1, Why did Doctor Livesey give Long John Silver the map?
2, What had happened to the treasure?
3, Why did Dr Livesey and the others decide not to report Long John Silver to the police?
For a moment, nobody could believe their eyes. The treasure had disappeared! The six pirates stood around the empty hole, shocked and annoyed. But Long John Silver quickly recovered. He had been dreaming of the treasure for so long, and now he had to think fast.
“Jim,” he whispered, handing me a pistol, “take this. We may be in trouble .”
He moved quietly away from the other five pirates, putting the hole between himself and them. Then he glanced at me.
The pirates were already jumping into the hole, throwing pieces of wood to one side and digging by hand.
Suddenly, Morgan found a gold coin. He held it up for everyone to see. It was worth two pounds, but it was nothing compared with the enormous treasure they had expected.
“Two pounds!” shouted Merry, turning towards Silver. “And you promised us seven hundred thousand pounds! You said you never got things wrong . Well, look at us now!”
“Keep digging, lads,” Silver replied calmly. “Perhaps you’ll find some nuts to eat down there.”
“Did you hear that?” cried Merry. “He knew the treasure had disappeared! Just look at his face. He knew all the time!”
“Ah, Merry,” said Silver, smiling coldly. “Are you trying to become captain again? You obviously like being in charge .”
This time, all the pirates appeared to agree with Merry. They climbed out of the hole and turned towards Silver with angry faces.
Now there were five pirates on one side and Silver and me on the other, with the empty hole between us. Nobody moved. Silver stood, holding his crutch*, and watched them without showing any fear. Whatever else he was, he was definitely brave.
At long last , Merry stepped forward.
“Listen, lads,” he said. “There are only two of them. One is that one-legged man who brought us here and led us into this nightmare. The other is the boy I want to murder. Come on! Let's get rid of them!”
He raised his arm and prepared to lead the attack.
Suddenly, we heard gun shots from the trees.
Merry fell down into the hole. Another pirate fell heavily to the ground. He was dead, although his body continued to move for a moment. The other three pirates turned and escaped for their lives.
Silver pulled out his pistol and shot at Merry, who was still moving in the hole.
“George,” he said, “I think that's the death of you.”
At that moment, Dr Livesey, Gray and Ben Gunn appeared from among the trees. Their guns were still smoking.
“Thank you, Doctor,” he said. “You arrived just in time for Jim and me. And so it's you, Ben Gunn! Well, you're an interesting guy!”
Ben Gunn looked embarrassed . He moved about nervously before adding, “How are you, Mr Silver? Very well, thank you, I hope!”
“Ben, Ben,” said Silver. “To think you've done this to me!”
As we walked down towards the boats, the doctor gave an explanation of what had happened.
The real story was surprising. Ben Gunn had discovered the treasure months before we arrived on the island.
During his long, lonely walks, he had found the bones that we had seen near the pine tree. He had also found Flint's treasure and dug it out of the ground.
Ben had carried the treasure on his back, making many tiring journeys to a cave on the two-pointed hill in the northeast of the island. He had hidden it there, where it had remained safe for two months before the Hispaniola arrived.
When Dr Livesey discovered Ben's secret, he made a plan. The next morning, the doctor saw that the ship had disappeared, so he went to Silver and gave him the treasure map, although it was now useless . He also gave him food from Ben's cave, where there was plenty of salted goat's meat.
Silver agreed to let the doctor and the others move safely from the fort to the cave. Of course, Long John Silver knew absolutely nothing about the treasure being moved to the cave.
“As for you, Jim,” the doctor gave an explanation, “I was sorry to leave you behind, but I had to do what I thought was best for those who had remained loyal. I didn’t know then that you had actually found the ship and taken it somewhere safe .”
That morning, when the doctor found me at the fort with the pirates, he realised what the pirates would do to me after their terrible disappointment , he hurried towards the cave. He left the squire to take care of Captain Smollett and took Gray and Ben Gunn with him.
They crossed the island to reach the pine tree before us. However, they soon realised that we had started earlier. Ben Gunn was a fast runner, so they sent him ahead to reach the treasure first.
The doctor then had an idea. He knew the pirates were afraid of ghosts and strange happenings, so he used their fears to confuse them. His plan worked. He and Gray reached the trees and hid there before we arrived.
“Ah,” said Silver, looking at the doctor, “I was lucky to have Hawkins with me. You would have let old John be cut to pieces without caring at all!”
“Not at all,” replied Dr Livesey cheerfully.
By now, we had reached the boats. The doctor used the pickaxe to break one of them so that the pirates could not use it. Then we climbed into the other boat and began rowing* towards North Inlet.
It was a journey of about eight or nine miles. Before long, we were moving quickly across the calm sea. We passed the narrow stretch of water and went round the southeast corner of the island, where they had brought the Hispaniola four days earlier.
As we passed the two-pointed hill, we saw the dark entrance to Ben Gunn's cave. A man was standing outside, leaning on a gun.
It was the squire!
We waved a handkerchief and shouted three cheers. To my surprise, Silver joined in as loudly as anyone.
A few miles further on, just inside North Inlet, we saw the Hispaniola sailing on her own. The rising tide had lifted her from where she had been stuck. Luckily , the sea was calm, and the ship had suffered little damage.
We dropped the anchor* into the water. Then we rowed* back towards Rum Cove, the nearest place to Ben Gunn's hidden treasure.
A gentle path led from the beach to the cave . At the top, the squire was waiting for us. He greeted me warmly and said nothing about my earlier escape. He did not blame me for what I’d done.
Then Silver politely greeted him. The squire's face grew red and annoyed.
“John Silver,” he said, “you are a terrible criminal and you lie ! I have been told that I must not report you to the police when we get home, so I will not. But you will always be responsible for the deaths of those men.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied Silver, politely touching his hat.
“Don't thank me!” shouted the squire. “I am ashamed that I cannot do my duty.”
We all went into the cave.
It was a large place with grass and a pool of clear water. Near a large fire lay Captain Smollett. In the far corner, I could just see piles of coins and bars of gold shining in the firelight.
At last, we had found Flint's treasure!
We had travelled a great distance to find it, and seventeen men from the Hispaniola had died because of it. How many people had died while the treasure was being stolen from others? How many ships had been destroyed, and how many brave sailors had been killed? Nobody could ever know the full story.
“Come in, Jim,” said Captain Smollett. “You're a good lad, but I don't think you and I will ever go to sea together again. You're too good at getting yourself into trouble!”
Then he noticed Silver.
“Is that you, John Silver? What are you doing here?”
“I've come back to do my duty, sir,” Silver replied.
“Ah!” said the captain, and said no more.
That evening, we had a wonderful supper with all our friends around us. Ben Gunn's salted goat was served with other good food and a bottle of old wine from the Hispaniola. Everyone was cheerful and happy.
Silver sat a little way from the fire, but he ate well and helped whenever anyone needed something. He even joined in quietly when we laughed.
He appeared once again to be the same friendly, polite sailor we had known at the beginning of the voyage.
Copyright © 2026 Practising English
All rights reserved
