expecting nor receiving any answer.

The cannon-shot was followed, after a considerable interval, by a volley
of small arms.

Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I beheld
the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood.

PART IV

THE STOCKADE

CHAPTER XVI

NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR--HOW THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED

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 Jim
Hawkins had slipped into a boat and was gone ashore with the rest.

It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins; but we were alarmed for his
safety. With the men in the temper they were in, it seemed an even chance
if we should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch was bubbling in
the seams; the nasty stench of the place turned me sick; if ever a man
smelt fever and dysentery, it was in that abominable anchorage. The six
scoundrels were sitting grumbling under a sail in the forecastle; ashore
we could see the gigs made fast, and a man sitting in each, hard by where
the river runs in. One of them was whistling "Lillibullero."

Waiting was a strain; and it was decided that Hunter and I should go
ashore with the jolly-boat, in quest of information.

The gigs had leaned to their right; but Hunter and I pulled straight in,
in the direction of the stockade upon the chart. The two who were left
guarding their boats seemed in a bustle at our appearance;
"Lillibullero" stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what
they ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all might have turned
out differently; but they had their orders, I suppose, and decided to sit
quietly where they were and hark back again to "Lillibullero."

There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered so as to put it
between us; even before we landed we had thus lost sight of the gigs. I
jumped out, and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk
handkerchief under my hat for coolness' sake, and a brace of pistols
ready primed for safety.

I had not gone a hundred yards when I came on the stockade.

This was how it was: a spring of clear water