I was thrilled that I had finally escaped Long John Silver, and for the first time I began to enjoy exploring the strange land around me.
I had crossed a wet, swampy area filled with willow trees, tall reeds, and strange plants that looked completely unfamiliar.
Soon I reached the edge of an open stretch of sandy ground.
The land rose and fell gently for about a mile, with a few pine trees scattered around and many twisted trees that looked like small, pale-leaved oaks.
Far away, one of the hills stood above the landscape. It had two unusual rocky peaks that shone brightly in the sunlight.
For the first time, I felt the true excitement of exploring.
The island was empty of people.
I had left my shipmates behind, and nothing moved ahead of me except wild animals and birds.
I wandered between the trees, looking everywhere.
There were flowers I had never seen before.
There were snakes too.
One snake lifted its head from a rock and hissed at me.
The sound reminded me of a spinning top.
I had no idea then that it was a deadly enemy, and that the strange noise was the famous warning rattle of a rattlesnake.
Later, I came to a long area of low oak-like trees.
I learned afterward that they were called evergreen oaks.
They grew close to the sand like thick bushes.
Their branches twisted strangely, and their leaves were packed together like a roof made of straw.
The bushes stretched down from the top of a sandy hill and became taller as they moved toward the wide marsh.
The nearest little river slowly passed through this marsh before reaching the anchorage.
The hot sun made the swamp steam, and through the heat haze I could see the outline of the Spy-glass hill shaking in the distance.
Suddenly, the reeds began to move.
A wild duck flew up with a loud cry.
Then another followed.
Soon, a huge flock of birds rose from the marsh, screaming and circling above the water.
I immediately guessed that some of my shipmates were coming along the edge of the swamp.
I was right.
After a moment, I heard a faint human voice in the distance.
The sound slowly grew louder.
Fear rushed through me.
I crawled beneath the nearest evergreen oak and hid there, staying as quiet as a mouse.
Another voice answered.
Then the first voice continued speaking.
I recognized it as Long John Silver’s voice.
He spoke for a long time, only stopping now and then when the other man replied.
From their voices, I could tell they were having a serious and angry conversation.
But I could not hear the actual words.
At last, they seemed to stop moving.
Perhaps they had sat down.
The birds also became quiet and slowly returned to the marsh.
Then I realized something.
I had come ashore with these dangerous men.
The least I could do was discover what they were planning.
It was my duty to get close enough to hear their conversation.
I carefully moved forward, using the trees around me as cover.
I could tell where they were by their voices and by the few frightened birds still flying above them.
Crawling on my hands and knees, I slowly moved closer.
At last, I raised my head through a gap in the leaves.
Below me was a small green valley beside the marsh.
Trees surrounded it on every side.
There stood Long John Silver, speaking face-to-face with another member of the crew.
The sunlight shone directly on them.
Silver had thrown his hat onto the ground.
His large, smooth, blond face was shining with sweat.
He looked up at the other man almost as if he were begging him to understand.
“Tom,” Silver said, “it’s because I think so highly of you. You’re worth a fortune to me. If I didn’t care about you, would I have come here to warn you?”
“Everything is already decided. Nothing can change now.”
“I’m only talking because I want to save your life.”
“If the others found out I was doing this, what do you think would happen to me, Tom?”
The other sailor answered.
“Silver, you’re old, and you’ve always had a reputation for being honest.”
“You have money too, something many poor sailors never get.”
“And you’re brave, unless I’m completely wrong about you.”
“Do you really think you can follow a group of worthless troublemakers like them?”
“No, I don’t believe it.”
“I would rather lose my own hand than betray my duty.”
“If I ever turn against what is right—”
Suddenly, he was interrupted by a terrible sound.
I had already found one honest sailor.
Now, at that very moment, another tragedy happened.
Far away in the marsh came a furious cry.
Then another.
Then one horrible, long scream.
The rocky sides of the Spy-glass echoed the sound again and again.
The birds of the marsh rose into the sky all at once, covering the air with dark wings.
Long after the scream disappeared, it still rang inside my head.
The afternoon became silent again.
Only the sound of birds settling down and the distant waves broke the quiet.
Tom jumped at the noise like a frightened horse.
But Silver did not move.
He stood calmly on his crutch, watching his companion like a snake ready to strike.
“John!” Tom shouted, reaching out his hand.
“Stay back!” Silver cried.
He jumped away with surprising speed.
“Stay back if you want, John Silver,” Tom said.
“A guilty man is the only kind of man who would fear me.”
“But for heaven’s sake, tell me what was that sound?”
“That?” Silver replied with a smile.
But his eyes had become colder and sharper.
“That was probably Alan.”
Tom’s face changed instantly.
“Alan?” he cried.
“Then may God bless his soul. He was a true sailor.”
“And you, John Silver, have been my friend for a long time.”
“But you are my friend no longer.”
“If I die like a dog, I will still die doing what is right.”
“You killed Alan?”
“Then kill me too if you can.”
“But I will never obey you.”
With those words, Tom turned his back on Silver and began walking toward the beach.
He did not get far.
Silver suddenly grabbed a tree branch.
He pulled the crutch from under his arm and threw it through the air.
The heavy object struck Tom directly in the middle of his back.
Tom’s arms flew upward.
A strange sound escaped his mouth.
Then he collapsed.
No one ever knew how badly he was injured.
Judging by the sound, his back may have been broken instantly.
But Silver gave him no chance to recover.
Even without his crutch, the pirate moved with incredible speed.
Like a monkey, he jumped onto Tom.
Then he stabbed him twice with his knife.
I could hear Silver breathing heavily as he attacked.
I do not know exactly what it feels like to faint.
But I know that for a moment, the entire world disappeared before my eyes.
Everything spun around me.
Silver, the birds, the tall Spy-glass mountain—all of it twisted in a dizzy blur.
My ears rang with strange sounds and distant voices.
When I finally recovered, the murderer had already composed himself.
His crutch was under his arm.
His hat was back on his head.
Tom lay completely still on the grass.
Silver did not even look at him.
He calmly cleaned the blood from his knife with a piece of grass.
Everything else remained unchanged.
The sun still burned down on the steaming marsh.
The mountain still stood tall above the island.
I could hardly believe what had happened.
A man had just been murdered in front of my eyes.
Then Silver reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a whistle and blew several strange signals across the hot air.
I did not know what the signal meant.
But it filled me with fear.
More pirates would be coming.
They had already killed two honest sailors.
After Alan and Tom, would I be next?
I immediately began crawling away.
I moved back toward the open forest as quickly and quietly as possible.
Behind me, I heard Silver calling to his companions.
The sounds of danger pushed me faster.
As soon as I escaped the bushes, I ran harder than I had ever run before.
I did not care where I was going.
I only wanted to get away from the murderers.
Fear grew inside me until it became almost impossible to control.
Could anyone have been in a worse situation than me?
If I went back to the boats, how could I face those criminals?
Would the first pirate who saw me not kill me immediately?
Would they not realize that my disappearance meant I had discovered their secret?
I thought everything was over.
Goodbye to the Hispaniola.
Goodbye to the squire, the doctor, and the captain.
There was nothing left for me except starvation or death at the hands of the mutineers.
Still running, I eventually reached the bottom of the small hill with the two peaks.
Here the evergreen oaks grew farther apart.
They looked more like real forest trees.
Among them stood several tall pine trees, some fifty feet high and others nearly seventy.
The air also smelled fresher than it had near the swamp.
Then another sudden danger appeared.
It brought me to a complete stop, my heart pounding in fear.