金银岛-第8部分
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‘Yes，’agreed Silver But look at the way those bones are lying—it isn't natural．’The man lay perfectly straight—his feet pointing one way，his hands，over his head，pointing the opposite way．‘I've got an idea，’said Silver．‘Look！We can see the top of Skeleton Island from here．These bones are a pointer，telling us which way to go！’
He was right．Our compass showed that the body pointed straight towards Skeleton Island，and in a line East…South…East and by East．
We left the skeleton behind，but now the pirates kept together and talked in frightened whispers．At the top of the hill，Silver took out his compass again．
‘There are three tall trees，’he said，‘in about the right place．Spyglass shoulder must be that lower place，there．A child could find the treasure now！’
Suddenly，out of the middle of the trees in front of us，a high shaking voice began to sing：
Fifteen men on the dead man's chest
Yo…ho…ho，and a bottle of rum！
The effect on the pirates was terrible to see．The colour went from their six faces，and they caught hold of each other like frightened children．Morgan fell to the ground，trembling with fear．
‘It's Flint！’cried George Merry．
‘No！’said Silver，fighting to get the word out．‘It's someone playing gamesit's no ghost！’
Then the voice came again：‘Darby M’Graw！’it screamed．‘Darby M’Graw！Fetch the rum！’
The pirates were fixed to the ground after the voice died away，their staring eyes full of horror．
‘That does it！’said one．‘Let's go！’
‘Those were Flint's last words before he died，’cried Morgan．
‘I'm here to get that treasure，’shouted Silver，‘and I'll not be beaten by man or ghost！I was never afraid of Flint in his life and，by thunder，I'll face him dead！There's seven hundred thousand pounds not a quarter of a mile from here．I'll not leave that much money for a drunken old seamanhim dead，too！And there's something strange．There was an echo，and no man ever saw a ghost with a shadow，so why should a ghost's voice have an echo？It's not natural．’
The words calmed George Merry．‘Yes，that's right，’he said．‘Now I think about it，it was like Flint's voice，but not exactly like it．It was like another person's voice…more like’
‘Ben Gunn！’shouted Silver．
‘If it was，it's still a ghost，’said Dick．‘Ben Gunn's not here in body，any more than Flint is．’
But the older men laughed．‘Nobody minds Ben Gunn，Dead or alive，’cried George．
The men were happy again，the colour back in their faces as they talked together and began to walk on．George Merry went first，leading the way with Silver's compass．
We reached the first tall tree，but it was the wrong one．So was the second．The third was tall enough to be seen from the sea，both east and west of the island．My companions hurried on，desperate to get their hands on the seven hundred thousand pounds in gold which lay somewhere under the tree's shadows．
Silver pulled at the rope that held me，and turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look．I could read his thoughts．So near to the gold now，everything was forgotten—his promise and the doctor's warning．I knew he hoped to take the treasure，cut every honest throat on that island，find and board the Hispaniola at night，and sail away a rich man and a murderer．
Suddenly，George Merry shouted，‘All together，boys！’，and the men began to run．Not ten metres farther on they stopped and cried out．Silver moved quickly，and the next moment we were with them Before us was a large hole，but it was not a new hole because grass grew on the bottom．
There was no treasure．
The seven hundred thousand pounds had gone！
15
End of an adventure
The pirates could not believe it，but Silver remained calm and changed his plan quickly．
‘Jim，’he whispered，‘take that，and be ready for trouble．’And he passed me a pistol．
At the same time he began to move quietly and，after a few steps，the hole was between us and the other five．He looked quite friendly now，and I couldn't help whispering，‘So you've changed sides again！’
The pirates began to jump into the hole，and to dig in the ground with their fingers．Morgan found a two…guinea coin，and it went from hand to hand．
‘Two guineas！’shouted George Merry，shaking it at Silver．‘That's your seven hundred thousand pounds！You're the man for bargains，are you？You're the one who never made a mistake！’
‘Wanting to be captain again，George？’said Silver．
But this time，everyone was on George Merry's side，and they began to climb out of the hole．
‘There's just the two of them，’said George．‘The old one…legged man who brought us all here for nothing；and that boy who I'm going to have the heart of！’
He was raising his arm and his voice，ready to lead them，but there was a sudden CRACK！CRACK！CRACK！as three gunshots came from the woods George Merry fell head first in to the hole，and another fell on his side，dead The other three turned and ran．
A moment later，Dr Livesey，Gray，and Ben Gunn joined us with smoking guns，from among the trees．
‘Keep them off the boats！’cried the doctor．
We began to run at a great speed through the trees，and Silver was soon thirty metres behind us．
‘Doctor！’he shouted．‘There's no hurry！Look！’
We saw he was right．In a more open place，we could see the three pirates，still running，and we were already between them and the Boats．So we sat down to rest while Long John came slowly up to us．
‘Thank you，doctor，’he said．‘You came at the right time to save me and Hawkins．’He looked at Ben Gunn．‘So it was you，Ben Gunn，playing the ghost！’
We walked down the hill to the boats and，as we did so，the doctor told Silver and me his story．But it was really Ben's story from beginning to end．
Ben，in his lonely walks around the island，had found the skeleton and found the treasure．He had carried the gold on his back in many journeys，and had taken it to a cave on the north…east corner of the island，two months before the Hispaniola arrived．
Ben had told the doctor this，and the next morning the doctor gave Silver the mapwhich was now uselessand gave him the food at the stockade，because there was plenty in Ben Gunn's cave．That morning，when the doctor saw I had to go with the pirates to find the treasure，he had left the squire to look after the captain，then took Gray and Ben Gunn with him to be ready to help us．
‘I was lucky Hawkins was with me，’said Silver，‘or old John would be dead by now，for sure．’
By this time，we were at the boats．The doctor smashed one with an axe，and then we all got into the other and rowed to North Inlet．The Hispaniola was moving by herself now，the sea high enough to take her off the beach．We went round to Rum Cove，the nearest landing place for Ben Gunn's cave of treasure，then Gray left us there before rowing back to guard the ship for the night．
Mr Trelawney met us at the cave．He didn't blame me for my desertion，but he spoke differently to Silver．‘Silver，’he said，‘you're a scoundrel and a murderer，but I'm told that I must save you from the law．’
‘Thank you，sir，’replied Long John．
‘I don't want your thanks！’cried the squire．
We all entered the cave．It was large and pleasant，with fresh water coming from a place in the ground，and a floor of sand．Captain Smollett lay in front of a big fire，and in a corner I saw coins and gold bars．It was Flint's treasure！
We had come so far to find this．Already it had cost the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola．And how many others？How many ships had gone to the bottom of the sea？How many brave men had been murdered for this？Perhaps no man alive could tell．
Next morning，we moved all the gold to the beach．Then we took it by boat to the Hispaniola．It was a big job for so small a number of men．
The three pirates who were still on the island did not trouble us．They were not going to fight any more，and we decided we must leave them on the island．We left powder，food，clothes and medicine for them．
Then at last，one sunny morning，we sailed out of North Inlet and towards the nearest port in Spanish America．Before afternoon，Treasure Island had disappeared from view，and I had never felt happier to leave a place behind．
The sun was going down when we sailed into the port，and the doctor and Mr Trelawney took me on shore．When we came back，Ben Gunn was waiting for us．
‘Silver has gone，’he told us，‘but not empty…handed．He's taken one of the bags of coins，perhps worth three or four hundred guineas．’
I think we were all pleased to lose the scoundrel at so small a price．
We found a crew for the ship at the port，and then had a good voyage home．Only five of the men who had sailed from Bristol with the Hispaniola returned with her．We all took a large piece of the treasure，and some used it sensibly，and some did not．
Captain Smollett no longer goes to sea．Gray saved his money and is now half…owner and captain of a fine ship．Ben Gunn got a thousand pounds which he spent or lost in three weeks，then he came begging and was given a job as a gatekeeper．
Of Silver we have heard no more．That frightening seaman with one leg has．gone out of my lift．I will never return to Treasure Island，but in my worst dreams I still hear the sharp，high scream of Captain Flint the parrot：‘Pieces of eight！Pieces of eight！’
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