The History: The Treasure Island-Chapter 3

Treasure Island

CHAPTER

3

The Black Spot

Por: Shamir Galvá

h

e said, “Now boy, take me in to your captain.”

“Sir,” said I, “upon my word, I dare not.”

“Oh! That’s it!” he sneered. “Take me straight in or I’ll break your arm.”

As he spoke, he gave my arm such a twist that it made me cry out.

“Come now, march!” he ordered.

I never heard a voice so cruel and cold as that blind man’s. I obeyed him at once. I walked straight through the inn door and into the hallway. I knew the sick old captain sat in the parlor dazed with rum. The blind man was right behind me. Holding me firmly with his iron fist. He leaned almost more weight on me than I could carry.

“Lead me straight up to him. When he sees me I want you to cry out, ‘Here’s a friend for you, Bill.’ If you don’t do this…”

He then gave my arm a terrible twist that nearly had me fainting. I was so terrified of that blind beggar that I forgot my terror of the captain. As I opened the parlor door, I cried out the words he had ordered.

The poor captain raised his eyes. With one look at the blind man, his face became pale. His mouth dropped open. He tried hard to raise himself up, but I do not believe that he had enough strength in his body to do so.

“Now Bill, sit where you are,” said the blind man. “I can’t see–but I can hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out you left hand. Boy, take his left hand by the wrist. Then bring it near my right hand.”

We both obeyed him instantly. I saw him pass something from his hand into the captain’s.

“And now that’s done,” he said.

And with those words, he suddenly let go of me and, with incredible swiftness, he skipped out of the parlor and into the road. As I stood there, I could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance.

It was some time before either one of us came to our senses. But finally, I let go of the captain’s wrist, which I found myself still holding. He drew back his hand and looked hard into his palm.

“Ten o’clock!” the captain cried. “Six hours. We’ll do them yet.” He then sprang to his feet.

Just as the stood up, he swayed. Then he grabbed his throat and fell forward onto the floor. I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. My haste was in vain—the captain had been struck dead! It is a strange thing to understand, for I certainly had never liked the man, but lately I had begun to pity him. As soon as I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart.

I lost no time in telling my mother all that I knew. Perhaps I should have told her long before. The captain owed us money from his stay at the inn and it was surely due us.

But we could not stay at the house much longer; the very ticking of the clock frightened us. And, at any moment, Black Dog and his friends might arrive.We stood alone in the house with the captain’s dead body. My mother got a candle. On the floor, close to his hand, we saw a small, round piece of paper. It was blackened on one side. This was the black spot! On the other side was written, “You have till ten tonight.”

“He has till ten, Mother,” I said. Just as I said these words, our old clock began striking. This sudden noise shocked us—but we were grateful that it was only six o’clock. We found his key tied around his neck.

We left the captain where he lay and hurried upstairs to where his chest had stood since the day he’d arrived. It was like any seaman’s chest on the outside, but once the lid was lifted, a strong smell of tobacco rose up from the inside. We saw a suit of very good clothes that had never been worn. Under that there were all kinds of things: an old Spanish watch, two fine pistols, some silver, a bag of money, and a package wrapped up tightly in oilcloth.

“I’ll have what’s due me, but not a penny more,” said my mother. She began to count the money in the captain’s bag. It took a long time, for the coins were all from different countries and were of different sizes.

When we were about halfway through. I suddenly put my hand upon her arm, for I had heard in the silent, frosty air a sound that brought shivers to my body—the tap- tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the frozen road.

From: Treasury of Illustrated Classics Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Adapted by Barbara Green 1996-2004.