Part Five: My Sea Adventure - Chapter 26: Israel Hands

by Robert Louis Stevenson

　　The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west.We could run so much the easier from the north-east cornerof the island to the mouth of the North Inlet. Only, aswe had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till thetide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands.The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a goodmany trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence overanother meal.

　　"Cap'n," said he at length with that same uncomfortablesmile, "here's my old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you wasto heave him overboard. I ain't partic'lar as a rule,and I don't take no blame for settling his hash, but Idon't reckon him ornamental now, do you?"

　　"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; andthere he lies, for me," said I.

　　"This here's an unlucky ship, this Hispaniola,Jim," he went on, blinking. "There's a power of menbeen killed in this Hispaniola--a sight o' poorseamen dead and gone since you and me took ship toBristol. I never seen sich dirty luck, not I. Therewas this here O'Brien now--he's dead, ain't he? Wellnow, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read andfigure, and to put it straight, do you take it as adead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?"

　　"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit;you must know that already," I replied. "O'Brien thereis in another world, and may be watching us."

　　"Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate--appears asif killing parties was a waste of time. Howsomever,sperrits don't reckon for much, by what I've seen.I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now, you'vespoke up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step downinto that there cabin and get me a--well, a--shiver mytimbers! I can't hit the name on 't; well, you get mea bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy's too strongfor my head."

　　Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural,and as for the notion of his preferring wine to brandy,I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was apretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much wasplain; but with what purpose I could in no way imagine.His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering to andfro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now witha flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the timehe kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the mostguilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could havetold that he was bent on some deception. I was promptwith my answer, however, for I saw where my advantagelay and that with a fellow so densely stupid I couldeasily conceal my suspicions to the end.

　　"Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you havewhite or red?"

　　"Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me,shipmate," he replied; "so it's strong, and plenty ofit, what's the odds?"

　　"All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr.Hands. But I'll have to dig for it."

　　With that I scuttled down the companion with all thenoise I could, slipped off my shoes, ran quietly alongthe sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, andpopped my head out of the fore companion. I knew hewould not expect to see me there, yet I took everyprecaution possible, and certainly the worst of mysuspicions proved too true.

　　He had risen from his position to his hands and knees,and though his leg obviously hurt him pretty sharplywhen he moved--for I could hear him stifle a groan--yetit was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himselfacross the deck. In half a minute he had reached theport scuppers and picked, out of a coil of rope, a longknife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hiltwith blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrustingforth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand, andthen, hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket,trundled back again into his old place against the bulwark.

　　This was all that I required to know. Israel couldmove about, he was now armed, and if he had been at somuch trouble to get rid of me, it was plain that I wasmeant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards--whether he would try to crawl right across the islandfrom North Inlet to the camp among the swamps orwhether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his owncomrades might come first to help him--was, of course,more than I could say.

　　Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point,since in that our interests jumped together, and thatwas in the disposition of the schooner. We bothdesired to have her stranded safe enough, in asheltered place, and so that, when the time came, shecould be got off again with as little labour and dangeras might be; and until that was done I considered thatmy life would certainly be spared.

　　While I was thus turning the business over in my mind,I had not been idle with my body. I had stolen back tothe cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and laid myhand at random on a bottle of wine, and now, with thisfor an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck.

　　Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in abundle and with his eyelids lowered as though he weretoo weak to bear the light. He looked up, however, atmy coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a manwho had done the same thing often, and took a goodswig, with his favourite toast of "Here's luck!" Thenhe lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out astick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.

　　"Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't noknife and hardly strength enough, so be as I had. Ah,Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed stays! Cut me a quid,as'll likely be the last, lad, for I'm for my longhome, and no mistake."

　　"Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if Iwas you and thought myself so badly, I would go to myprayers like a Christian man."

　　"Why?" said he. "Now, you tell me why."

　　"Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about thedead. You've broken your trust; you've lived in sinand lies and blood; there's a man you killed lying atyour feet this moment, and you ask me why! For God'smercy, Mr. Hands, that's why."

　　I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirkhe had hidden in his pocket and designed, in his illthoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, took agreat draught of the wine and spoke with the mostunusual solemnity.

　　"For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas andseen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather andfoul, provisions running out, knives going, and whatnot. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o'goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; deadmen don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it. Andnow, you look here," he added, suddenly changing histone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. Thetide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders,Cap'n Hawkins, and we'll sail slap in and be done with it."

　　All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but thenavigation was delicate, the entrance to this northernanchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay eastand west, so that the schooner must be nicely handledto be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern,and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot,for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving thebanks, with a certainty and a neatness that were apleasure to behold.

　　Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closedaround us. The shores of North Inlet were as thicklywooded as those of the southern anchorage, but thespace was longer and narrower and more like, what intruth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us,at the southern end, we saw the wreck of a ship in thelast stages of dilapidation. It had been a greatvessel of three masts but had lain so long exposed tothe injuries of the weather that it was hung about withgreat webs of dripping seaweed, and on the deck of itshore bushes had taken root and now flourished thickwith flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showed usthat the anchorage was calm.

　　"Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit forto beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw,trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like agarding on that old ship."

　　"And once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get heroff again?"

　　"Why, so," he replied: "you take a line ashore there onthe other side at low water, take a turn about one ofthem big pines; bring it back, take a turn around thecapstan, and lie to for the tide. Come high water, allhands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes assweet as natur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We'renear the bit now, and she's too much way on her.Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboard alittle--steady--steady!"

　　So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed,till, all of a sudden, he cried, "Now, my hearty,luff!" And I put the helm hard up, and theHispaniola swung round rapidly and ran stem on for thelow, wooded shore.

　　The excitement of these last manoeuvres had somewhatinterfered with the watch I had kept hitherto, sharplyenough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was still somuch interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that Ihad quite forgot the peril that hung over my head andstood craning over the starboard bulwarks and watchingthe ripples spreading wide before the bows. I mighthave fallen without a struggle for my life had not asudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn myhead. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadowmoving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was aninstinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I lookedround, there was Hands, already half-way towards me,with the dirk in his right hand.

　　We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met,but while mine was the shrill cry of terror, his was aroar of fury like a charging bully's. At the sameinstant, he threw himself forward and I leapt sidewaystowards the bows. As I did so, I let go of the tiller,which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this savedmy life, for it struck Hands across the chest andstopped him, for the moment, dead.

　　Before he could recover, I was safe out of the cornerwhere he had me trapped, with all the deck to dodgeabout. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew apistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he hadalready turned and was once more coming directly afterme, and drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but therefollowed neither flash nor sound; the priming wasuseless with sea-water. I cursed myself for myneglect. Why had not I, long before, reprimed andreloaded my only weapons? Then I should not have beenas now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher.

　　Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he couldmove, his grizzled hair tumbling over his face, and hisface itself as red as a red ensign with his haste andfury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor indeedmuch inclination, for I was sure it would be useless.One thing I saw plainly: I must not simply retreatbefore him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into thebows, as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me inthe stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches ofthe blood-stained dirk would be my last experience onthis side of eternity. I placed my palms against themain-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited,every nerve upon the stretch.

　　Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and amoment or two passed in feints on his part andcorresponding movements upon mine. It was such a gameas I had often played at home about the rocks of BlackHill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with sucha wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I say, it wasa boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at itagainst an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeedmy courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myselfa few darting thoughts on what would be the end of theaffair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin itout for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape.

　　Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the Hispaniolastruck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand,and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port sidetill the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degreesand about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupperholes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark.

　　We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of usrolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the deadred-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumblingstiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that myhead came against the coxswain's foot with a crack thatmade my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the firstafoot again, for Hands had got involved with the deadbody. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deckno place for running on; I had to find some new way ofescape, and that upon the instant, for my foe wasalmost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang intothe mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and didnot draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees.

　　I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had strucknot half a foot below me as I pursued my upward flight;and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open andhis face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surpriseand disappointment.

　　Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time inchanging the priming of my pistol, and then, having oneready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, Iproceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge itafresh from the beginning.

　　My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he beganto see the dice going against him, and after an obvioushesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into theshrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowlyand painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time andgroans to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I hadquietly finished my arrangements before he was muchmore than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistolin either hand, I addressed him.

　　"One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow yourbrains out! Dead men don't bite, you know," I addedwith a chuckle.

　　He stopped instantly. I could see by the working ofhis face that he was trying to think, and the processwas so slow and laborious that, in my new-foundsecurity, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow ortwo, he spoke, his face still wearing the sameexpression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak hehad to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all elsehe remained unmoved.

　　"Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, andwe'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but forthat there lurch, but I don't have no luck, not I; andI reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see,for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim."

　　I was drinking in his words and smiling away, asconceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath,back went his right hand over his shoulder. Somethingsang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow andthen a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by theshoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain and surpriseof the moment--I scarce can say it was by my ownvolition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim--both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of myhands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, thecoxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plungedhead first into the water.