Reading Help Treasure Island Ch.IV-VI
main-mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited, `
` every nerve upon the stretch. `
` `
` Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a `
` moment or two passed in feints on his part and `
` corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game `
` as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black `
` Hill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with such `
` a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I say, it was `
` a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at it `
` against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed `
` my courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself `
` a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of the `
` affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it `
` out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape. `
` `
` Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA `
` struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, `
` and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side `
` till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees `
` and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper `
` holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. `
` `
` We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us `
` rolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the dead `
` red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling `
` stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my `
` head came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that `
` made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the first `
` afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead `
` body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deck `
` no place for running on; I had to find some new way of `
` escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was `
` almost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into `
` the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did `
` not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. `
` `
` I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck `
` not half a foot below me as I pursued my upward flight; `
` and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open and `
` his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise `
` and disappointment. `
` `
` Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in `
` changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having one `
` ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, I `
` proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it `
` afresh from the beginning. `
` `
` My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began `
` to see the dice going against him, and after an obvious `
` hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into the `
` shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly `
` and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and `
` groans to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had `
` quietly finished my arrangements before he was much `
` more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol `
` in either hand, I addressed him. `
` `
` "One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your `
` brains out! Dead men don't bite, you know," I added `
` with a chuckle. `
` `
` He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of `
` his face that he was trying to think, and the process `
` was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found `
` security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or `
` two, he spoke, his face still wearing the same `
` expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he `
` had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else `
` he remained unmoved. `
` `
` "Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and `
` we'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but for `
` that there lurch, but I don't have no luck, not I; and `
` I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, `
` for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." `
` `
` I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as `
` conceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath, `
` back went his right hand over his shoulder. Something `
` sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and `
` then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the `
` shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain and surprise `
` of the moment--I scarce can say it was by my own `
` volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim-- `
` both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my `
` hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the `
` coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged `
` head first into the water. `
` `
` `
` `
` 27 `
` `
` "Pieces of Eight" `
` `
` OWING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out `
` over the water, and from my perch on the cross-trees I `
` had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. `
` Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer `
` to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He `
` rose once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood `
` and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I `
` could see him lying huddled together on the clean, bright `
` sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two `
` whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the `
` water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying `
` to rise. But he was dead enough, for all that, being both `
` shot and drowned, and was food for fish in the very place `
` where he had designed my slaughter. `
` `
` I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel `
` sick, faint, and terrified. The hot blood was running `
` over my back and chest. The dirk, where it had pinned `
` my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot `
` iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that `
` distressed me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear `
` without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind `
` of falling from the cross-trees into that still green `
` water, beside the body of the coxswain. `
` `
` I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my `
` eyes as if to cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came `
` back again, my pulses quieted down to a more natural time, `
` and I was once more in possession of myself. `
` `
` It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but `
` either it stuck too hard or my nerve failed me, and I `
` desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, that `
` very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had `
` come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; `
` it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and this the `
` shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to `
` be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked `
` to the mast by my coat and shirt. `
` `
` These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then `
` regained the deck by the starboard shrouds. For `
` nothing in the world would I have again ventured, `
` shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from `
` which Israel had so lately fallen. `
` `
` I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained `
` me a good deal and still bled freely, but it was neither `
` deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used `
` my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, `
` in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from `
` its last passenger--the dead man, O'Brien. `
` `
` He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, `
` where he lay like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, `
` life-size, indeed, but how different from life's colour `
` or life's comeliness! In that position I could easily `
` have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical `
` adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the `
` dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack `
` of bran and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. `
` He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off `
` and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the `
` splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side `
` by side, both wavering with the tremulous movement of `
` the water. O'Brien, though still quite a young man, was `
` very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the `
` knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes `
` steering to and fro over both. `
` `
` I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just `
` turned. The sun was within so few degrees of setting `
` that already the shadow of the pines upon the western `
` shore began to reach right across the anchorage and `
` fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had `
` sprung up, and though it was well warded off by the `
` hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had `
` begun to sing a little softly to itself and the idle `
` sails to rattle to and fro. `
` `
` I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I `
` speedily doused and brought tumbling to the deck, but `
` the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when the `
` schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and `
` the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under `
` water. I thought this made it still more dangerous; `
` yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to `
` meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. `
` The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose `
` canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as `
` I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the `
` extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the `
` HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. `
` `
` By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into `
` shadow--the last rays, I remember, falling through a `
` glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on the `
` flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the `
` tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner `
` settling more and more on her beam-ends. `
` `
` I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow `
` enough, and holding the cut hawser in both hands for a `
` last security, I let myself drop softly overboard. The `
`
` every nerve upon the stretch. `
` `
` Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a `
` moment or two passed in feints on his part and `
` corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game `
` as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black `
` Hill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with such `
` a wildly beating heart as now. Still, as I say, it was `
` a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own at it `
` against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed `
` my courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself `
` a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of the `
` affair, and while I saw certainly that I could spin it `
` out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate escape. `
` `
` Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA `
` struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, `
` and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side `
` till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees `
` and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper `
` holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark. `
` `
` We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us `
` rolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the dead `
` red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling `
` stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that my `
` head came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that `
` made my teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the first `
` afoot again, for Hands had got involved with the dead `
` body. The sudden canting of the ship had made the deck `
` no place for running on; I had to find some new way of `
` escape, and that upon the instant, for my foe was `
` almost touching me. Quick as thought, I sprang into `
` the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did `
` not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees. `
` `
` I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck `
` not half a foot below me as I pursued my upward flight; `
` and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open and `
` his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise `
` and disappointment. `
` `
` Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in `
` changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having one `
` ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, I `
` proceeded to draw the load of the other and recharge it `
` afresh from the beginning. `
` `
` My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began `
` to see the dice going against him, and after an obvious `
` hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into the `
` shrouds, and with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly `
` and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and `
` groans to haul his wounded leg behind him, and I had `
` quietly finished my arrangements before he was much `
` more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol `
` in either hand, I addressed him. `
` `
` "One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your `
` brains out! Dead men don't bite, you know," I added `
` with a chuckle. `
` `
` He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of `
` his face that he was trying to think, and the process `
` was so slow and laborious that, in my new-found `
` security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or `
` two, he spoke, his face still wearing the same `
` expression of extreme perplexity. In order to speak he `
` had to take the dagger from his mouth, but in all else `
` he remained unmoved. `
` `
` "Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and `
` we'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but for `
` that there lurch, but I don't have no luck, not I; and `
` I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see, `
` for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim." `
` `
` I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as `
` conceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath, `
` back went his right hand over his shoulder. Something `
` sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blow and `
` then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the `
` shoulder to the mast. In the horrid pain and surprise `
` of the moment--I scarce can say it was by my own `
` volition, and I am sure it was without a conscious aim-- `
` both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my `
` hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the `
` coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds and plunged `
` head first into the water. `
` `
` `
` `
` 27 `
` `
` "Pieces of Eight" `
` `
` OWING to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out `
` over the water, and from my perch on the cross-trees I `
` had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. `
` Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer `
` to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He `
` rose once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood `
` and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I `
` could see him lying huddled together on the clean, bright `
` sand in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two `
` whipped past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the `
` water, he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying `
` to rise. But he was dead enough, for all that, being both `
` shot and drowned, and was food for fish in the very place `
` where he had designed my slaughter. `
` `
` I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel `
` sick, faint, and terrified. The hot blood was running `
` over my back and chest. The dirk, where it had pinned `
` my shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot `
` iron; yet it was not so much these real sufferings that `
` distressed me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear `
` without a murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind `
` of falling from the cross-trees into that still green `
` water, beside the body of the coxswain. `
` `
` I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and I shut my `
` eyes as if to cover up the peril. Gradually my mind came `
` back again, my pulses quieted down to a more natural time, `
` and I was once more in possession of myself. `
` `
` It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk, but `
` either it stuck too hard or my nerve failed me, and I `
` desisted with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, that `
` very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had `
` come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether; `
` it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and this the `
` shudder tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to `
` be sure, but I was my own master again and only tacked `
` to the mast by my coat and shirt. `
` `
` These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then `
` regained the deck by the starboard shrouds. For `
` nothing in the world would I have again ventured, `
` shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds from `
` which Israel had so lately fallen. `
` `
` I went below and did what I could for my wound; it pained `
` me a good deal and still bled freely, but it was neither `
` deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used `
` my arm. Then I looked around me, and as the ship was now, `
` in a sense, my own, I began to think of clearing it from `
` its last passenger--the dead man, O'Brien. `
` `
` He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks, `
` where he lay like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet, `
` life-size, indeed, but how different from life's colour `
` or life's comeliness! In that position I could easily `
` have my way with him, and as the habit of tragical `
` adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the `
` dead, I took him by the waist as if he had been a sack `
` of bran and with one good heave, tumbled him overboard. `
` He went in with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off `
` and remained floating on the surface; and as soon as the `
` splash subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side `
` by side, both wavering with the tremulous movement of `
` the water. O'Brien, though still quite a young man, was `
` very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the `
` knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes `
` steering to and fro over both. `
` `
` I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had just `
` turned. The sun was within so few degrees of setting `
` that already the shadow of the pines upon the western `
` shore began to reach right across the anchorage and `
` fall in patterns on the deck. The evening breeze had `
` sprung up, and though it was well warded off by the `
` hill with the two peaks upon the east, the cordage had `
` begun to sing a little softly to itself and the idle `
` sails to rattle to and fro. `
` `
` I began to see a danger to the ship. The jibs I `
` speedily doused and brought tumbling to the deck, but `
` the main-sail was a harder matter. Of course, when the `
` schooner canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and `
` the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under `
` water. I thought this made it still more dangerous; `
` yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to `
` meddle. At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. `
` The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose `
` canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as `
` I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the `
` extent of what I could accomplish. For the rest, the `
` HISPANIOLA must trust to luck, like myself. `
` `
` By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into `
` shadow--the last rays, I remember, falling through a `
` glade of the wood and shining bright as jewels on the `
` flowery mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the `
` tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner `
` settling more and more on her beam-ends. `
` `
` I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed shallow `
` enough, and holding the cut hawser in both hands for a `
` last security, I let myself drop softly overboard. The `
`