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Somebody brought a light and I saw the inside of the house. Five pirates were on their feet, and another man was lying down with a head wound. But my heart became filled with fear when I saw no prisoners. Were my friends all dead?

"Here's Jim Hawkins!" said Silver. "How friendly of you to visit us, Jim!"

"Where are my friends?" I asked.

Silver answered in a smooth voice. "Yesterday. morning, Doctor Livesey came down with a white flag. 'Cap'n Silver,' he said, 'you've lost. The ship's gone.' We looked out and, by thunder, the ship had gone! 'Let's bargain,' said the doctor. So we bargained, and here we are, in the house. And your friends? They walked off and I don't know where they are. And now, are you going to join us, Jim?"

"You're in trouble," I said. "Ship lost, treasure lost, men lost. And if you want to know who did it -- it was me! I was in the apple barrel the night we saw the island, and I heard every word you said. And the ship? It was me who cut her ropes and killed the men aboard her, and it's me who has sailed her to a place where you'll never find her. Kill me if you like, but if you let me live, I'll do what I can to save you when you're arrested and brought to trial for piracy.

One man swore and jumped forward with his knife.

"Get back there!" cried Silver. "Did you think you were cap'n here, Tom Morgan? Well, there's never been a man to stand against me. and see another day!"

Angry whispers came from the other men.

"Did any of you gentlemen want to argue with me?" shouted Silver. "Well, I'm ready. Let him take a knife, and I'll see the colour of his inside!"

"We'll go outside and talk," replied one man. And he stepped calmly towards the door and disappeared out of the house. One after another, the rest of the men did the same.

"They're going to kill you, Jim," said Silver when the two of us were alone, "and they're going to stop me being their captain. When I looked into that bay and saw the ship was gone, I knew it was all over. Now, I'll save your life, if I can, but it must be a bargain -- you must save Long John from dying under the law."

Not a man answered. I listened to my heart beating. Silver waited calmly, his pipe in his mouth, as he watched his followers. Slowly, they got together at the far end of the house and whispered to each other.

"You seem to have a lot to say," said Silver. "Let me hear it, or stop talking."

"Well, he did," Silver went on. "And that's strange."

"There's trouble coming, Jim," he said. "And talking of trouble, why did the doctor give me the map?"

I stared at him in great surprise. Why indeed?

"I'll do what I can," I told him.

The door opened and the five pirates came in. They pushed one man forward and he gave something to Silver.

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" said George. "First, you made too many mistakes on this trip. Second, you let the enemy out of this trap for nothing. And then there's this boy."

The sea cook looked at what the man had given him. "The black spot!" he said. He turned the paper over. "What's this? No longer captain. You're becoming quite a leading man in this crew, George Merry. You'll be cap'n next, I suppose. But tell me what's wrong."

"It's enough," replied George.

"Is that all?" asked Silver quietly.

"Well, I'll answer you," said Silver. "You all know what I wanted but you wouldn't listen, would you? In my plan, we'd be on the Hispaniola now, every dead man alive and the treasure on ship, by thunder! Next, this boy. Well, we'll use him to bargain with. He might be our last chance. And the doctor? You've been glad enough to have a doctor coming to see you every day -- you, John, with your head broken…or you, George, sick and shaking with fever only a few hours ago. I made a bargain, that's why I let'em go!" He threw a piece of paper on to the floor. It was the map with the three crosses.

"No!" cried George Merry.

"You tell me, George!" shouted Silver. "You and the others lost the ship; I found the treasure. But I'll not be your captain any longer!"

Early in the morning Dr Livesey came to the stockade.

After a moment, the sea cook smiled. "George," he said. "I think you'll have to wait a while before you get another chance to be captain."

The pirates jumped on it like cats upon a mouse.

The doctor was now inside the stockade. "Not Jim?"

"The very same Jim," said Silver.

The doctor stopped. "Well, well," he said. "Then he went on, Let's see these sick men of yours, Silver."

"Silver for cap'n!" shouted the pirates.

"Very pretty," said George, "but how are we going to get away with the treasure, when we have no ship?"

"Well, that's done," he said, after visiting each man. "And now I'd like to talk to that boy, please."

A moment afterwards, he entered the house. With one look at me, he went to his work among the sick.

"We've a surprise for you, doctor," Silver called out. "We've a little stranger here."

The men's anger exploded after the doctor left the house, and they accused Silver of trying to make a separate peace for himself. Silver waved the map in front of them and told them they were stupid.

"Silence!" shouted Silver. "Hawkins," he went on in his usual voice, "will you promise not to escape?" I gave the promise. "Then, doctor," said Silver, "you just step outside that stockade, and when you're there, I'll bring the boy down on the inside. You can talk through the fence."

Dr Livesey was waiting outside the stockade. "The boy will tell you how I saved his life," Silver said through the fence. "Will you say a good word for me?"

"You're not afraid, John, are you?" asked Dr Livesey.

"By thunder!" he cried. "We'll break the peace when the right time comes -- and that's not now!" And then he walked out on his crutch, his hand on my shoulder. "Slowly, boy," he whispered to me. "We don't want to worry them."

"I don't like the idea of dying by the law," said Silver. "And now I'll leave you and Jim alone."

"So, Jim," said the doctor, "here you are. I'm disappointed in you. You went away when Captain Smollett was wounded, which wasn't a brave thing to do."

"No," I said. "I promised Silver I wouldn't escape, and I must go back. But listen, I took the ship and she's in North Inlet, on the beach."

"Jim," said the doctor, his voice changed. "Jim, I can't have this. Jump over and we'll run!"

"The ship!" cried the doctor.

"What's the game, doctor?" said Silver. "Why did you give me the map?"

"Doctor," I cried, "I've blamed myself enough."

I told him my story and he listened in silence Then he said, "It's you that saves our lives, Jim, and now we'll save yours. Silver!" he called, then as the cook came nearer, said, "Some Advice -- don't hurry to find that treasure. If you do, watch out for storms."

"I can't say more," said the doctor. "It's not my secret to tell. But if we both get out of this alive, Silver, I'll do my best to save you. Now, keep the boy close beside you, and when you need help, shout for it."

Then Dr Livesey hurried off into the wood.