Ben Gunn saw the flag on the house and stopped. He held my arm and sat down. He said that my friends were in the house. I told Ben Gunn that maybe the bad men were there. Ben Gunn disagreed. He said that Long John Silver would use the Jolly Roger (the black flag of pirates). Ben Gunn knew the stockade (the strong fence made of wood) was built by a pirate named Captain Flint.
Ben Gunn did not want to go to the house yet. He said he was a good man, but he was careful. He gave me a secret message for Squire Trelawney or Doctor Livesey. I had to say that Ben Gunn had "reasons of his own" for staying in the woods. He told me to find him in the same place the next day. He asked me not to tell Long John Silver about him.
Suddenly, we heard a loud noise. A cannonball hit the sand near us. Ben Gunn and I ran in different directions. For one hour, the big gun fired at the island. I stayed in different hiding places. I was very afraid of the metal balls hitting the trees. Later, I walked to the shore.
The sun went down, and the air became cold. I saw the ship, the Hispaniola. It had the Jolly Roger flying from the mast. The pirates fired the big gun one last time. Then the island became quiet. I saw the pirates on the beach. They used axes to break our small boat. Near the river, the pirates had a big fire. They were drinking rum (a strong alcoholic drink) and shouting.
I started to walk back to the stockade. On the way, I saw a large white rock near some bushes. I thought this might be the rock Ben Gunn mentioned. I thought there might be a boat there. Then I walked through the woods to the back of the house. My friends were very happy to see me.
The log-house (a house made of heavy pieces of wood) was made of pine trees. The floor was made of wood and sat above the sand. Outside the door, there was a small porch. The clean water from the spring was in a large iron pot. Inside the house, there was a stone area for a fire. There was no other furniture.
The area inside the fence was empty because the pirates cut down the trees to build the house. Outside the fence, the woods were very thick. A cold wind blew through the holes in the house. There was sand everywhere. There was sand in our eyes and sand in our food. The smoke from the fire stayed inside the house. It made us cough and made our eyes hurt.
Abraham Gray had a bandage on his face because of a cut. Poor Tom Redruth was still inside the house. He was dead and covered with a flag. We were all very sad, but Captain Smollett gave us work to do. He divided us into two groups. One group had Doctor Livesey, Abraham Gray, and me. The other group had Squire Trelawney, Hunter, and Joyce.
We had to do many jobs. Some men went to get wood for the fire. Other men dug a grave for Tom Redruth. Doctor Livesey was the cook. I was the guard at the door. Captain Smollett helped everyone and tried to make us feel better.
Doctor Livesey came to the door to get some fresh air. He told me that Captain Smollett was a very good man. Then the doctor asked me about Ben Gunn. He asked if Ben Gunn was sane (having a healthy mind). I told him I was not sure. The doctor said that living alone for three years was very difficult for a man.
Doctor Livesey showed me his snuff-box. He did not have tobacco inside it. Instead, he had a piece of Italian cheese. He wanted to give the cheese to Ben Gunn. Before we ate supper, we buried Tom Redruth in the sand. We stood together in the cold wind. Captain Smollett told us we needed more firewood the next day.
After supper, the leaders talked in a corner. We had very little food. We had to wait for the pirates to get sick or die. The pirates were drinking and singing in the marsh. Doctor Livesey said the land there was very wet and dangerous. He thought the pirates would get sick within a week. Captain Smollett was sad because he lost his ship.
I was very tired. I went to sleep and slept for a long time. The other men were already awake when I opened my eyes. They were working on the pile of firewood. Suddenly, someone heard a shout. "A flag of truce!" (a white flag that means 'do not shoot, I want to talk') someone said. Then someone cried, "It is Long John Silver!" I jumped up and looked through a hole in the wall.