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The Black Spot
About noon I stopped at the captain’s door with some cooling drinks and medicines. He was lying very much as we had left him, only a little higher, and he seemed both weak and excited.
«Jim», he said, «you’re the only one here that’s worth anything, and you know I’ve been always good to you. Never a month but I’ve given you a silver fourpenny for yourself. And now you see, mate, I’m pretty low, and deserted by all; and Jim, you’ll bring me one noggin of rum, now, won’t you, matey?»
«The doctor» – I began.
But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice but heartily. «Doctors is all swabs», he said; «and that doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the sea with earthquakes – what do the doctor know of lands like that? – and I lived on rum, I tell you. It’s been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me. Аnd if I’m not to have my rum now I’m a poor old hulk on a lee shore, my blood’ll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab». Аnd he ran on again for a while with curses.
«Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges», he continued in the pleading tone. «I can’t keep ’em still, not I. I haven’t had a drop this blessed day. That doctor’s a fool, I tell you. If I don’t have a drain o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some on ’em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that has lived rough, and I’ll raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim».
He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the doctor’s words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe.
«I want none of your money», said I, «but what you owe my father. I’ll get you one glass, and no more».
When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily and drank it out.
«Aye, aye», said he, «that’s some better, sure enough. And now, matey, did that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?»
«A week at least», said I.
«Thunder!» he cried. «A week! I can’t do that; they’d have the black spot on me by then. The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment; lubbers as couldn’t keep what they got, and want to nail what is another’s. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? But I’m a saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost it neither; and I’ll trick ’em again. I’m not afraid on ’em. I’ll shake out another reef, matey, and daddle ’em again».
As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in which they were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting position on the edge.
«That doctor’s done me», he murmured. «My ears is singing. Lay me back».
Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his former place, where he lay for a while silent.
«Jim», he said at length, «you saw that seafaring man today?»
«Black Dog?» I asked.
«Ah! Black Dog», says he. «He’s a bad un; but there’s worse that put him on. Now, if I can’t get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind you, it’s my old sea-chest they’re after. You get on a horse – you can, can’t you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to – well, yes, I will! – to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands – magistrates and sich – and he’ll lay ’em aboard at the Admiral Benbow – all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, all on ’em that’s left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and I’m the on’y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, you see. But you won’t peach unless they get the black spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again or a seafaring man with one leg, Jim – him above all».
«But what is the black spot, captain?» I asked.
«That’s a summons, mate. I’ll tell you if they get that. But you keep your weather-eye open, Jim, and I’ll share with you equals, upon my honour».
He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, «If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it’s me». Нe fell at last into a heavy, swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to the doctor, for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me.
But as things fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters on one side. Our natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on in the meanwhile kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of the captain, far less to be afraid of him.
He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, though he ate little and had more. I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after my father’s death.
I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But with all that, he minded people less and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a different air, a king of country love-song, that he must have learned in his youth before he had begun to follow the sea.
So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three o’clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, «Will any kind friend inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native country, England – and God bless King George! – where or in what part of this country he may now be?»
«You are at the „Admiral Benbow“, Black Hill Cove, my good man», said I.
«I hear a voice», said he, «a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in?»
I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single action of his arm.
«Now, boy», he said, «take me in to the captain».
«Sir», said I, «upon my word I dare not».
«Oh», he sneered, «that’s it! Take me in straight or I’ll break your arm».
And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out.
«Sir», said I, «it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman…»
«Come, now, march», interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, and cold, and ugly as that blind man’s. It cowed me more than the pain, and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed with rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist and leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. «Lead me straight up to him, and when I’m in view, cry out, „Here’s a friend for you, Bill.“ If you don’t, I’ll do this», and with that he gave me a twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he had ordered in a trembling voice.
The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of him and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so much of terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do not believe he had enough force left in his body.
«Now, Bill, sit where you are», said the beggar. «If I can’t see, I can hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right».
We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass something from the hollow of the hand that held his stick into the palm of the captain’s, which closed upon it instantly.
«And now that’s done», said the blind man. Аnd at the words he suddenly left hold of me, and with incredible accuracy and nimbleness, skipped out of the parlour and into the road, where, as I still stood motionless, I could hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance.
It was some time before either I or the captain seemed to gather our senses, but at length, and about at the same moment, I released his wrist, which I was still holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply into the palm.
«Ten o’clock!» he cried. «Six hours. We’ll do them yet», and he sprang to his feet.
Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat, stood swaying for a moment, and then, with a peculiar sound, fell from his whole height face foremost to the floor.
I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste was all in vain. The captain had been struck dead by thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to understand, for I had certainly never liked the man, though of late I had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he was dead, I burst into a flood of tears. It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart.
3
Чорна мiтка
Опiвднi я принiс капiтановi холодного питва та лiки. Вiн лежав нерухомо в тiй самiй позi, як ми його залишили, тiльки трохи пiдвiвшись; здавалося, вiн був слабий i водночас дуже збуджений.
– Джiме, – сказав вiн, – тiльки ти тут чогось вартий. Ти знаеш, що я завжди добре ставився до тебе. Я ж тобi щомiсяця давав срiбний чотирипенсовик. А тепер бачиш, друже, як менi погано, i всi покинули мене! Джiме, ти ж принесеш менi чарочку рому, принесеш, хлопчику?
– Лiкар… – почав було я.
Але вiн люто, хоч i слабким голосом, почав лаяти лiкаря.
– Всi лiкарi – телепнi! – сказав вiн. – А цей ваш лiкар, ну хiба ж вiн знае морякiв? Я бував у мiсцях, де пече, мов у гарячiй смолi, де люди так i падали вiд пропасницi, а землетруси розгойдували грiшну землю, неначе морську хвилю. Що твiй лiкар знае про цi краi? Я жив тiльки ромом, так, ромом, кажу тобi! Вiн був менi за iжу i воду, за товариша й жiнку. І коли я зараз не ковтну рому, мене викине на берег, мов старе розбите судно. Моя кров упаде тодi на тебе, Джiме, i на оту пiдтирачку, отого лiкаря… І вiн знову вибухнув лайкою.
– Дивись, Джiме, як тремтять моi пальцi, – благально мовив вiн. – Я не можу втримати iх так, щоб вони не тремтiли. За цiлiсiнький день я ж нi краплини не випив! Цей лiкар – дурень, запевняю тебе. Якщо я не ковтну рому, Джiме, менi ввижатимуться рiзнi страхiття. Я вже й так бачив iх, iй-богу! Бачив старого Флiнта в кутку, отам, за тобою. Бачив його ясно, мов живого. А якщо знову iх побачу, то мучитимусь, наче Каiн. Таж сам твiй лiкар казав, що одна склянка менi не зашкодить. Я дам тобi золоту гiнею за одну чарчину, Джiме.
Вiн канючив усе наполегливiше i був такий збуджений, що я почав побоюватися за свого батька, якому в той день було дуже погано i який потребував цiлковитого спокою. Крiм того, мене переконали слова лiкаря, що iх тепер повторив капiтан.
– Не треба менi ваших грошей, – сказав я, ображений, що менi пропонують хабара. – Заплатiть хоча б за те, що ви виннi моему батьковi. Я принесу вам склянку, але це буде остання.
Я принiс склянку рому. Вiн жадiбно схопив ii i випив одним духом.
– Гей, гей, – промовив, – отепер менi трохи покращало. Послухай, друже, лiкар не казав, скiльки я валятимусь на оцiй старiй койцi?
– Принаймнi тиждень, – вiдповiв я.
– Хай його грiм пальне! – вигукнув капiтан. – Тиждень! Не можу цього я собi дозволити: вони встигнуть до того часу прислати менi чорну мiтку. Негiдники вже натрапили на мiй слiд. Марнотратники, ледарi, свое не зберегли, а тепер ганяються за чужим! Хiба ж так справжнi моряки роблять? От узяти мене: я людина ощадлива, нiколи не тринькав грошi, нiколи iх не губив. Я зумiю знов обдурити iх! Не страшнi вони менi! Вiдчалю вiд цього рифу, братику, i знову пошию iх у дурнi.
Говорячи це, вiн заледве пiдвiвся з лiжка i сперся на мое плече з такою силою, що я мало не закричав. Раптом його ноги, мов колоди, опустилися на пiдлогу. Погрози нiяк не вiдповiдали тому слабкому голосу, яким вiн iх виголошував.
Сiвши на край лiжка, вiн довго вiддихувався.
– Цей лiкар мене доконав, – пробурмотiв урештi. – У вухах дзвенить… Допоможи менi лягти…
Але перш нiж я взявся допомагати, вiн упав на спину i на якийсь час замовк.
– Джiме, – сказав вiн нарештi, – ти бачив сьогоднi того моряка?
– Чорного Пса? – спитав я.
– Атож, Чорного Пса, – вiдповiв вiн. – То дуже поганий чоловiк, але тi, що послали його, ще гiршi. Слухай: якщо менi не пощастить вибратися звiдси й вони надiшлють менi чорну мiтку, то знай, що вони полюють на мою скриню. Сiдай тодi на коня… Ти ж умiеш iздити верхи, правда? Сiдай, кажу, тодi на коня й жени щодуху… Ну, тепер менi все одно… Мчи хоч до цього лiкаря, до того телепня, й перекажи йому, щоб вiн свистiв усiх нагору – суддiв там i рiзних присяжних – i накрив би тут, на борту «Адмiрала Бенбоу», всю стару зграю Флiнта, всiх до единого, скiльки iх ще лишилося живими. Я був першим штурманом старого Флiнта. Першим штурманом! І тiльки я знаю те мiсце. Вiн сам усе передав менi в Саваннi, коли лежав при смертi, як ось я тепер. Але ти не зчиняй галасу, поки вони не надiшлють менi чорноi мiтки. Чи поки не побачиш знову цього Чорного Пca або моряка на однiй нозi. Одноногого моряка, Джiме, бiйся найдужче!
– А що це за чорна мiтка, капiтане? – спитав я.
– Це виклик, друже, так би мовити, повiстка на суд. Коли ii пришлють, я тобi скажу. Ти тiльки не прогав iх, Джiме, i я все подiлю з тобою порiвну, слово честi…
Язик у нього почав заплiтатися, голос послабшав. Я дав йому лiкiв, i вiн випив iх покiрливо, мов дитина, сказавши:
– Якщо коли-небудь якийсь моряк потребував лiкiв, то це я.
Зрештою вiн забувся важким, безтямним сном, i я вийшов.
Що я робив би, коли б усе йшло гаразд, не знаю. Очевидно, розповiв би про все лiкаревi, бо смертельно боявся, що капiтан пошкодуе про свою вiдвертiсть i приб’е мене.
Але обставини склалися iнакше. Увечерi раптово помер мiй батько, i ми забули про все iнше. Велике сiмейне горе, вiдвiдування сусiдiв, похорон i рiзнi господарськi турботи так закрутили мене, що в мене не було часу нi думати про капiтана, нi боятися його.
Наступного ранку вiн зiйшов униз i пообiдав, як завжди. Їв мало, зате багато пив. Гадаю, вiн випив рому навiть бiльше, нiж звичайно, бо сам хазяйнував бiля буфета i при цьому так сердито сопiв, що нiхто не наважувався йому суперечити. Вночi, напередоднi похорону, вiн був так само п’яний, як i завжди. Огидно було слухати його розгнуздану, дику пiсню в нашому сумному домi. І хоч вiн був дуже слабий, ми всi до смертi боялися його. А лiкар у той час був далеко: його несподiвано викликали до пацiента за багато миль звiдси, i вiн не з’являвся поблизу нашого будинку пiсля смертi мого батька.
Я сказав, що капiтан був слабий. І справдi, здавалося, що вiн дедалi слабшае, а не одужуе. Важко пересувався по сходах, знову й знову ходив iз загальноi кiмнати до буфета й назад. Інодi вистромляв носа з дверей – вiдчути запах моря, – тримаючись при цьому за стiну, щоб не впасти. Дихав важко й швидко, як людина, що здираеться на круту гору.
Тепер вiн уже не заговорював до мене i, мабуть, зовсiм забув про свою вiдвертiсть, хоч став ще буйнiшим i, незважаючи на свою слабiсть, ще лютiшим, нiж будь-коли. Напившись, вiн витягав кортик i клав його перед собою на столi. Але разом з тим майже не звертав уваги на людей i, здавалося, весь час був заглиблений у своi думки та примарнi видiння. Якось, на превелике наше здивування, навiть почав мугикати якусь сiльську любовну пiсеньку, що вiн ii чув, мабуть, замолоду, коли ще не почав блукати по морях.
Такi ото були нашi справи, коли через день пiсля похорону, – день був похмурий, туманний i морозяний, – годинi о третiй пополуднi, я вийшов за дверi i став на порозi, сповнений сумних згадок про свого батька. І раптом побачив, що хтось поволi йде по дорозi. Чоловiк був, очевидно, слiпий, бо намацував дорогу перед собою палицею. Над очима й носом у нього нависав зелений щиток. Згорблений чи то вiд старостi, чи то вiд слабкостi, закутаний у старий подертий морський плащ з каптуром, що зовсiм ховав обриси його тiла. Нiколи в своему життi я не бачив потворнiшоi постатi. Перед корчмою вiн зупинився i спiвучим голосом промовив, нi до кого не звертаючись:
– Чи не скаже який добрий друг бiдному слiпому, що втратив свiй дорогоцiнний зiр, доблесно захищаючи свою батькiвщину Англiю, – благослови, Боже, короля Георга, – чи не скаже хтось цьому слiпому, де i в якiй частинi краiни вiн зараз перебувае?
– Ви стоiте перед корчмою «Адмiрал Бенбоу», в бухтi Чорного Горба, добрий чоловiче, – вiдгукнувся я.
– Я чую голос, – мовив вiн, – юний голос. Дайте менi вашу руку, мiй любий юний друже, i проведiть мене в цей дiм.
Я подав йому руку, i ця жахлива безока потвора з таким солодким голосом стисла ii, мов лещатами. Я так злякався, що спробував видертись i втекти. Але слiпий притяг мене щiльно до себе единим порухом руки.
– А тепер, хлопче, – сказав вiн, – веди мене до капiтана.
– Сер, – благав я, – слово честi, я не смiю.
– Он як! – осмiхнувся вiн. – Не смiеш? Веди негайно, або я зламаю тобi руку.
І, кажучи це, вiн так повернув менi руку, що я скрикнув.
– Сер, – сказав я, – не за себе я боюся, а за вас. Капiтан тепер не такий, яким був колись. Вiн сидить з оголеним кортиком. Один джентльмен уже приходив до нього i…
– Ану, йди! – перебив вiн мене.
Нiколи ще не чув я голосу такого жорстокого, холодного й огидного, як у того слiпого. Голос цей налякав мене бiльше, нiж бiль. Я вiдразу пiдкорився i повiв його просто до загальноi кiмнати, де сидiв наш хворий старий пiрат, очманiлий вiд рому.
Слiпий вчепився за мене своiми залiзними пальцями. Вiн налiг на мене всiею своею вагою, i я ледве тримався на ногах.
– Веди мене просто до нього i, коли вiн зможе побачити мене, крикни: «Ось ваш приятель, Бiллi!» А якщо не крикнеш, то я ось що зроблю!
І вiн знову так стиснув менi руку, що я мало не знепритомнiв. Пiсля всього цього я був такий наляканий слiпим жебраком, що забув свiй страх перед капiтаном i, розчинивши дверi загальноi кiмнати, вигукнув те, що наказав слiпий.
Бiдолашний капiтан пiдвiв очi й вiдразу протверезiв. На обличчi його вiдбився навiть не переляк, а смертельна мука. Вiн спробував було пiдвестись, але, очевидно, вже мало сил лишилося в його тiлi.
– Нiчого, Бiллi, сиди як сидиш, – сказав жебрак. – Хоч я й не можу бачити, але чую, як тремтять твоi пальцi. Дiло насамперед. Дай свою праву руку. Хлопче, вiзьми його руку й пiднеси ii ближче до моеi правицi.
Ми обидва слухняно пiдкорилися йому. Я побачив, як слiпий переклав щось iз своеi руки, в якiй тримав палицю, в долоню капiтана, що миттю стиснулася в кулак.
– Отже, зроблено, – сказав слiпець. З цими словами вiн вiдпустив мене i з неймовiрною для слiпого точнiстю й швидкiстю вислизнув iз загальноi кiмнати надвiр. Я все ще стояв нерухомо, прислухаючись, як по дорозi щораз далi й далi стукотить його палиця.
Минув якийсь час, поки ми з капiтаном трохи отямились. І тодi тiльки я помiтив, що все ще тримаю в своiх руках його кулак. Раптом вiн висмикнув руку i глянув на те, що в нього було затиснуте в долонi.
– О десятiй годинi! – вигукнув вiн. – Лишилося шiсть годин. Час iще е. – І зiрвався на ноги. Але заточився i схопився за горло. Так стояв якусь мить, похитуючись з боку на бiк, а потiм, неприродно крикнувши, упав, мов снiп, на пiдлогу.
Я одразу кинувся до нього, гукаючи матiр, та було пiзно. Капiтан раптово помер вiд апоплексичного удару. І дивно: я нiколи не любив цього чоловiка, хоч останнiм часом i почав жалiти його, але, побачивши його мертвим, вибухнув цiлою зливою слiз. Це була друга смерть, що сталася в мене на очах, i смуток пiсля першоi був iще свiжий у моему серцi.
4
The Sea-chest
Lоst no time, of course, in telling my mother all that I knew, and perhaps should have told her long before, and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult and dangerous position. Some of the man’s money – if he had any – was certainly due to us, but it was not likely that our captain’s shipmates, above all the two specimens seen by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined to give up their booty in payment of the dead man’s debts. The captain’s order to mount at once and ride for Doctor Livesey would have left my mother alone and unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed, it seemed impossible for either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms. The neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain on the parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror. Something must speedily be resolved upon, and it occurred to us at last to go forth together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No sooner said than done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran out at once in the gathering evening and the frosty fog.
The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though out of view, on the other side of the next cove; and what greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance and whither he had presumably returned. We were not many minutes on the road, though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken. But there was no unusual sound – nothing but the low wash of the ripple and the croaking of the inmates of the wood.
It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall never forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get in that quarter. For – you would have thought men would have been ashamed of themselves – no soul would consent to return with us to the «Admiral Benbow». The more we told of our troubles, the more – man, woman, and child – they clung to the shelter of their houses. The name of Captain Flint, though it was strange to me, was well enough known to some there and carried a great weight of terror. Some of the men who had been to field-work on the far side of the «Admiral Benbow» remembered, besides, to have seen several strangers on the road, and taking them to be smugglers, to have bolted away; and one at least had seen a little lugger in what we called Kitt’s Hole. For that matter, anyone who was a comrade of the captain’s was enough to frighten them to death. And the short and the long of the matter was, that while we could get several who were willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey’s, which lay in another direction, not one would help us to defend the inn.
