The island looked different the next morning. There was no wind now. The ship moved during the night. We were now near the coast. Grey woods covered most of the land.
There were some areas of yellow sand and many tall trees. The hills were made of rock (hard stone). One hill was very tall and strange. This hill was called the Spy-glass. It was flat on the top.
The ship moved up and down on the water. Everything on the ship made loud noises. I had to hold on to a rope. I felt very sick because the ship was moving so much. My stomach was empty and I felt dizzy.
The island looked sad. The trees were grey and the rocks were sharp. I could hear the waves on the beach. The sun was hot and the birds were loud. I did not feel happy. I felt very afraid. I hated the idea of Treasure Island.
We had a lot of work to do. There was no wind to move the ship. The men had to pull the ship with small boats. This is called warping (moving a large ship by pulling it with ropes from small boats). I went in one of the boats.
The sun was very hot. The men were angry and they complained. A man named Anderson was the leader of my boat. Anderson was also angry. He said, "This work is not for a long time." I thought this was a bad sign.
Usually, the men worked hard and stayed happy. Now, they were lazy and angry because they saw the island. Long John Silver stood near the man who steered the ship. Long John Silver knew the way very well.
He told the sailors where to go. Finally, we put the anchor (a heavy metal hook to stop a ship) in the sand. Many birds flew into the air and made noise. Then, everything was quiet again.
The place was surrounded by trees. The trees grew all the way to the water. The ground was flat. There were two small swamps (areas of very wet, soft land). The trees looked too bright and unhealthy.
We could not see the house or the fence from the ship. The trees hid everything. The air did not move at all. We only heard the sound of the sea far away.
There was a bad smell near the ship. It smelled like wet leaves and dead trees. Dr. Livesey smelled the air many times. Dr. Livesey said, "I do not know about treasure. But I think there is fever (a sickness that makes you very hot) here."
The men were very scary now. They sat on the deck and talked quietly. They looked angry when they received an order. They did not do their work well. It was clear that a mutiny (when sailors fight their captain to take the ship) was coming soon.
Long John Silver saw the danger too. Long John Silver walked from group to group. Long John Silver gave the men good advice. Long John Silver was very kind to everyone. He smiled a lot.
When Captain Smollett gave an order, Long John Silver moved quickly. Long John Silver sang songs to make the men feel better. But I could see that Long John Silver was worried. We held a meeting in the cabin.
Captain Smollett said, "The men are very angry. If I give another order, they will fight us. We only have one man to help us. That man is Long John Silver." Captain Smollett wanted to give the men a rest.
Captain Smollett said, "Let the men go to the island for the afternoon. If they all go, we will keep the ship. If only some go, Long John Silver will bring them back." The leaders gave pistols (small guns) to the good men.
They told Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth about the plan. Then Captain Smollett spoke to the crew. Captain Smollett said, "It was a hot day. You are all tired. You can go to the island for the afternoon. I will fire a gun before the sun goes down."
The men were suddenly very happy. They cheered loudly. The men thought they would find the treasure immediately. Captain Smollett went away so he did not have to see them. Long John Silver organized the groups.
Long John Silver was like the real captain now. Thirteen men, including Long John Silver, got into the boats. Six men stayed on the ship. I had a crazy idea.
I wanted to go to the island too. I moved quickly and climbed into a boat. The boat left the ship. One sailor saw me and told me to stay down. But Long John Silver saw me from another boat.
Long John Silver called my name. I felt very worried about my choice. The boats raced to the beach. My boat was very fast. We reached the shore first.
I grabbed a tree branch and jumped out of the boat. I ran into the thick trees. I heard Long John Silver shout, "Jim! Jim!" I did not stop. I ran until I was very tired.