friends are.
Wot s wot? repeated one of the buccaneers in a deep growl. Ah, he d
be a lucky one as knowed that!
You ll perhaps batten down your hatches till you re spoke to, my
friend, cried Silver truculently to this speaker. And then, in
his first gracious tones, he replied to me, Yesterday morning, Mr.
Hawkins, said he, in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a
flag of truce. Says he, Cap n Silver, you re sold out. Ship s gone.
Well, maybe we d been taking a glass, and a song to help it round. I
won t say no. Leastways, none of us had looked out. We looked out, and
by thunder, the old ship was gone! I never seen a pack o fools look
fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the
fishiest. Well, says the doctor, let s bargain. We bargained, him
and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you
was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole
blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they ve tramped;
I don t know where s they are.
He drew again quietly at his pipe.
And lest you should take it into that head of yours, he went on, that
you was included in the treaty, here s the last word that was said: How
many are you, says I, to leave? Four, says he; four, and one of us
wounded. As for that boy, I don t know where he is, confound him, says
he, nor I don t much care. We re about sick of him. These was his
words.
Is that all? I asked.
Well, it s all that you re to hear, my son, returned Silver.
And now I am to choose?
And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that, said Silver.
Well, said I, I am not such a fool but I know pretty well what I have
to look for. Let the worst come to the worst, it s little I care. I ve
seen too many die since I fell in with you. But there s a thing or two
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