Eleven

WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL

"No, not I," said Silver. "Flint was captain, and I was in charge of the stores, because of my wooden leg. In that same fight in which I lost my leg, old Pew lost his eye-sight. It was a good doctor that cut my leg off; but he was hanged like a dog at Corso Castle—with Roberts' men. They were all hanged there. That came of changing the name of their ship. Now, what a ship is once named, let her stay: that's what I say. So it was with the old Walrus, Flint's old ship, which I've seen running with the red blood and fit to sink with gold."

"Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest fellow on board, "he was the best man of the lot, was Flint!"

"Davis was a good man, too, by all accounts," said Silver. "I never sailed with him; first with England, then with Flint—that's my story; and now here on my own, in a manner of speaking. I gained nine hundred pounds with England, and two thousand with Flint. That isn't bad for a plain seaman; and all of it is laid away safely. It isn't getting money, it's saving does it. Where are all England's men now? I don't know. Where are Flint's? Why, most of 'em on board here, and glad to get the food—been begging before that, some of 'em. Old Pew, who had lost his sight, spent twelve hundred pounds in a year, like a lord. Where is he now? Well, he's dead now; but for two years before that, he hadn't a penny—begging for food, he was—and stealing, and cutting throats, just to get a bit to eat!"

"Well, it isn't much use, after all," said the young seaman.

"It isn't much use for fools," cried Silver. "But now, you look here; you're young, you are, but you're as sharp as a needle. I saw that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to you like a man."

You may imagine how I felt when I heard this foul creature addressing another in the very same sweet words as he had used to myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed him through the barrel. But he talked on, little supposing he was heard by me.

"This is how it is with gentlemen of fortune. They live rough, and they risk hanging, but they eat and drink of the best; and, when a voyage is done, why, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of pence in their pockets. Now, most of that goes for rum and enjoyment, and then to sea again in their shirts. But that's not what I do. I put it all away, some here, some there."

"Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, isn't it? You can't go back to Bristol after this."

"No," said the cook. "But I've seen to that. Where is all my money? Why, with my old wife, of course; and the old girl is on her way to meet me."

"And can you trust your wife?" asked the other.

"Gentlemen of fortune," returned the cook, "usually trust little among themselves, and they are right. But I have a way with me, I have. When a fellow tries to slip away from me, he won't stay long in the same world with old John. There were some that feared Pew, and some that feared Flint; but Flint himself was afraid of me. Afraid he was. They were the roughest crew on the sea, were Flint's; the devil himself would have been afraid to go to sea with them. Well, when I was there, lambs wasn't the word for Flint's old pirate crew."

"Well, I tell you now," replied the lad, "I didn't like this business till I had this talk with you, John; but there's my hand on it now."

"And a brave lad you are, a knowing one, too," answered Silver, shaking hands so hard that all the barrel shook, "and a finer gentleman of fortune I never set my eyes on."

By this time I had begun to understand the meaning of their terms. By a "gentleman of fortune" they plainly meant neither more nor less than a common pirate, and the little scene that I heard was the last act in the corrupting of one of the honest men—perhaps of the last one left on board. Silver gave a little whistle, and a third man came up and sat down by the party.

"Dick's all right," said Silver.

"Oh, I knew Dick was all right," returned the voice of Israel Hands. "He's no fool. But, look here," he went on, "here's what I want to know, Barbecue; how long are we going to stand about and do nothing? I've had almost enough of Cap'n Smollett; he's spoken rough to me long enough, by thunder! I want to live in that end of the ship. I want their nice food and wines, and that."

"Israel," said Silver, "your head isn't of much use to you, nor ever was. But you're able to hear, I suppose; your ears are big enough. Now, here's what I say, you'll get on with your work and you'll live hard, and you'll speak soft, and you'll keep off the drink, till I give the word."

"Well, I don't say no, do I?" answered Hands angrily. "What I say is, 'When?' That's what I say."

"When!" cried Silver. "Well, if you want to know, I'll tell you when. The last possible moment; and that's when. Here's a first-class seaman, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. Here's this Mr. Trelawney and the doctor with a map. Well then, I mean that Mr. Trelawney and the doctor shall find the treasure, and help us to get it on board; and then I'll finish with them at the island, as soon as we've got the goods on board."

"But," asked Dick, "when we do finish them, what are we to do with them?"

"That's the man for me!" cried the cook admiringly. "That's what I call business. Well, what would you think? Put 'em on shore and sail away, and leave them there? That would have been England's way. Or cut 'em down like sheep? That would have been Flint's or Billy Bones's."

"Billy was the man for that," said Israel. "'Dead men don't bite,' says he."

"Right you are," said Silver. "What I say is—death. When I'm riding in my carriage, I don't want any of these gentlemen of ours coming home unexpected. Wait is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let us do the business thoroughly."

"John," cried Hands, "you're a man!"

"You'll say so, Israel, when you see," said Silver. "Only one thing I claim—I claim Trelawney. I'll pull his silly head off his body with these hands. Dick!" he added, breaking off, "you just jump up, like a sweet lad, and get me an apple; I'm thirsty."

You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have leapt out and run for it, if I had found the strength; but my limbs and heart failed me. I heard Dick begin to rise, and then someone stopped him and the voice of Hands exclaimed:

"Oh, stop that! Don't you go eating that dirt, John. Let's have rum."

"Dick," said Silver. "I trust you. I know how much there is in the barrel, remember. There's the key; you fill a pot and bring it up."

Frightened as I was, I could not help thinking to myself that this must have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong waters that destroyed him.

Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence Israel spoke straight on in the cook's ear. It was but a word or two that I could catch, and yet I gathered some important news; for, I heard him say, amongst other things, this: "Not another man of them will join." Hence there were still some faithful men on board.

When Dick returned, one after another of the three took the pot and drank—one "To good fortune"; another, "Here's to old Flint"; and Silver, "Here's to ourselves."

Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and, looking up, I found the moon had risen, and was making our sails look like silver; and almost at the same time the voice of the look-out man shouted, "Land!"