Treasure Island

On the fifth trip between the ship and the shore, the boat is overloaded with men and provisions. The tide is going out and sweeping the doctor, the squire, the captain, and their men off their course. They look back to the ship, “and there, to our horror, were the five rogues busy” (159). The pirates are preparing to load a large cannon onboard the ship. The tide turns the small boat so that it is exposed to the cannon. They can see “that brandy-faced rascal, Israel Hands, plumping down a round shot on the deck” (160). The captain asks the squire to shoot one of the men on the ship, preferably Hands. The squire shoots and hits one of the men, but not Hands, who, “by this time, slewed round upon the swivel” (161). The man who is hit lets out a cry. The pirates by the shore take off in pursuit of the doctor and his men. Some pirates take a boat, and others run by the shore. Meanwhile, the mutineers onboard the ship fire from the cannon. The shot misses the doctor and his men, passing above their heads. As the doctor and his men reach the shore, the boat begins to gently sink, and they lose some guns and provisions. They retain only two of their five guns. They hear voices approaching in the woods nearby. They wade ashore, leaving behind the boat and many of their provisions.

As the doctor, the squire, the captain, and their men run to the stockade, they can hear the footsteps of the buccaneers in the woods. The squire is given one of the best guns, and Gray one of the swords. As they reach the stockade, seven mutineers appear. The squire, the doctor, and two of the servants fire at the mutineers. They hit one of them, and the rest scatter back into the woods. They approach the fallen enemy and see that he is dead. A pistol fires from the woods, and a shot strikes Redruth. The doctor and the squire fire back into the woods and turn their attention to Redruth. Upon seeing him, the doctor claims, “I saw with half an eye that all was over” (166). They lift and carry Redruth, “groaning and bleeding” (167), into the log house within the stockade. The squire kneels, takes Redruth’s hand, and cries. Redruth passes away.

Meanwhile, the captain climbs onto the roof of the log house and flies the British flag. Then he tallies the provisions and lays another flag over Redruth’s body. The captain asks the doctor, “in how many weeks do you and squire expect the consort?” (169). The doctor replies that is a matter of months before anyone would be sent to the island to find them. The captain says, “the rations are short” (170). Several shots pass above and around the stockade, but they do no damage to the men. The squire suggests they take down the English flag, as it makes them visible from the ship, but the captain refuses. Shots continue to strike near the house throughout the night, but none ever come close to injuring the men. They send a party to recover the provisions left behind in the low tide but find that the buccaneers are already carrying the provisions away. They hear someone hailing the stockade and see “Jim Hawkins, safe and sound, come climbing over the stockade” (172).

When Jim and Ben Gunn see the English flag flying from the stockade, Ben Gunn tells Jim that he is going back into the woods and will not join him in the stockade. As they are speaking to one another, a cannon ball comes “tearing through the trees” (175) and lands right next to them. Jim narrates, “The next moment each of us had taken to his heels in a different direction” (175). Jim moves about the island, avoiding the “frequent reports” (176). He sees that the Jolly Roger, “the black flag of piracy” (176), is flying from the Hispaniola. Jim decides to return to the stockade and successfully makes his way there through the woods.

Once he arrives at the stockade, he tells the doctor, captain, and squire his story, then evaluates the stockade. A cold evening breeze makes its way inside. Jim says, “There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the kettle” (178). The captain puts the men on rotations of watch duty and assigns them various tasks, such as collecting firewood and digging a grave for Redruth. They bury Redruth and eat a dinner of pork and brandy grog. Their food rations are low, and a plan is made “to kill off the buccaneers until they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the Hispaniola” (180). Their numbers are depleted; from “nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one, at least—the man shot beside the gun—severely wounded, if he were not dead” (181). The next morning, the men see John Silver and another man approaching the stockade, waving a “flag of truce” (181).

The morning is cold. The captain tells his men that John Silver’s approach is most likely a trick. The captain assigns men to various lookouts and calls out to Silver. Silver says he would like “to come on board and make terms” (184). Silver climbs the fence and approaches the cabin with difficulty. He is dressed “in the handsomest style […] tricked out in his best; an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons, hung as low as to his knees” (185-86).

He and the captain talk outside of the cabin. John Silver claims that he wants the map that leads to the treasure. Both men smoke from their pipes. Silver offers the captain a deal. He proposes that the captain hand over the treasure map. In return, Silver will give the captain the choice of safely coming aboard the Hispaniola or being left alive ashore where a ship may be sent to save him and his men. Silver says, “refuse that, and you’ve seen the last of me but musket balls” (189). The captain responds, “If you’ll come up one by one, unarmed, I’ll engage to clap you all in irons, and take you home to a fair trial in England” (189). If not, the captain says, “I’ll see you all to Davy Jones” (189). Silver is enraged by the captain’s response and declares war, promising to “stove in your old blockhouse like a rum puncheon” (191) within the hour. Silver returns to the other side of the stockade, disappearing among the trees once more.

The captain gives orders in preparation for the pirates’ attack. Jim eats breakfast, and a servant hands a round of brandy out to all. The captain assigns the servants, the squire, and the doctor posts from which to shoot at the pirates. The morning cool passes and it is soon hot inside the stockade. An hour passes without an attack. Suddenly one of the servants fires: “The report had scarcely died away ere it was repeated and repeated from without in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of geese, from every side of the enclosure” (195). The cabin is struck by several bullets. There is a small pause in the action, until, “with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side, and ran straight on the stockade” (197). Shots continue to be fired from the woods. The squire and Gray fire from the cabin, striking three men.

Four pirates make it inside the enclosure and charge toward the cabin. A pirate grabs a servant’s musket from his hands and strikes the servant with it. The cabin fills with smoke; Jim observes “[c]ries and confusion, the flashes and reports of pistol shots and one loud groan rang in my ears” (200). The captain orders the men to exit the cabin and fight the pirates out in the open. Jim grabs a sword and runs outside. He encounters the pirate Job Anderson, who raises his sword to strike. Jim leaps to avoid the attack and stumbles down a slope of sand. By the time he rises from his fall, it appears that “the fight was over, and the victory was ours” (201). Gray “had cut down the big boatswain ere he had time to recover from his lost blow. Another had been shot at a loophole in the very act of firing into the house” (201).

Jim, Gray, and the doctor run for shelter. Back in the cabin, they find that one servant has died and another has been “stunned” (202) into unconsciousness by the blow of an attack. The captain is wounded as well, but not gravely. The captain counts the number of men that remain alive on either side: “Five against three leaves us four to nine. That’s better odds than we had at starting. We were seven to nineteen then, or thought we were, and that’s as bad to bear” (203).