I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would break their shins over treasure as soon as they were landed, for they all came out of their sulks in a moment and gave a cheer that started the echo in a faraway hill and sent the birds once more flying and squalling round the anchorage.

The captain was too bright to be in the way.  He whipped out of sight in a moment, leaving Silver to arrange the party, and I fancy it was as well he did so.  Had he been on deck, he could no longer so much as have pretended not to understand the situation.  It was as plain as day.  Silver was the captain, and a mighty rebellious crew he had of it.  The honest hands—­and I was soon to see it proved that there were such on board—­must have been very stupid fellows.  Or rather, I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the example of the ringleaders—­only some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in the main, could neither be led nor driven any further.  It is one thing to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a number of innocent men.

At last, however, the party was made up.  Six fellows were to stay on board, and the remaining thirteen, including Silver, began to embark.

Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions that contributed so much to save our lives.  If six men were left by Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship; and since only six were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party had no present need of my assistance.  It occurred to me at once to go ashore.  In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost at the same moment she shoved off.

No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you, Jim?  Keep your head down.”  But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply over and called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I began to regret what I had done.

The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having some start and being at once the lighter and the better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, and the bow had struck among the shore-side trees and I had caught a branch and swung myself out and plunged into the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest were still a hundred yards behind.

“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting.

But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer.

14

The First Blow

I was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land that I was in.

I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with a few pines and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows.  On the far side of the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining vividly in the sun.