the treasure island

treasure island(chapter one)

Jim Hawkins

I'll start by writing about the time when my father owned (1) an inn (2) called the Admiral Benbow, many years ago. I remember the day when a man walked into the ins. He was tall and strong, with an old blue coat and a scar on his face.

He looked around(4) him. 1

"This is a nice, quiet place. I'll stay here. Please, take this up(5) to my room," he said, pointing to a large wooden box.

"You can call me Captain. And this is for you," he continued, handing my father three or four gold coins(6)

The Captain was usually a quiet man. He spent his days walking on the beach or on the cliffs). When he came back, he always asked, "Did any sailors(8) visit the inn today?" At first, we thought he wanted to find some other sailors, but later we realised(9) that he didn't want any sailors to find him.

(11)

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In the evenings, the Captain sometimes told stories about his time at sea. My father was worried that nobody would want to visit the inn because they would be frightened by the Captain's stories, but I think people liked them.

The Captain stayed at the inn for months. He did not give us any more money for his room and my father did not dare(10) to ask him for more.

One morning, the Captain went for a walk(11) along the beach. I was helping my mother to make breakfast when another man walked into the inn. He was thin and pale(12), with three fingers on his left hand. He sat down and asked, "Is this table here for my friend Bill?"

I told him that I did not know Bill and said that the table was for the Captain.

"Well, my friend Bill might say that he's the Captain," he said. "He has a scar on his face and likes to tell a story. Is that him?"

"Yes," I said. "He's gone for a walk." "Which way did he walk?" he asked.

I pointed towards the beach. The man stood up and waited by the door for the Captain to return. When the Captain saw the man, he looked pale and ill. "Black Dog!" the Captain said.

"That's right," he replied(13), "I've found my friend Bill! We've had a lot of adventures(14) since I lost these fingers!"

I left them to talk. Then suddenly there were loud shouts (5) and both men stood up and ran outside. The Captain had a sword(16) and then I saw Black Dog running away with blood() on his arm. The man continued running until we could not see him. The Captain walked back into the inn. He looked ill and suddenly

he fell over. I thought perhaps he was hurt from the fight(8), At that moment, the doctor arrived to see my father who was sick. "Help us, Dr Livesey! The Captain is hurt!" said my mother.

The doctor looked at him and said, "He is not hurt, but he is very ill. Help me to take him upstairs(19)"

We took the Captain up to his bedroom and the doctor gave him some medicine (20). The Captain stayed in bed, but he was not quiet. He told me about his travels at sea, and said that he had something which people wanted. "Black Dog is not as bad as some of the other men." he said, "They all want to find me. Tell me if you see them!" That evening, my father died. I felt terrible (21) and forgot all about the strange things (22) that the Captain told me.

Then, a week later, I saw a blind man (23) coming down the road towards (24) the inn. He stopped outside the door when he was near and asked, "Where am I? Will a kind(25) person help me?" "You are at the Admiral Benbow Inn in Black Hill Cove," I told him.

At that moment, he grabbed my hand(26),

"Take me to the Captain!" he said. "Take me to him now!"

I walked with the blind man into the inn and took him to the Captain. The Captain looked very surprised(27) to see him.

"Now, Bill, stay where you are. I can hear you. Take this." He then put something in the Captain's hand, turned around(28) and left. The Captain looked at what the man gave him. "Ten o'clock!" he said. "I have time! (29)

Then the Captain suddenly fell to the floor. He was dead. I found my mother and we talked about what we should do. We knew that the Captain had a box in his room and it probably had money in it. The blind man and Black Dog probably wanted this. I thought about taking the box to Dr Livesey, but I did not want to leave my mother. We knew that we were in danger(30), We decided to go to the nearest village (31) and ask our neighbours (32) for help guarding(33) the inn.

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However, none of the people in the village wanted to help us. They did not come back with us, but one man went to tell Dr Livesey. Another man said that we could have his gun(34), It was dark when we returned to the inn. We found the key to the box in the Captain's jacket. I also saw the message(35) that the blind man gave to the Captain. It said, "You have until ten o'clock tonight." We went upstairs and my mother soon opened the box with the key. Inside, we found some clothes, some guns, some papers and other things. We also found a bag with some coins inside.

"We only have time until ten o'clock," I said. "Let's leave before the blind man and Black Dog return."

"I'll only take the money which the Captain owes (36) us," my mother said, opening the bag.

We stood up to leave, and I decided to take the papers from the box, too. We walked as quickly as we could back towards the village, but as we walked, we heard the sound of people in the road behind us.

"Take the money and run," said my mother. "I'm too weak (37) to continue."

I did not want to leave her, so we stopped under a bridge(38), where we could hide(39) in the dark.

• -end of chapter one