When I came on deck the next morning, the island looked quite different. Gray woods covered most of the land, and above them rose bare, strangely shaped hills of rock. The ship rolled from side to side in the waves, and I felt sick. The sun was bright and sea birds were crying all around us, but my heart sank. From that first look, I hated the very thought of Treasure Island.
There was no wind, so the men had to row the boats and pull the ship around the island to the harbor behind Skeleton Island. It was terribly hot, and they complained angrily about the work. Until that day they had worked willingly, but the sight of the island had changed everything.
Long John stood by the man at the wheel and guided the ship. He knew the way in like the back of his hand. We dropped the anchor in a quiet harbor with woods all around it. There was not a breath of wind, and a smell of wet, rotting leaves hung over the water. The doctor sniffed the air like a man tasting a bad egg.
“I don’t know about treasure,” he said, “but I’ll bet my wig there’s fever here.”
On board, the men grew worse. They lay about the deck, talking in low, angry voices, and they obeyed every order slowly, with a black look. Mutiny hung over us like a thundercloud. Only Long John worked hard to keep things calm. He went from group to group, all smiles, and when an order was given, he was on his crutch in a moment with the cheeriest “Aye, aye, sir!” in the world. Of all the bad signs of that afternoon, Silver’s worry seemed the worst to me.
We held a council in the cabin.
“Sir,” the captain said to the squire, “if I give another order, the whole crew will rise against us. There’s only one man we can rely on now.”
“And who is that?” asked the squire.
“Silver, sir. He wants to keep things quiet as much as we do. Let’s give the men an afternoon ashore. If some of them go, mark my words, Silver will bring them back as gentle as lambs.”
So it was decided. Loaded pistols were given to all the men we could trust. Then the captain went on deck.
“My lads,” he said, “we’ve had a hot day, and we’re all tired. Take the boats, as many of you as want to, and go ashore for the afternoon. I’ll fire a gun half an hour before sunset.”
I think the silly fellows believed they would find treasure lying on the beach. Their bad mood was gone in a moment, and they gave a cheer. The captain went below and left Silver to organize the party. It was as plain as day now: Silver was the real captain of the crew.
At last six of the crew stayed on board, and the other thirteen, Silver among them, got into the boats.
Then the first of my mad ideas came into my head, the ideas that later did so much to save our lives. With six pirates still on board, our people could not take the ship, and they did not need my help either. So I decided to go ashore. In a moment I had slipped over the side and curled up at the front of the nearest boat, and almost at once it moved off.
Nobody noticed me except the man at the front oar, who said, “Is that you, Jim? Keep your head down.” But Silver, in the other boat, looked across sharply and called out to ask if it was me. From that moment I began to wish I had stayed on the ship.
My boat was faster and reached the shore first. As soon as it touched the trees, I caught a branch, swung myself out and ran into the bushes, while Silver and the others were still a hundred yards behind.
“Jim! Jim!” I heard him shouting.
But I paid no attention. I ran straight ahead until I could run no more.