لخّصلي

I walked with Ben Gun and we soon saw the fort. “Your friends will be inside, Jim,” said Ben. “It might be the pirates,” I replied. “No, look at the flag! They will be good men,” he answered. “The fort was made by Flint. He was a clever man and he wasn’t frightened of anyone, except Silver.” “Let’s go inside,” I said. “I can’t go in there,” Gun replied. “I don’t trust anyone. I’ll wait for you. Remember what I told you. I can help you. Come and find me tomorrow.”
Before I could go to the fort, there was the sound of more gun fire and I had to hide so I wouldn’t be hit. From the trees where I waited, I could now see the Hispaniola. It was also flying a flag, but it was the black pirate’s flag. When it was nearly dark, I walked round to the back of the fort and called out. The door opened, and Dr Livesy let me inside. I sat down and told them my story.

     The wind blew sand inside the fort and we found it everywhere, in our clothes, in our food and in our eyes. There was a fire to keep us warm, but the room was also full of smoke and we all coughed. Captain Smollett gave us all jobs: some looked for firewood, others went to cook food, and I was asked to guard the door. He kept us all busy, and that made us all feel better.

     “Captain Smollett is a good man,” said Dr Livesy later that day. “And what about Ben Gun? Is he a good man?” “I don’t know,” I answered. “I think he’s a little crazy.” “Any man on an island for three years will be a bit crazy,” explained the doctor. “Did you say that he wanted some good food?” “Yes,” I replied. “I’ve brought some cheese with me on this journey. Let’s give it to Ben Gun!” said the doctor. 

     That evening, the men talked about how little food we had. We hoped that the pirates would leave the island with the Hispaniola . The doctor said that they would become ill if they slept outside on the island for long. And if the pirates left, we could wait until help arrived.

     I slept very well that night. The next morning, a voice woke me up. I heard someone say, “Some pirates are coming to the fort with a white flag. Look, it’s Silver! He wants a truce!” I got up and looked from the fort. It was a cold morning, and although it was sunny, there was a low mist. We could only see the head of Silver and another pirate. “Stay in the fort,” said Captain Smollett. “I’m sure that this is a trick.” Then he called out to Silver, “Tell us what you want.” “I want a truce,” said Silver. Captain Smollett quietly told us to move to different corners of the fort and to watch Silver carefully. 

     Then he called to Silver, “What do you want us to do?” “Come to my ship and we can talk about how to get home,” said Silver. “Your ship? I didn’t know you had a ship here,” replied Captain Smollett. “Well, the crew chose me to be their captain after you left the ship,” said Silver. “If you have something to say, you can come into the fort and say it,” said Captain Smollett. The other pirate tried to stop Silver, but he laughed and walked quickly towards the fort. 

     He climbed over one of the fences and walked slowly up the hill. Soon he was standing in front of Captain Smollett, who was waiting for him outside the door to the fort. “Can’t I come inside?” asked Silver. “It’s a cold morning.” “If you were an honest man, you could come inside,” said Captain Smollett. “But are you my ship’s cook, who I looked after, or Captain Silver, a pirate?” “OK, we can stay here,” said Silver, sitting down on the sand. “You’ve got a nice place here. Look, there’s Jim! Good morning.” “If you have anything to say, say it now,” said Captain Smollett. “Captain, we want the treasure, and we’re going to find it. However, I think you all want to leave the island safely. You have the map, don’t you?” asked Silver. “Perhaps,” said Captain Smollett.

     “I know you have it,” said Silver. “We don’t want to hurt you. Give us the map and then we will take you home on the ship. We’ll take you somewhere safe. Or, if you prefer, we’ll leave you some supplies and you can stay on the island. Then we can ask another ship to come and take you home. It’s a kind offer, and I hope you all want to take it.” He said this last part loudly, so that we could all hear in the fort. “Is that all you can offer?” said Captain Smollett. “It is, and if you don’t accept my offer, all you will hear from me is the sound of guns!” “Now you can listen to me,” replied Captain Smollett. 

     “If you come up to the fort, one by one, without any guns, I’ll put you all in chains and take you back to England for trial. If you don’t, you’ll have problems. You can’t find the treasure. You don’t have enough men to sail the ship, and you can’t fight us here in the fort.” Silver looked very angry. “This will not end well for any of you,” he said, and then he walked slowly back down the hill. Captain Smollett came back into the fort and said to us, “He’ll be back in an hour to attack us. There are more of them than us, but we have the advantage inside the fort, and I am sure that we can win”.