· Set off – We set off early in the morning to start our trip to the mountains.
· Join in – Everyone was dancing, so I decided to join in and have fun.
· Reliable and efficient – Our new computer system is reliable and efficient, so we finish work faster.
· Charming – The waiter was very charming ; he chatted with us during the meal and made us laugh.
· Recover from – It took her two weeks to recover from the flu, but she’s a lot better now.
The next morning, before the sun came up, we started our voyage. The sailors raised the anchor and we set off.
'Sing us a song, Barbecue!' one man shouted. That was the name they had given Long John Silver because he was the ship’s cook.
Silver began to sing:
'Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—'
All the sailors joined in :
'Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!'
Soon the sails were full of the morning breeze and the ship raced out to sea. The land became smaller and smaller. Our adventure had begun.
The first days were pleasant. The ship sailed particularly well, and the crew put a lot of effort into their work. But a strange change happened to Mr Arrow, the first officer. After a few days at sea, he came on deck with red cheeks and a nasty look in his eyes.
'Mr. Arrow, are you drunk ?' asked the captain.
'No, sir,' he replied, but it was obvious he was because he could not speak clearly.
No one knew where he got the alcohol from. It was a mystery. Sometimes he carried out his job properly. Other times he stayed in bed all day.
One dark night, when the sea was rough and the waves crashed over the sides of the ship, he disappeared altogether. Nobody actually knew when it happened; Mr Arrow just was no longer there.
'Overboard*,' said the captain quietly. 'That solves the problem.'
No one really felt very sorry.
Job Anderson became the new ship’s first officer. He appeared to be more suitable for the job: reliable and efficient.
Long John Silver, however, had a very different type of character. All the men liked him. He was charming and fun to talk to. He kept his kitchen very clean and bright. He kept a parrot which spent its days sitting in a cage and talking to all its visitors.
'Come in, Hawkins!' John Silver used to say. 'Sit and talk with me for a while.'
The parrot suddenly called out, 'Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!' Pieces of eight were types of silver coin also called the Spanish dollar.
Long John Silver laughed. 'Her name’s Captain Flint. She’s probably about two hundred years old, maybe! She has seen a good number of pirates, large amounts of silver and gold and quite a few battles, I can tell you.'
'Watch out! Watch out !' the parrot screamed.
Silver fed her a little sugar on a spoon. 'There you are. Good girl!'
The sailors respected Long John Silver. They listened when he spoke. Even I was fond of him.
Meanwhile, the squire and the captain still did get on.
'She is a fine ship,' the captain said one day. 'But I still have my doubts about this voyage.'
This sort of comment really annoyed the squire. 'One more word from that man, and I will explode !' he once said to the doctor.
The weather became rough - the wind blew across the stormy waves and the skies became dark, but the ships body was strong and it managed to stay together well. The sailors seemed happy enough especially when the squire gave them extra drinks and sweet food.
The captain mentioned this to the doctor, 'You shouldn’t give sailors too much - it’s unnecessary. Not only that, they become very sure of themselves and confident and may become more difficult to handle.'
One evening, near the end of our journey, I wanted an apple. It was quite dark, and most of the men were at the front of the ship, watching for the island to appear on the dark sea.
I climbed into the apple barrel*, where all the apples were kept, so as to get one of the last apples right at the bottom. I was sitting there eating my apple quietly when a heavy man sat down next to the barrel. The barrel shook. I kept still so he would not discover me.
Then he spoke. By his voice I recognised him straight away to be Long John Silver.
'Not yet,' he said quietly. 'We must wait. When we find the treasure, then we act.'
Another man answered, 'Are you sure?'
'Trust me,' said Silver. 'The captain and the squire will not leave the island alive.'
I stopped breathing. My heart beat fast. I wondered whether they would hear me breathing from inside the barrel*.
Silver continued, 'Be patient. When the time is right, we’ll take the ship. Until then, smile and work hard.'
Now I understood everything.
There would be a mutiny*.
And I was the only one who knew.
Just then a soft light fell on me inside the apple barrel. When I looked up, I saw that the moon had risen. It shone silver on the top of the mast and bright white on the sail. At almost the same moment, the lookout shouted loudly, 'Land ahoy!'
At once, there was a loud noise of feet running across the deck. I could hear sailors coming up from the cabin and the forecastle. I quickly slipped out of the barrel and hid behind the sail. Then I ran across the deck and came out onto the open space just in time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey. We all hurried towards the front of the ship.
When we arrived, all the sailors were already there. At the same time that the moon rose, a line of fog had slowly lifted. Far away to the south-west we could see two low hills, about two miles apart. Behind one of them there was a third hill that was higher than the others. Its top was still covered by fog. All three hills looked sharp and pointed.
I saw this almost like a dream because I had not yet recovered from my terrible fear from a few minutes before. Soon after that, I heard Captain Smollett call out orders. The ship, the Hispaniola, was turned a little closer to the wind. Now we were sailing in a direction that would go past the island on the east side.
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