Orakel Children's Books
Treasure Island
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 34 chapter-aware companion links.
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I: The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow
I: The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow from Treasure Island. Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman
Open2II: Black Dog Appears and Disappears
II: Black Dog Appears and Disappears from Treasure Island. It was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain, though not, as you will see, of his affairs. It was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard frosts and heavy gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor father was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my mother and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were kept busy enough
Open3III: The Black Spot
III: The Black Spot from Treasure Island. About noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks and medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little higher, and he seemed both weak and
Open4IV: The Sea-chest
IV: The Sea-chest from Treasure Island. I lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money--if he had any--was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our captain’s shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in payment
Open5V: The Last of the Blind Man
V: The Last of the Blind Man from Treasure Island. My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along the road and the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men
Open6VI: The Captain’s Papers
VI: The Captain’s Papers from Treasure Island. We rode hard all the way till we drew up before Dr. Livesey’s door. The house was all dark to the
Open7VII: I Go to Bristol
VII: I Go to Bristol from Treasure Island. It was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, and none of our first plans--not even Dr. Livesey’s, of keeping me beside him--could be carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to London for a physician to take charge of his practice; the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on at the hall under the charge of old Redruth, the gamekeeper, almost a prisoner, but full of
Open8VIII: At the Sign of the Spy-glass
VIII: At the Sign of the Spy-glass from Treasure Island. When I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a note addressed to John Silver, at the sign of the Spy-glass, and told me I should easily find the place by following the line of the docks and keeping a bright lookout for a little tavern with a large brass telescope for sign. I set off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see some more of the ships and seamen, and picked my way among a great crowd of people and carts
Open9IX: Powder and Arms
IX: Powder and Arms from Treasure Island. The Hispaniola lay some way out, and we went under the figureheads and round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables sometimes grated underneath our keel, and sometimes swung above us. At last, however, we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint. He and the squire were very thick and friendly, but I soon
Open10X: The Voyage
X: The Voyage from Treasure Island. All that night we were in a great bustle getting things stowed in their place, and boatfuls of the squire’s friends, Mr. Blandly and the like, coming off to wish him a good voyage and a safe return. We never had a night at the Admiral Benbow when I had half the work; and I was dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the boatswain sounded his pipe and the crew began to man the capstan-bars. I might have been twice as
Open11XI: What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel
XI: What I Heard in the Apple-Barrel from Treasure Island. “No, not I,” said Silver. “Flint was cap’n; I was quartermaster, along of my timber leg. The same broadside I lost my leg, old Pew lost his deadlights. It was a master surgeon, him that ampytated me--out of college and all--Latin by the bucket, and what not; but he was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their ships--ROYAL
Open12XII: Council of War
XII: Council of War from Treasure Island. There was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, 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
Open13XIII: How I Began My Shore Adventure
XIII: How I Began My Shore Adventure from Treasure Island. The appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly ceased, we had made a great deal of way during the night and were now lying becalmed about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast. Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, and
Open14XIV: The First Blow
XIV: The First Blow from Treasure Island. I was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land that I was
Open15XV: The Man of the Island
XV: The Man of the Island from Treasure Island. From the side of the hill, which was here steep and stony, a spout of gravel was dislodged and fell rattling and bounding through the trees. My eyes turned instinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap with great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was, whether bear or man or monkey, I could in no wise tell. It seemed dark and shaggy; more I knew not. But the terror of this new apparition brought
Open16XVI: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned
XVI: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the Ship Was Abandoned from Treasure Island. It was about half past one--three bells in the sea phrase--that the two boats went ashore from the HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire, and I were talking matters over in the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind, we should have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard with us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But the wind was wanting; and to complete our helplessness, down came Hunter with the news that
Open17XVII: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip
XVII: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip from Treasure Island. This fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and the captain--over six feet high, was already more than she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my
Open18XVIII: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting
XVIII: Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting from Treasure Island. We made our best speed across the strip of wood that now divided us from the stockade, and at every step we took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking of the branches as they breasted across a bit of
Open19XIX: Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade
XIX: Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade from Treasure Island. As soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt, stopped me by the arm, and sat
Open20XX: Silver’s Embassy
XX: Silver’s Embassy from Treasure Island. Sure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, standing placidly
Open21XXI: The Attack
XXI: The Attack from Treasure Island. As soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely watching him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a man of us at his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him
Open22XXII: How I Began My Sea Adventure
XXII: How I Began My Sea Adventure from Treasure Island. There was no return of the mutineers--not so much as another shot out of the woods. They had “got their rations for that day,” as the captain put it, and we had the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside in spite of the danger, and even outside we could hardly tell what we were at, for horror of the loud groans that reached us from the doctor’s
Open23XXIII: The Ebb-tide Runs
XXIII: The Ebb-tide Runs from Treasure Island. The coracle--as I had ample reason to know before I was done with her--was a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made more leeway than anything else, and turning round and round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was “queer to
Open24XXIV: The Cruise of the Coracle
XXIV: The Cruise of the Coracle from Treasure Island. It was broad day when I awoke and found myself tossing at the south-west end of Treasure Island. The sun was up but was still hid from me behind the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost to the sea in formidable
Open25XXV: I Strike the Jolly Roger
XXV: I Strike the Jolly Roger from Treasure Island. I had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit when the flying jib flapped and filled upon the other tack, with a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to her keel under the reverse, but next moment, the other sails still drawing, the jib flapped back again and hung
Open26XXVI: Israel Hands
XXVI: Israel Hands from Treasure Island. The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could run so much the easier from the north-east corner of the island to the mouth of the North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor and dared not beach her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on our hands. The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good many trials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another
Open27XXVII: “Pieces of Eight”
XXVII: “Pieces of Eight” from Treasure Island. Owing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out over the water, and from my perch on the cross-trees I had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. Hands, who was not so far up, was in consequence nearer to the ship and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood and then sank again for good. As the water settled, I could see him lying huddled together on
Open28XXVIII: In the Enemy’s Camp
XXVIII: In the Enemy’s Camp from Treasure Island. The red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of the block house, showed me the worst of my apprehensions realized. The pirates were in possession of the house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, there were the pork and bread, as before, and what tenfold increased my horror, not a sign of any prisoner. I could only judge that all had perished, and my heart smote me sorely that I had not been there to
Open29XXIX: The Black Spot Again
XXIX: The Black Spot Again from Treasure Island. The council of buccaneers had lasted some time, when one of them re-entered the house, and with a repetition of the same salute, which had in my eyes an ironical air, begged for a moment’s loan of the torch. Silver briefly agreed, and this emissary retired again, leaving us together in the
Open30XXX: On Parole
XXX: On Parole from Treasure Island. I was wakened--indeed, we were all wakened, for I could see even the sentinel shake himself together from where he had fallen against the door-post--by a clear, hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the
Open31XXXI: The Treasure-hunt--Flint’s Pointer
XXXI: The Treasure-hunt--Flint’s Pointer from Treasure Island. “Jim,” said Silver when we were alone, “if I saved your life, you saved mine; and I’ll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving you to run for it--with the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing. Jim, that’s one to you. This is the first glint of hope I had since the attack failed, and I owe it you. And now, Jim, we’re to go in for this here treasure-hunting, with sealed orders too, and I
Open32XXXII: The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees
XXXII: The Treasure-hunt--The Voice Among the Trees from Treasure Island. Partly from the damping influence of this alarm, partly to rest Silver and the sick folk, the whole party sat down as soon as they had gained the brow of the
Open33XXXIII: The Fall of a Chieftain
XXXIII: The Fall of a Chieftain from Treasure Island. There never was such an overturn in this world. Each of these six men was as though he had been struck. But with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the others had had time to realize the
Open34XXXIV: And Last
XXXIV: And Last from Treasure Island. The next morning we fell early to work, for the transportation of this great mass of gold near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat to the HISPANIOLA, was a considerable task for so small a number of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the island did not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught, and we
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