‘Let’s see that map,’ the doctor said. ‘But first, Mr Trelawney,
what do you know about Captain Flint?’
‘Flint?’ said Mr Trelawney. ‘He was a famous pirate and a very
bad man. Everybody was afraid of Captain Flint. But he’s dead
now.’
‘Did he have any money?’ asked the doctor.
‘Money!’ said Mr Trelawney. ‘He was the richest pirate in the
West Indies.’
‘Then perhaps this map shows where Captain Flint’s treasure
is,’ said the doctor.
‘What?’ said Mr Trelawney. ‘Then I must buy a ship and we
can all go and look for the treasure.’
The doctor opened the map very carefully. It was a map of an
island. There was some writing on the map. It said: ‘Treasure
here’.
Mr Trelawney and the doctor were excited. ‘Livesey!’ said Mr
Trelawney. ‘Tomorrow I’m going to Bristol. I’m going to buy a
ship and find sailors. Jim, you and Dr Livesey are going to come
with me to look for the treasure!’
Treasure Island 1750
The next day Mr Trelawney left for Bristol. I stayed at home and
waited. At last, weeks later, Dr Livesey got a letter from Bristol.
Dear Livesey,
The ship is ready. Its name is Hispaniola. I found a good man to be
our cook on the ship. He’s an old sailor and he has an inn here in
Bristol. He is going to help me find sailors for our ship. He knows a lot
of men here. His name is Long John Silver. He has only one leg.
Please send Jim Hawkins to Bristol tomorrow.
Trelawney.
I was very excited. The next morning I said goodbye to my
mother and started for Bristol. Mr Trelawney met me there.
‘When do we sail?’ I asked him.
‘Sail?’ he said. ‘We sail tomorrow!’
I had something to eat, then Mr Trelawney gave me a letter for
Long John Silver at the Spy Glass Inn.
There were a lot of sailors in the Spy Glass Inn. I looked round
and saw a tall strong man with one leg. ‘He’s Long John Silver,’ I
thought.
‘Mr Silver, sir?’ I asked.
‘Yes, that’s my name. And who are you?’
I gave him the letter and he took my hand. Suddenly, one of the
other men in the inn jumped up and ran to the door. I knew him. It
was Black Dog!
‘Stop him!’ I said. ‘Stop him! It’s Black Dog!’ ‘Harry,’ said
Silver, ‘run and catch that man.’ A man got up and ran after Black
Dog.
Long John Silver turned to me. “Who was that man?’ he asked.
‘Black what?’
‘Dog, sir,’ I said. ‘He’s a pirate.’
‘A pirate!’ said Silver. ‘Ben, run and help Harry. You can catch
him!’
But Ben and Harry came back without Black Dog. ‘We lost
him,’ they said.
‘Well, what is Mr Trelawney going to think?’ said Silver. ‘You
know, Jim, we did try to catch him. And nobody in the inn knew
that he was the pirate Black Dog. Now, Jim, come with me.
We’re going to see Mr Trelawney.’
Long John Silver walked with me to meet Mr Trelawney and
Dr Livesey. He told them about Black Dog.
Mr Trelawney listened carefully, and then said, ‘Well, we can’t
do anything about Black Dog now. John, tell all the men to come
to the ship this afternoon.’
The doctor turned to me. ‘Come and see the ship, Jim,’ he said.
And meet our captain, Captain Smollett.’
So we went to the Hispaniola. ‘Well, Captain Smollett,’ said
Mr Trelawney, ‘I hope everything is ready.’
‘Well, sir,’ said the captain, ‘it is, but I’m not happy about it. I
don’t like the sailors.’