He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder thanthe rest, had gone up close and was examining the ragsof clothing. "Leastways, this is good sea-cloth."

　　"Aye, aye," said Silver; "like enough; you wouldn'tlook to find a bishop here, I reckon. But what sort ofa way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't in natur'."

　　Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible tofancy that the body was in a natural position. But forsome disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that hadfed upon him or of the slow-growing creeper that hadgradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectlystraight--his feet pointing in one direction, hishands, raised above his head like a diver's, pointingdirectly in the opposite.

　　"I've taken a notion into my old numbskull," observedSilver. "Here's the compass; there's the tip-top p'into' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a tooth. Justtake a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones."

　　It was done. The body pointed straight in thedirection of the island, and the compass read dulyE.S.E. and by E.

　　"I thought so," cried the cook; "this here is ap'inter. Right up there is our line for the Pole Starand the jolly dollars. But, by thunder! If it don'tmake me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one ofhis jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six wasalone here; he killed 'em, every man; and this one hehauled here and laid down by compass, shiver mytimbers! They're long bones, and the hair's beenyellow. Aye, that would be Allardyce. You mindAllardyce, Tom Morgan?"

　　"Aye, aye," returned Morgan; "I mind him; he owed memoney, he did, and took my knife ashore with him."

　　"Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'nlying round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket;and the birds, I guess, would leave it be."

　　"By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver.

　　"There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, stillfeeling round among the bones; "not a copper doit nor abaccy box. It don't look nat'ral to me."

　　"No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; "not nat'ral,nor not nice, says you. Great guns! Messmates, but ifFlint was living, this would be a hot spot for you andme. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is whatthey are now."

　　"I saw him dead with these here deadlights," saidMorgan. "Billy took me in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes."

　　"Dead--aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," saidthe fellow with the bandage; "but if ever sperritwalked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he diedbad, did Flint!"

　　"Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged,and now he hollered for the rum, and now he sang.'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; and I tell youtrue, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It wasmain hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that oldsong comin' out as clear as clear--and the death-haulon the man already."

　　"Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead,and he don't walk, that I know; leastways, he won'twalk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed acat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons."

　　We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun andthe staring daylight, the pirates no longer ranseparate and shouting through the wood, but kept sideby side and spoke with bated breath. The terror of thedead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits.