For hours, it seemed, I was tossed on the waves and I must have slept, for it was broad daylight when I awakened. My boat had drifted along the coast but I could see no landing place under the rocky cliffs. I could only let my boat drift on and hope to find a sandy shore. The hot sun and the salt from the sea-spray had given me a raging thirst. I wanted to be on shore in the cool shade of the trees. As I rounded a headland the sight before me made me forget my cares. No more than half-a-mile away lay the Hispaniola! Her sails were set but, by the way she turned and drifted, it was clear no one was steering her. If the pirates were drunk and I could get aboard her, I might be able to capture the ship!

I paddled fast but with the wind filling her sails, the Hispaniola kept her lead. At last I had my chance. The breeze fell and she turned in the current and stopped. I came alongside and leapt aboard. The wind took her sails and she rushed down on a wave and sank my little boat. I had no way of escape now. I moved quietly on the deck among empty bottles. Not a soul was to be seen.

At length I saw two pirates. One was clearly dead, lying on the blood-stained deck. The other was Israel Hands, wounded and groaning and unable to stand. When he saw me he begged for brandy to ease his pain. I went below into the wrecked cabin to find some brandy and after a drink, Hands seemed stronger.

I agreed to give him food and to patch up his wounds if he would tell me how to steer the ship into a safe harbour. For the time being, he needed me to help him and I needed his help to save the ship. But I did not trust his odd smile as he craftily watched me. He asked me to fetch some wine from the cabin and when he thought I had gone below, he staggered painfully across the deck and picked up a knife which he hid in his jacket. This was all I needed to know. Israel was now armed and I knew he meant to kill me as soon as we had brought the ship ashore.

The beaching was difficult. It took all my care for I did not want to damage the ship and so I was too busy to keep watch on Hands all the time. Suddenly, I was aware of danger. Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen a shadow moving with the tail of my eye, but, sure enough, when I looked round, there was Hands already half-way towards me. A dagger was in his right hand. I dashed away and pulled a pistol from my pocket. Turning, I took aim and fired. There was no flash, no sound. The powder was wet with sea-water. The ship gave a sudden lurch as she hit the shore and we were both thrown off our feet. Before Hands could stand again, I had climbed the mast. Safe for the moment, I sat in the rigging and put dry powder in my pistols. Hands was slowly coming up the mast. His dagger between his teeth, he dragged himself after me.

"One more step, Mr Hands," I called, "and I'll blow your brains out!" He stopped and in a flash flung his dagger. I felt a sharp pain and found myself pinned to the mast by the shoulder. The sudden pain and shock made me fire both my pistols. With a cry, Israel Hands fell head first into the water. I felt sick and faint and shut my eyes until I became calm. When I had freed myself, I found that the wound was not very deep in spite of the blood that ran down my arm. In the cabin I found bandages to bind up my wound.

It was now sunset and I waded ashore. All I wanted was to be back with my friends. I hoped that the capture of the Hispaniola would be enough for them to forgive me for having left them. The moon helped me to find my way to the stockade. I walked carefully and silently and dropped over the fence. There was no sound. Then man on watch had not heard me. I crept to the log-house and stepped inside. Suddenly a shrill voice rang out in the darkness. Flint's parrot screeched. "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" Instead of finding my friends, I had come face to face with the pirates! By the light of a flaming torch I saw silver and the five men who were still alive.

There was no sign of my friends, and my first thought was that they had all been killed. But I soon learned that this was not so.

While I had been away, Dr Livesey had gone to the pirates and told them that, because the ship had gone, he and his party had given up the search for treasure. The log-house and everything in it, even the treasure chart, was handed over to the pirates and my friends had walked out into the woods.

This news puzzled me. I could not understand why they had given up without a fight.

Long John Silver was still the pirate leader, but he seemed less cheerful than before. It was clear that the men did not obey him willingly. If they should pick a new leader, Silver knew they would kill him. His only hope of being saved was to be on Captain Smollett's side.

He promised to protect me from the pirates if I would put in a good word for him with the captain. But if the pirates guessed he had changed sides, I knew they would finish us both. Our lives depended on keeping our plan secret.

The next morning, Dr Livesey came to the log-house to see to the sick and wounded. He was surprised to see me with the pirates but he said nothing. He went on his rounds giving out medicine and dressing wounds. When he had finished, he asked to speak to me alone. As fast as I could, I told the doctor of all that had happened to me. When he heard that the Hispaniola was safe his eyes opened wide in amazement. I told him of Silver's danger and he agreed to take him home with us if he would keep me safe. We were in a tight corner and it looked as though there was little hope of getting out of it. The doctor shook my hand and said he was off to get help.

By now, the pirates were growing restless to go out and find the treasure. But there was a question in Silver's mind. He asked himself why the treasure map should have been given to him, and he could think of no good answer. He knew that somewhere there was a trick, and he dared not let the pirates guess his thoughts. We sat round the fire eating breakfast. Silver chatted away, telling the pirates how rich they would all be once they had found the treasure. He painted such a picture that I thought he believed his own words.

We set out with picks and shovels to find Captain Flint's treasure. The men were armed to the teeth. Silver had two guns and a cutlass. As I was a prisoner, i had a rope tied round my waist and Long John held the other end. In spite of his promise to keep me safe, I did not trust him. As we went, the men talked about the chart. On the back of it was written:

"Tall tree, Spy-glass Shoulder,

bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E.

Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. Ten feet."

So we were looking for a tall tree on a hill. The men were in high spirits and Long John and I could not keep up with them. From time to time I had to help him when his crutch slipped on the stony hillside.

We had gone about half-a-mile when there was a shout from one of the men in front. The others ran towards him, full of hope. But it was not treasure he had found. At the foot of a tree lay a human skeleton. The silent men looked down in horror. The few rags of clothing that hung on the bones showed that the man had been a sailor. The skeleton was stretched out straight, the feet pointing one way and the arms, raised above the head, in opposite direction. "This here's one of Flint's little jokes!" cried Silver. "These bones point E.S.E. and by E. This is one of the men he killed and he's laid him here to point the way!"

The men felt a chill in their hearts, for they had all lived in fear of Flint. "But he's dead," said one of them. "Ay, sure enough he's dead and gone below. But if ever a ghost walked, it would be Flint's."

"Ay," said another. "I tell you, I don't like to hear 'Fifteen Men' sung now, for it was the only song he ever sang." Silver put an end to their talk and we moved on, but I noticed that now the men spoke softly and kept together. Even the thought of Flint was enough to fill them with terror. At the top of the hill we rested. In whispers, the men still talked of Flint.

"Ah, well," said Silver, "you praise your stars he's dead."

Suddenly from the trees ahead, a thin, trembling voice struck up the well-known song:

"Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest—

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"

The men were rooted to the spot. They stared in front of them in terror. Even Silver was shaking, but he was the first to pull himself together.

"I'm here to get that treasure!" He roared. "I was never feared of Flint in his life and, by the Powers, I'll face him dead!"

Long John Silver gave them all fresh heart and they picked up their tools and set off again. We soon saw ahead a huge tree that stood high above the others. The thought of what lay near that tree made the men's fears fade and they moved faster. Silver hobbled on his crutch. I could tell from the evil in his eyes that, if he got his hands on the gold, he would cut our throats and sail away.

The men now broke into a run, but not for long. They had come to the edge of a pit. In the bottom lay bits of wood and the broken handle of a pickaxe. It was clear for all to see that the treasure had gone! The pirates jumped down into the hole and began to dig with their hands. Silver saw his danger. He knew that they would turn on him at any moment.

"We're in a tight spot, Jim," he whispered. The look of hate in his eyes had gone. With the pirates against him, he needed me again. Once more he had changed sides. The pirates scrambled out of the pit and stood facing Silver and me. The leader raised his arm to charge but before a blow was truck, three musket shots rang out and two pirates fell. The three men left ran for their lives. From out of the wood ran the doctor and Ben Gunn who had saved us in the nick of time.

Silver and I were taken to Ben Gunn's cave where the rest of our party were waiting. It was a happy moment for me to see all my friends again. We now learned the answer to the question that had puzzled Silver and me. Dr Livesey had found out that Ben Gunn, alone on the island for so long, had discovered the treasure and taken it to his cave. The map was then useless. My friends were glad to move out of the log-house to the safety of Gunn's cave. That morning, Ben Gunn had watched from the woods as the pirates set out to seek for treasure. It was his voice that had struck chill into their hearts with his ghostly song!

That night, the captain, still weak from his wounds, Squire Trelawney, Dr Livesey and the rest of us, feasted and laughed and rested. Long John silver, quietly smiling became the polite and willing seaman I had first known.

The next day we started to load the treasure aboard the Hispaniola and in a few days were ready to sail We knew there were three pirates still on the island and we left food and tools for them so that they could last until some ship would one day find them.

And so we set sail. I cannot express the joy I felt to be turning my back on Treasure Island. We had not enough crew to sail the ship home and so we made for the nearest port in South America to get some extra men. We dropped anchor and went ashore, happy to be once again in a bright, busy place. It was nearly dawn when the doctor, the Squire and I returned to the Hispaniola. Ben Gunn met us and told us that Silver had left the ship. He had taken a small amount of the treasure and gone. We were all glad to be rid of him. Our one wish now was to reach Bristol safely.

We had a good voyage home. When we arrived, we shared out the treasure and settled back into our daily lives. Ben Gunn got a thousand pounds which he spent or lost in less than three weeks. The Squire gave him a little job in the village and he still sings in the church choir.

Long John Silver has gone right out of my life but sometimes, in a bad dream, I fancy I hear the screeching of his parrot, Captain Flint, "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!"

(The End)