Treasure Island: The Treasure

The pirates set off to find the treasure, with Jim tied to Silver by a rope around his waist, like a dancing bear.On the way they found a skeleton lying straight on the ground with its arms pointing the way, and the pirates turned pale: Flint had left one of his own men there as a pointer.A little later, as they rested, a thin, high voice began to sing among the trees: “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest…”

“It’s Flint’s ghost!” cried the pirates in terror, because the voice called out the very words Flint had spoken before he died.But Silver listened carefully and laughed. “That was Ben Gunn’s voice,” he said, and the pirates quickly felt brave again.They hurried on to the tall tree on the map, but when they got there, they found a big hole in the ground, and it was empty.

The treasure was gone, and all they found was a single gold coin.Silver quickly changed sides again: he passed Jim a pistol and whispered, “Jim, take that, and stand by for trouble.”The angry pirates were about to attack when shots rang out from the trees: their leader, George Merry, fell, and the others ran away.

Out of the trees came the doctor, Gray and Ben Gunn, and at last Jim learned the whole secret.Long ago, Ben Gunn had found the treasure and carried it, piece by piece, to his cave, so the map the doctor gave the pirates was worth nothing.In Ben Gunn’s cave, Jim saw piles of gold coins from every country, and he thought of all the blood and sorrow they had cost.

They loaded the gold onto the Hispaniola, left the last three pirates on the island with food and tools, and sailed away.At their first port, Silver slipped away in a small boat with a bag of coins, and they never heard of him again.Everyone went home with a share of the treasure, but Jim never wanted to see that island again, and in his worst dreams he still heard the parrot screaming, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!”