After some time one of the pirates came back and asked for the torch, and Silver and I were left in the dark.
I looked out through a loophole. Halfway down the slope the pirates stood together. One of them knelt in the middle with an open knife in one hand and a book in the other. Then he stood up, and they all came toward the house.
“Here they come,” I said.
“Let them come, lad,” said Silver cheerfully. “I still have one trick left.”
The door opened, and the five men pushed one of them forward. He came slowly, step by step, holding his closed right hand in front of him.
“Come on, lad,” said Silver. “I won’t eat you. I know the rules.”
The man put something into Silver’s hand and quickly stepped back.
“The black spot! I thought so,” said Silver. “But where did you get the paper? You’ve cut this out of a Bible! Who was the fool who cut a Bible?”
“There!” said Morgan. “What did I say? No good will come of that.”
“It was Dick,” said someone.
“Then Dick can start praying,” said Silver.
But the tall man with the yellow eyes stepped forward. It was George Merry. “Turn it over, John Silver,” he said, “and see what’s written there.”
“Ah! ‘Deposed,’” said Silver. “Very nicely written. Is that your writing, George? You’ll be captain next, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“You can’t fool this crew any more,” said George. “Get off that barrel and help us vote.”
“I thought you knew the rules,” said Silver. “I’m still your captain until you tell me your complaints and I answer them. Until then, your black spot isn’t worth a biscuit.”
“Oh, we’ll tell you,” said George. “First, you’ve ruined this voyage. Second, you let the enemy out of this trap for nothing. Third, you wouldn’t let us attack them when they left. And fourth, there’s this boy.”
“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly. “Then I’ll answer you. I ruined this voyage, did I? You all know what I wanted. If you had waited, we’d be on the Hispaniola tonight, every man of us alive, with the treasure on board. Who stopped me? Who gave me the black spot the day we landed? Anderson, and Hands, and you, George Merry! And now you want to be captain over me, you, who ruined us all!”
George and the others looked at each other. Silver’s words had hit home.
“Now, number four: the boy,” Silver went on. “Isn’t he a hostage? Are we going to waste a hostage? He might be our last chance. Kill that boy? Not me, mates! Number three: maybe you don’t care about having a real doctor to see you every day. You, John, with your head wound, or you, George, shaking with fever, with eyes as yellow as lemons. And maybe you didn’t know that a ship is coming to look for them? It is, and soon, and then we’ll be glad to have a hostage. And number two, why I made the deal. You came to me on your knees and begged me to make it. But look there! That’s why!”
He threw a paper on the floor. I knew it at once: the map with the three red crosses from the captain’s sea chest. Why had the doctor given it to him? I could not imagine.
The pirates jumped on it like cats on a mouse. It went from hand to hand, and they laughed and shouted like children, as if they already had the gold on board and were sailing home with it.
“Very nice,” said George. “But how do we get away with it, with no ship?”
Silver jumped up, one hand against the wall. “I warn you, George. One more word like that, and I’ll fight you. You and the others lost me my ship. You lost the ship; I found the treasure. Who’s the better man? And now I give up! Choose any captain you like.”
“Silver!” they all cried. “Barbecue forever! Barbecue for captain!”
“So that’s your song now?” said Silver. “George, you’ll have to wait for another time, my friend.” He threw me the black spot. “Here, Jim, here’s something strange for you.”
It was round, about the size of a coin, and cut from the last page of the Bible. On one side I could read some words that went straight to my heart: “Outside are the dogs and the murderers.” That side was blackened with ashes. On the other side, in the same ashes, was the one word “Deposed.” I still have that paper beside me as I write, but today there is nothing on it except one small scratch.
That was the end of the night’s business. We all had a drink and lay down to sleep. Silver made George Merry keep watch and threatened to kill him if he failed. That was his only revenge.
It was a long time before I could close my eyes. I thought of the man I had killed that afternoon, of my own danger, and above all of Silver’s strange game. With one hand he held the pirates together, and with the other he reached for anything that might save his life. He slept peacefully and snored loudly. But I felt sorry for him, wicked as he was, when I thought of the dangers around him and the gallows that waited for him.