und
her stranded beyond help. As it was, there was little amiss, beyond the
wreck of the mainsail. Another anchor was got ready, and dropped in a
fathom and a half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, the
nearest point for Ben Gunn's treasure-house; and then Gray,
single-handed, returned with the gig to the _Hispaniola_, where he was
to pass the night on guard.

A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the
top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing of
my escapade, either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite
salute he somewhat flushed.

"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain and impostor--a
monstrous impostor, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well,
then, I will not. But the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like
millstones."

"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting.

"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "It is a gross dereliction
of my duty. Stand back!"

And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with
a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The
floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far
corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps
of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint's
treasure that we had come so far to seek, and that had cost already the
lives of seventeen men from the _Hispaniola_. How many it had cost in
the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the
deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon,
what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet
there were still three upon that island--Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben
Gunn--who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in
vain to share in the reward.

"Come in, Jim," said the captain. "You're a good boy in your line, Jim;
but I don't think you and me'll go to sea again. You're too much of the
born favorite for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here,
man?"

"Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver.

"Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said.

What a supper I had of it that night, with all my friends around me; and
what a meal it was, with Ben Gunn's salted goat, and some delicacies and
a bottle of old wine from the _Hispaniola_. Never, I am sure, were
people gayer or happier. And there was Silver