some important news; for, besides other scraps
that tended to the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: "Not
another man of them'll jine." Hence there were still faithful men on
board.

When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took the pannikin and
drank--one "To luck"; another with a "Here's to old Flint"; and Silver
himself saying, in a kind of song, "Here's to ourselves, and hold your
luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff."

Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the barrel, and, looking
up, I found the moon had risen, and was silvering the mizzen-top and
shining white on the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time
the voice of the look-out shouted "Land ho!"

CHAPTER XII

COUNCIL OF WAR

There was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people
tumbling up from the cabin and the foc's'le; and, slipping in an instant
outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double towards
the stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter and Dr.
Livesey in the rush for the weather bow.

There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted almost
simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of
us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind
one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was still buried in the
fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure.

So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my
horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of
Captain Smollett issuing orders. The _Hispaniola_ was laid a couple of
points nearer the wind, and now sailed a course that would just clear the
island on the east.

"And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted home, "has any one
of you ever seen that land ahead?"

"I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a trader I was cook
in."

"The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?" asked the
captain.

"Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for
pirates once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it.
That hill to the nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three
hills in a row running south'ard--fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the
main--that's the big 'un with the cloud on it--they usually calls the
Spy-glass, by reason of a look-out they kept when they was in the
anchorage cleaning; for it's t