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Treasure Island
Chapter 31. The Treasure-hunt. Flint's Pointer
"Jim," said Silver when we were alone, "if I saved your life, you saved mine, and I won't forget it".
I saw the doctor waving you to run for it, with the corner of my eye, I did.
And I saw you say no, as clear as if I heard it, Jim, that's a point for you.
This is the first bit of hope I've had since the attack failed, and I owe it to you.
Jim, we're going in for this treasure-hunting.
We have secret orders too, and I don't like it.
You and me must stick close, back to back.
We'll save our necks in spite of fate and fortune.
Just then a man called to us from the fire that breakfast was ready.
And we were soon seated here and there on the sand over biscuit and fried meat.
They had lit a fire big enough to roast an ox.
And it was now so hot that they could only get near it from the windward side, and even there not without care.
They had cooked three times more than we could eat.
One of them threw what was left into the fire.
The fire blazed and roared over this unusual fuel.
I never in my life saw men so careless about tomorrow.
Living from hand to mouth is the only way to describe their behavior.
They wasted food and had sleeping guards.
Though they were bold enough for a fight, I could see they were unfit for a long campaign.
Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint on his shoulder, hadn't a word of blame for their recklessness.
And this surprised me more, because I thought he had never shown himself as clever as he did then.
"Aye, mates," said he.
"It's lucky you have Barbecue to think for you with this head of mine."
"I got what I wanted, I did."
"Sure enough, they have the ship."
"Where they have it, I don't know yet, but once we find the treasure, we'll have to jump around and find out."
"And then, mates, we that have the boats, I reckon, have the upper hand."
Thus he kept talking, with his mouth full of the hot bacon, thus he restored their hope and confidence.
And , I more than suspect, repaired his own at the same time.
"As for the hostage," he continued, "that's his last talk, I guess, with them he loves so dear".
I've got my piece of news, and I thank him for that, but it's over and done.
I'll take him on a rope when we go treasure-hunting, we'll keep him like gold in case of accidents, you mark.
We'll have the ship and treasure, then we'll go to sea like happy companions.
After that, we'll talk to Mr. Hawkins.
We'll give him his share for all his kindness.
It was no wonder the men were in a good mood now.
For my part, I was horribly down.
If the plan he had now described proved possible, Silver, already a double traitor, wouldn't hesitate to use it.
He still had a foot in both camps.
There was no doubt he'd prefer wealth and freedom with the pirates.
That was better than a bare escape from hanging, which was the best he could hope for on our side.
No, and even if things turned out so that he was forced to keep his promise to Dr.
Livesey, even then what danger lay before us!
Livesey, even then what danger lay before us!
His followers' suspicions would turn to certainty.
Then he and I'd have to fight for our lives.
He was a cripple, and I was a boy.
We'd face five strong and active seamen.
Add to this double fear the mystery that still hung over my friends' behavior.
They had left the stockade without explanation and given up the chart.
Even harder to understand was the doctor's last warning to Silver, "Watch out for trouble when you find it."
You'll easily believe how little taste I found in my breakfast.
With an uneasy heart, I set out behind my captors on the search for treasure.
We made a strange sight, if anyone had been there to see us, all in dirty sailor clothes and all but me armed to the teeth.
Silver wore two guns, one before and one behind, a big cutlass at his waist, and pistols in each pocket of his coat.
To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat on his shoulder and chattered bits of meaningless sea-talk.
I had a rope around my waist and followed obediently after the sea-cook.
The sea-cook held the loose end, now in his free hand, now between his strong teeth.
For all the world, I was led like a dancing bear.
The other men were loaded in different ways.
Some carried picks and shovels, the first items brought ashore from the HISPANIOLA.
Others carried pork, bread, and brandy for the midday meal.
All the supplies, I noticed, came from our stock, and I could see the truth of Silver's words the night before.
If he hadn't dealt with the doctor, he and his mutineers left by the ship would live on water and what they hunted.
Water would have been little to their taste.
A sailor isn't usually a good shot.
Besides all that, they were very short of food.
It wasn't likely they'd have much gunpowder.
Thus equipped, we all set out, Even the fellow with the broken head came along, though he should have stayed in the shade.
We walked, one after another, to the beach.
The two rowboats waited for us there.
Even these showed signs of the drunken foolishness of the pirates, one with a broken seat, and both in their muddy and unwashed condition.
Both were taken with us for safety, our numbers divided between them, we set out on the anchorage.
As we rowed over, there was some discussion about the chart.
The red cross was, of course, far too big to be a guide, and the words on the back, as you'll hear, allowed for some confusion.
They read, the reader may remember, like this,
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 main mark.
Right before us, the anchorage was bounded by a plateau.
It was two to three hundred feet high.
This plateau joined the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass on the north.
It rose again towards the south into the rough, cliffy hill called the Mizzenmast Hill.
The top of the plateau was thickly dotted with pine-trees of different heights.
Here and there, a different kind of tree rose forty or fifty feet above its neighbors.
Which one was Captain Flint's "tall tree" could only be decided on the spot.
It also required readings from the compass.
Yet, every man on the boats had picked a favorite of his own before we were halfway across.
Long John alone shrugged his shoulders and told them to wait till they got there.
We rowed easily, following Silver's directions, we didn't want to tire the men too soon.
After a long trip, we landed at the mouth of the second river.
That river runs down a wooded valley of the Spy-glass.
Then, turning to our left, we began to climb the slope towards the plateau.
At the start, heavy, muddy ground and thick, swampy plants slowed us down.
But little by little, the hill grew steeper and stony underfoot.
The wood also changed and became more open.
It was, indeed, a most pleasant part of the island that we were now approaching.
A strong-smelling broom and many flowering bushes had almost taken the place of grass.
Thickets of green nutmeg-trees were dotted here.
There with the red trunks and the broad shadow of the pines, and the first mixed their spice with the smell of the others.
The air, besides, was fresh and moving, and this, under the direct sunbeams, was a wonderful refreshment to our senses.
The party spread out, in a fan shape, shouting and jumping back and forth.
About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed.
I tied by my rope, he pushing, with deep breaths, among the sliding stones.
From time to time, indeed, I had to give him a hand, or he'd have lost his footing and fallen backward down the hill.
We had thus gone on for about half a mile and were approaching the edge of the plateau.
The man on the farthest left began to shout as if in terror.
Shout after shout came from him, and the others began to run in his direction.
"He can't have found the treasure," said old Morgan, hurrying past us from the right, "for that's clean on top."
Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot, it was something very different.
At the foot of a pretty big pine, a human skeleton lay on the ground.
It was wrapped in a green vine, which had partly lifted some of the smaller bones.
A few pieces of clothing were also there.
I believe a chill struck for a moment to every heart.
"He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had gone up close and was examining the rags of clothing.
"At least, this is good sea-cloth."
"Aye, aye," said Silver.
"Likely enough, you wouldn't expect to find a bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of way is that for bones to lie? It's not natural."
Indeed, on a second look, it seemed impossible to think that the body was in a natural position.
The man lay perfectly straight, his feet pointed in one direction.
His hands were raised above his head like a diver's, pointing in the opposite direction.
"I've got an idea in my old thick head," said Silver.
"Here's the compass, there's the tip-top point of Skeleton Island, sticking out like a tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of those bones."
It was done, the body pointed straight in the direction of the island, and the compass read exactly E.S.E. and by E.
"I thought so," cried the cook.
"This here's a pointer."
"Right up there's our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars."
"But, by thunder!"
"If it doesn't make me cold inside to think of Flint."
"This is one of his jokes, and no mistake."
"Him and these six were alone here, he killed them, every man, and this one he dragged here and laid down by compass, shiver my timbers!"
"They're long bones, and the hair's been yellow."
"Aye, that would be Allardyce."
"You remember Allardyce, Tom Morgan?"
"Aye, aye," replied Morgan, "I remember him, he owed me money, he did, and took my knife ashore with him."
"Speaking of knives," said another.
"Why don't we find his lying around? Flint wasn'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 isn't a thing left here," said Merry, still feeling around among the bones.
"Not a copper coin nor a tobacco box. It doesn't look natural to me."
"No, by gum, it doesn't,"
Agreed Silver, "Not natural, nor nice, you might say."
"Great guns! Mates, if Flint were living, this would be a hot spot for us, six they were, six are we, now bones".
"I saw him dead with these very eyes," said Morgan.
"Billy took me in. There he lay, with pennies on his eyes."
"Dead, aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said the fellow with the bandage.
"But if ever a spirit walked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he died badly, did Flint!"
"Aye, that he did," said another.
"Now he raged, and now he shouted for the rum, and now he sang. 'Fifteen Men' was his only song, mates,"
"And I tell you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since."
"It was very hot, and the window was open,"
"And I hear that old song coming out as clear as clear, and the death-haul on the man already."
"Come, come," said Silver.
"Stop this talk."
"He's dead, and he doesn't walk, that I know, at least, he won't walk by day, and you can count on that."
"Worry killed a cat."
"Move ahead for the doubloons."
We started, certainly, but the pirates no longer ran separately and shouted through the wood.
Despite the hot sun and bright daylight, they kept side by side and spoke with held breath.
The terror of the dead buccaneer had fallen on their spirits.