1) all day long
2) do your best
3) give somebody a hand
4) to approve (thought it was a good idea)
5) surrounded
6) hear from (news)
1. All day long
Definition: For the whole day, from morning until night.
Example 1: My grandparents stayed in the garden all day long to watch the children play.
Example 2: We spent all day long cooking the roast dinner for our big family meal.
2. Do your best
Definition: To try as hard as you can to do something well.
Example 1: My mum always tells me to do my best at school, even if the homework is hard.
Example 2: My little brother did his best to help dad wash the family car.
3. Give somebody a hand
Definition: To help a family member or friend with a job.
Example 1: Can you give your sister a hand with cleaning her bedroom?
Example 2: I gave my aunt a hand when she was carrying the heavy shopping bags into the house.
4. To approve
Definition: To agree with a choice or think that a family member's plan is a good idea.
Example 1: My parents approved of my brother's new girlfriend because she is very polite.
Example 2: Grandma did not approve of us eating sweets right before dinner.
5. Surrounded
Definition: To have people, like your relatives, all around you on every side.
Example 1: At his 80th birthday party, grandad smiled because he was surrounded by all his grandchildren.
Example 2: On Sunday mornings, we love sitting on the sofa surrounded by our family pets.
6. Hear from
Definition: To get a message, phone call, or news from someone you care about.
Example 1: We were very excited to hear from my cousin while she was travelling in Australia.
Example 2: My mum calls her parents every weekend because she always wants to hear from them.
The next morning, we started work early. We had to move the heavy gold almost a mile across the land to the beach, and then three miles by boat to the Hispaniola. It was very hard work for our small group. We did not worry about the three pirates who were still on the island. One guard on the hill was enough to prevent any attack. We also thought they were too exhausted and no longer able to fight.
Gray and Ben Gunn moved the boat backwards and forwards, while the rest of us carried the treasure. Two gold bars were a heavy load for a powerful man. Because I was small, I stayed in the cave all day long. My job was to fill up the bags with coins.
It was an amazing collection. There were English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese coins. I saw round coins, square coins, and coins with holes in the middle so you could wear them around your neck. There were so many on the ground that they looked like fallen autumn leaves. My back had a terrible ache from bending over, and my fingers hurt from arranging the coins into different piles.
Day after day, the work carried on. Every evening, we put a huge amount of gold on board the ship.
On the third night, the doctor and I were walking on the hill. From the dark island below, the wind brought a strange sound. It was half singing and half shouting. Then, it was silent again.
"God forgive them," said the doctor. "It is the pirates!"
"They are all drunk, sir," said a voice behind us. It was Long John Silver.
We allowed Silver to walk around as he liked. Although we were unkind to him, he was always very polite. He did his best to make us like him again. But everyone talked to him like a dog, except Ben Gunn, who was still terrified of him. The doctor answered him angrily.
"They are drunk, or they are mad with fever," he said.
"You are right, sir," replied Silver. "But it does not matter to us."
"I know you do not think I am an honest man, Master Silver," the doctor said. "But if I was certain they had the fever, I would leave this camp and risk my own life to give them a hand."
"I apologise, sir, but you would be very wrong," said Silver. "You would lose your life, I promise you. Those men down there will not keep their promises. They are cruel men."
"So you are the man who keeps his promises, are you?" the doctor replied coldly.
That was the last time we heard the pirates. We held a meeting to made up our minds about what to do. We all agreed we had to leave them on the island. Ben Gunn was delighted about this, and Gray approved too. We left them food, medicine, clothes, a spare sail, and some rope. At long last, on one gorgeous, sunny morning, we pulled up the anchor and set off.
However, the three pirates were watching us from the shore. As we sailed near the beach, we saw them standing on the sand, staring at us. It broke our hearts to leave them in that awful place, but we could not risk another fight. The doctor shouted to them, explaining where to find the things we had left for them. But they just called our names and asked us in the name of God not to leave them to die.
When they realised that the ship was not stopping, one of them jumped up. He shouted loudly, lifted his gun, and shot at us. The bullet flew over Silver’s head and went through the sail. But, very soon, Treasure Island disappeared forever into the blue sea.
We needed more sailors, so we sailed to the nearest port in South America. It was evening when we arrived in a beautiful, calm harbour. Small boats surrounded us, filled with friendly local people selling fresh fruit and vegetables. The lights from the town looked very welcoming after our dark time on the island. The doctor and the squire took me to the shore for the evening and we had a very enjoyable time.
When we returned to the Hispaniola early the following morning, Ben Gunn was on his own on the deck. He looked very guilty and told us his secret. Silver was gone! Ben Gunn had helped him escape in a small boat a few hours earlier. He promised us that he only did it to save our lives, because Silver was a dangerous man. But the sea-cook did not leave with nothing. He had broken in through a wooden wall and stolen a bag of coins worth about four hundred guineas. Honestly, we were all glad to get rid of him so cheaply.
We found a few new sailors and travelled safely back to Bristol in England. We all received a large amount of the treasure and spent it in our own ways. Captain Smollett retired from sailing and lives a quiet life. Gray saved his money, studied hard, and is now the captain of his own ship. Ben Gunn spent all his money in exactly nineteen days and was poor again, so we gave him a small job at the squire’s country house.
We never heard from Silver again. Sometimes, I still have awful nightmares. In my sleep, I hear the sea crashing against the rocks, and I wake up to Captain Flint’s parrot screaming: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!"
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