Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey asked me to write this story. They want me to tell everything about Treasure Island. I will start from the beginning. I will only hide the location of the island because there is still gold there. I am writing this in the year 17—, but I must go back to the start. My father had an inn (a small hotel where people drink and sleep) called the Admiral Benbow. One day, an old sailor with a brown face came to our door.
I remember that day very well. The sailor walked to the door of the inn. A man followed him with a large chest (a big wooden box for clothes) on a small cart. The sailor was tall and strong. He had a pigtail (hair tied at the back) and a dirty blue coat. His hands were rough and his nails were black. He had a white scar from a sabre (a heavy sword) on his cheek.
The sailor looked at the water and whistled to himself. Then he sang an old sea-song. He sang it many times after that day. "Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" He had a loud, old voice. He hit the door with a stick. When my father appeared, the sailor asked for a glass of rum.
The sailor drank the rum slowly. He looked at the cliffs and at the sign of our inn. "This is a good place," the sailor said. He asked my father if many people visited the inn. My father said that the inn was very quiet. The sailor was happy to hear this.
The sailor decided to stay at the Admiral Benbow. He told the man to bring his chest inside. "I am a simple man," the sailor said. "I only want rum and bacon and eggs." He told us to call him "Captain." He threw three or four gold coins on the floor. "Tell me when I need to pay more," the Captain said.
The Captain was a very silent man. Every day he walked to the cliffs with a telescope (a tube that helps you see far away). Every evening he sat by the fire and drank very strong rum. He did not talk when people spoke to him. He only looked up and made a loud noise through his nose. We learned to leave the Captain alone.
Every day, the Captain asked a question. He asked if any sailors walked along the road. At first, we thought he wanted to find friends. But soon we saw that he wanted to stay away from other sailors. If a sailor came to the Admiral Benbow, the Captain watched him through the door. He was always very quiet when other sailors were near.
The Captain had a secret. He spoke to me one day and made a promise. He promised to give me a silver coin every month. I had to keep my eyes open for a sailor with one leg. I had to tell the Captain the moment that man arrived. Sometimes the Captain did not want to pay me. But he always gave me the coin before the end of the week.
I was very afraid of this one-legged man. I saw him in my dreams on stormy nights. In my dreams, the man had many different faces. Sometimes the leg was gone at the knee. Sometimes he was a monster with one leg in the middle of his body. He ran after me in my nightmares. I was very scared of this person.
I was less afraid of the Captain than other people were. Some nights, the Captain drank too much rum. Then he sang his wild sea-songs. Sometimes he forced everyone in the inn to listen to his stories. He hit the table with his hand for silence. He became very angry if anyone asked a question. He did not let anyone leave the inn until he went to bed.
His stories were very scary. He told stories about hanging and walking the plank (when pirates force a person to jump into the sea). He talked about storms and bad deeds at sea. He lived his life among very wicked men. My father was worried. My father thought the Captain would ruin the inn. He thought people would stop coming to the Admiral Benbow.
But the Captain actually helped the business. People were afraid, but they also liked the excitement. Some young men even liked the Captain. They called him a "true sea-dog." They said he was the kind of man who made England strong at sea. But he stayed for many months and did not pay more money. My father was too afraid to ask for more gold.
The Captain never changed his clothes. He only bought some new stockings. He fixed his old coat himself in his room. He never wrote letters and he never received letters. He only spoke to the neighbors when he was drunk. We never saw him open his big sea-chest.
Only one person stood up to the Captain. This happened when my father was very sick. Dr. Livesey came to the inn to see my father. After the visit, Dr. Livesey sat in the room to smoke his pipe. Dr. Livesey was a very clean and polite man. He looked very different from the dirty Captain. Suddenly, the Captain began to sing his song again.
"Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" The Captain hit the table with his hand. This meant everyone must be silent. Everyone stopped talking except Dr. Livesey. The doctor continued to speak to a friend. The Captain looked at Dr. Livesey with anger. He hit the table again and shouted.
"Silence!" the Captain said. Dr. Livesey asked if the Captain was talking to him. The Captain said yes and used bad words. Dr. Livesey said that rum would soon kill the Captain. The Captain was very angry. He stood up and opened a sharp knife. He threatened to hit the doctor with the knife.
Dr. Livesey did not move. He spoke in a calm and loud voice. "Put that knife in your pocket," Dr. Livesey said. "I am a magistrate (a type of judge). If you do not stop, I will send you to court." The Captain looked at the doctor for a long time. Then the Captain put the knife away. He sat down like a sad dog.
Soon after, Dr. Livesey rode away on his horse. The Captain was very quiet that evening. He was also quiet for many evenings after that.