"verywell,"saidthedoctor。"now,then,if激misagreeable,wellopenthepacket";andhelaiditbeforehinthetable。
thebundlewassewntogether,andthedoctorhadtogetouthisinstrumentcaseandcutthestitcheswithhismedicalscissors。itcontainedtwothings—abookandasealedpaper。
"firstofallwelltrythebook,"observedthedoctor。
thesquireandiwerebothpeeringoverhisshoulderasheopenedit,fordr。liveseyhadkindlytionedmetoeroundfromtheside-table,whereihadbeenea,toenjoythesportofthesearch。onthefirstpagetherewereonlysomescrapsofwri,suchasamanwithapeninhishandmightmakeforidlenessorpractice。onewasthesameasthetattoomark,"billyboneshisfancy";thentherewas"mr。w。bones,mate,""norerum,""offpalmkeyhegotitt,"andsomeothersnatches,stlysinglewordsandunintelligible。icouldnothelpwonderingwhoitwasthathad"gotitt,"andwhat"itt"wasthathegot。aknifeinhisbackaslikeasnot。
"notmuchinstructionthere,"saiddr。liveseyashepassedon。
thenexttenortwelvepageswerefilledwithacuriousseriesofentries。therewasadateatoneendofthelineandattheotherasufney,ount-books,butinsteadofexplanatorywri,onlyavaryingnumberofcrossesbetweenthetwo。onthe12thofjune,1745,forinstance,asufseventypoundshadplainlybeeduetosomeone,andtherewasnothingbutsixcrossestoexplainthecause。inafewcases,tobesure,thenameofaplacewouldbeadded,as"as,"oramereentryoflatitudeandlongitude,as"62o1720",19o240"。"
therecordlastedovernearlytwentyyears,theauntoftheseparateentriesgrowinglargerastimewenton,andattheendagrandtotalhadbeenmadeoutafterfiveorsixwrongadditions,andthesewordsappended,"bones,hispile。"
"icantmakeheadortailofthis,"saiddr。livesey。
"thethingisasclearasnoonday,"criedthesquire。"thisistheblack-ountbook。thesecrossesstandforthenamesofshipsortownsthattheysankorp露ndered。thesumsarethescoundrelsshare,andwherehefearedanambiguity,youseeheaddedsomethingclearer。as,now;yousee,herewassomeunhappyvesselboardedoffthatcoast。godhelpthepoorsoulsthatmannedher—corallongago。"
"right!"saidthedoctor。"seewhatitistobeatraveller。right!andtheauntsincrease,yousee,asheroseinrank。"
therewaslittleelseinthevo露mebutafewbearingsofplacesnotedintheblankleavestowardstheendandatableforreducingfrench,english,andspanishneystoanva露e。
"thriftyman!"criedthedoctor。"hewasnttheoobecheated。"
"andnow,"saidthesquire,"fortheother。"
thepaperhadbeensealedinseveralplaceswithathimblebywayofseal;theverythimble,perhaps,thatihadfoundinthecaptainspocket。thedoctoropenedthesealswithgreatcare,andtherefelloutthemapofanisland,withlatitudeandlongitude,soundings,namesofhillsandbaysandinlets,andeveryparticularthatwouldbeneededtobringashiptoasafeanchorageuponitsshores。itwasaboutninemileslongandfiveacross,shaped,youmightsay,likeafatdragonstandingup,andhadtwofineland-lockedharbours,andahillinthecentrepartmarked"thespy-glass。"therewereseveraladditionsofalaterdate,butaboveall,threecrossesofredink—twoonthenorthpartoftheisland,oneinthesouthwest—andbesidethislast,inthesameredink,andinasmall,neathand,verydifferentfromthecaptainstotterycharacters,thesewords:"bulkoftreasurehere。"
overonthebackthesamehandhadwrittenthisfurtherinformation:
talltree,spy-glassshoulder,bearingapointtothen。ofn。n。e。
skeletonislande。s。e。andbye。
tenfeet。
thebarsilverisinthenorthcache;youcanfinditbythetrendoftheeasthumck,tenfathomssouthoftheblackcragwiththefaceonit。
thearmsareeasyfound,inthesand-hill,n。pointofnorthinletcape,bearinge。andaquartern。
j。f。
thatwasall;butbriefasitwas,andtomeinprehensible,itfilledthesquireanddr。liveseywithdelight。
"livesey,"saidthesquire,"youwillgiveupthiswretchedpracticeatonce。torrowistartforbristol。inthreeweekstime—threeweeks!—twoweeks—tendays—wellhavethebestship,sir,andthechoicestcrewinengland。hawkinsshalleascabin-boy。youllmakeafauscabin-boy,hawkins。you,livesey,areshipsdoctor;iamadmiral。welltakeredruth,joyce,andhunter。wellhavefavourablewinds,aquickpassage,andnottheleastdifficultyinfindingthespot,andneytoeat,torollin,toplayduckanddrakewitheverafter。"
"trelawney,"saidthedoctor,"illgowithyou;andillgobailforit,sowill激m,andbeacredittotheundertaking。theresonlyonemanimafraidof。"
"andwhosthat?"criedthesquire。"namethedog,sir!"
"you,"repliedthedoctor;"foryoucannotholdyourtongue。wearenottheonlymenwhoknowofthispaper。thesefellowswhoattackedtheinntonight—bold,desperateblades,forsure—er,andre,idaresay,notfaroff,are,oneandall,throughthickandthin,boundthattheyllgetthatney。wemustnoneofusgoaloillwegettosea。激mandishallsticktogetherinthemeanwhile;youlltakejoyceandhunterwhenyouridetobristol,andfromfirsttolast,notoneofusmustbreatheawordofwhatwevefound。"
"livesey,"returnedthesquire,"youarealwaysintherightofit。illbeassilentasthegrave。"