d
lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I'm on your side now,
hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let
alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down
there, they couldn't keep their word--no, not supposing they wished to;
and, what's more, they couldn't believe as you could."

"No," said the doctor. "You're the man to keep your word, we know that."

Well, that was about the last news we had of the three pirates. Only once
we heard a gunshot a great way off, and supposed them to be hunting. A
council was held, and it was decided that we must desert them on the
island--to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn, and with the strong
approval of Gray. We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk of
the salt goat, a few medicines, and some other necessaries, tools,
clothing, a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and, by the particular
desire of the doctor, a handsome present of tobacco.

That was about our last doing on the island. Before that, we had got the
treasure stowed, and had shipped enough water and the remainder of the
goat meat, in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning, we
weighed anchor, which was about all that we could manage, and stood out
of North Inlet, the same colours flying that the captain had flown and
fought under at the palisade.

The three fellows must have been watching us closer than we thought for,
as we soon had proved. For, coming through the narrows, we had to lie
very near the southern point, and there we saw all three of them kneeling
together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in supplication. It
went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them in that wretched state;
but we could not risk another mutiny; and to take them home for the
gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor hailed them,
and told them of the stores we had left, and where they were to find
them. But they continued to call us by name, and appeal to us, for God's
sake, to be merciful, and not leave them to die in such a place.

At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course, and was now swiftly
drawing out of earshot, one of them--I know not which it was--leapt to
his feet with a hoarse cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent
a shot whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail.

After that we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and when next I looked
out they had disappeared from the spit, and th