Daily camera., 1901-08-31
steps further came forth into the open


and the surf tumbling and tossing Its
foam along the beach.
/ have never seen the sea quiet round
Treasure island. The sun might blaze
overhead, the air be without breath.
the surface smooth and blue, but stii
these great rollers would be running
along all the external ccsst, thunder
ing and laundering by day and night;
and scarce believe there is one spot in
the island where man would be out OF
earshot of their noise.
l walked along beside the surf with
great enjoyment, till, thinking ! was
now got far enough to the south, l
took the cover Of some thick bushes
and crept warily up to the ridge OF the
spit.
Behind me was the sea, in front the
anchorage. The sea breeze, as though
IL had the sooner blown itself out by
its unusual violence, was already at an
end; it had been succeeded by hght.
variable airs from the south and south
east, carrying great banks OF fog; and
the anchorage, under lee OF skeleton
island, lay still and leaden as when
first we entered it. The "llispanio.a
in that unbroken mirror was exactly
portrnyed from the truck to the water
line, the jolly Roger hanging from her
peak.
Alongside lay one Of the gigs, Silver
in the stern sheets-him cou.d always
recognize-while couple of men were
leaning over the stern bulwarks, one OF
them with a red cap-the very rogue
/ had seen some hours before stride
legs upon the palisade. apparently
they were talking and laughing, though
at that distance-upward OF miie-I
could, of course, hear no word OF what
was said. All at once there began the
most horrid, unearthly screaming,
which at first startled me badly. though
I had soon remembered the voice OF
Capt. Flint. and even thought 1 could
make out the bird by her bright plum
age as she sat perched upon her mas
ter's wrist.
Soon after the jollyIboat showed of
and pulled for shore, and the man with
the red cap and his comrnde went below
by the cabin companion.
just about the same time the SUP
had gone down behind the Spy-glass,
and us the fog was collecting rapidly
il began TO grow dark in earnest.
saw must lose no time il were to find
the boat that evening.
,t.;l1a ,1
the brush. was still some eighth Of
mile further down the spit. and it took
me a goodish while TO get up with it.
crawling often on all fours among the
scrub Night had almos, come when
l laid my hand on its rough sides.
Righ; below it there was an exceeding
ly small hollow OF green turf. hidden
by banks and thick underwood about
Anee-deep. that grew there very plen-
tifully; and in the center of the dell.
sure enough, little tent Of goatskins
like wha, the Vyr.ies carry about with
them in England.
I dropped into the hollow, lifted the
side of the tent, and there was Ben
Gums boat-homemade If ever any
thing was homemade; rude, lop-sided
framework OF tough wood. and
stretched upon that covering OF goat
skin. with the hair inside. The thing
was extremely small. even for me. and
can hardly imagine that il could have
floated with a full-sized man. There
was one thwart set as low as possible, a
kind of s.retcher In the bows, and 4
double paddle for propulsion.
l had not then seen Il coracle, such
as the ancient Britons made. bud
have seen once since, and can give you
no fairer idea OF Ben Gums boat than
by saying it was like the first and the
worst coracle ever made by man. But
the great advantage II the coracle it GER
tainly possessed. for il was exceedingly
light and portable.
Well. now that had found the boat,
you would have thought l had had
enough OF truantry for once; but in the
meantime hat,aken another notion,
and become so obstinatel- fond Of il
that | would have carried it out, be-
iieve, in the teeth OF Capt. Smollett him
self. This was TO slip out under cover
of the night, cut the "Hispaniola"
adrift. and let her go ashore where she
fancied. had quite made up my mind
that the mutineers, after their repulse
of the morning, had nothing nearer
their hearts than TO up anchor and away
TO sea; this. / thought, il would be
fine thing to prevent. and now that
had seen how they left their watchmen
unprovided with a boat, thought it
might be done with little risk.
Down sat to wait for darkness, and
made hearty meal of biscuit. 1t was
a night out OF ten thousand for my pur-
pose. The fog had now buried all
heaven. As the last rays of daylight
dwindled and disappeared, absolute
blackness settled down on Treasure
island And when. at last. shouldered
the coracle. and groped my way STUN
blingly out of the hollow where l had
supped, there were but two points visi-
BILE on the whole anchorage.
One was the great fire on shore, by
which the defeated pirates lay carous-
ing in the swamp. The other. a mere
blur of light upon the darkness, in
dicated the position of the anchored
ship. She had swung round to the ebb
her bow was now toward me-the
only lights on board were in the cabin;
and what l saw was merely reflection
on the fog of the strong rays that flowed
from the stern window.
The ebb had already run some time,
and had to wade through the long belt
of swampy sand, where sunk several
times above the ankle, before came to
the edge of the retreating water, and
wading a little way in, with some
strength and dexterity set my coracle
keel downward, on the surface.