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Later that day, I stopped at the captain's door with a cool drink.
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He seemed weak and excited at the same time.
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"Jim," he said, "I've been good to you. But now, I'm low and alone.
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Bring me some rum, won't you, matey?"
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"The doctor?—," I began.
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He cursed the doctor. "Doctors are all swabs, only fit to clean a ship," he said.
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"What does the doctor know? I've been in places hot as a furnace, with mates falling sick with yellow fever, and I lived on rum, I tell you.
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If I can't have some rum now, I'll die—and my death will be your fault, Jim."
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He cursed some more and then began to plead.
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"Look how my fingers are shaking. I haven't had a drop to drink today.
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The doctor himself said one glass wouldn't hurt me.
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I'll give you a gold coin for a drink, Jim!"
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He was growing far too excited and loud, and my father needed peace and quiet.
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And the doctor had said one drink wouldn't hurt.
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Finally I said, "I don't want your money, except what you owe my father.
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I'll get you one glass, and no more."
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When I brought it, he seized it greedily and drank.
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"Aye," he said. "That's better. How long must I lie here?"
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"A week, at least," I replied.
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"Thunder!" the captain cried loudly. "I can't do that!
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They'll find out where I am and give me the black spot. I must get away."
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He rose from the pillow with great difficulty, holding on to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out.
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Then he paused, sat up in bed, and said, "Help me up."
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But before I could, he fell back on his pillow.
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"You saw that seafaring man today?"
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"Black Dog?" I asked.
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"Yes, Black Dog. He's bad, but there are worse men than him from old Flint's crew.
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They're after my sea chest, boy, and if I can't get away. . ." The old man coughed.
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"Captain?" I said.
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"You get on a horse and ride to that doctor and tell him to have them all arrested, all of them, all that's left of old Flint's crew!"
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The captain closed his eyes, but kept speaking.
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"I was Flint's first mate, and I am the only one who knows the secret place.
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Flint told me when he was dying.
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But don't get the doctor unless Flint's old crew puts the black spot on me, or if you see Black Dog again, or a seafaring man with one leg—him above all."
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"But what's the black spot?" I asked.
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"It's a judgment, Jim—an evil summons to my own death."
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I gave him some medicine, and he fell into a deep sleep.
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As it happened, my father died quite suddenly that evening.
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Our grief, the visits from the neighbors, the funeral arrangements, and the work at the inn kept me too busy to worry about the captain for a few days.
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He came downstairs to eat his meals as usual, but he drank more rum than he had before.
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He seemed shut up in his own thoughts, never talking to me or any of the other guests.
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Then one frosty afternoon, as I stood at the door, full of sad thoughts, I noticed a blind man outside.
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He tapped his way down the road, using a long stick for a cane.
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He wore a green cloth over his eyes and a huge, tattered sea cloak with a hood that made him appear deformed.
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I never saw a more dreadful-looking figure.
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He stopped, and addressing the air, said, "Will any kind friend inform a poor blind man where he is?"
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"You are at the Admiral Benbow Inn," I said.
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"I hear a young voice," he said.
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"Will you give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in?"
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I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature gripped me so hard it hurt.
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I struggled, but the blind man pulled me closer.
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"Now, boy," he said, "take me to the captain or I'll break your arm."
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He gave my arm a wrench that made me cry out.
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"Sir," I said, "the captain is ill."
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"March," he commanded.
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The blind man held me tight, and I never heard a voice more cruel, cold, and ugly.
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"Lead me to him and say, 'A friend is here to see you, Bill,' or else I'll do this."
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And he pinched me so hard I thought I'd faint.
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I walked over to the captain's table and said, "Your friend is here, Bill!"
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The poor captain raised his head from his arms on the table; the drunkenness went out of his eyes, and he stared at me sober.
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He looked mortally sick.
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"Time for business," the blind man said.
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"Boy, take his wrist and bring it near to me."
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I took the captain's wrist and he didn't resist.
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I brought his hand toward the blind man and then saw something pass from the blind man's hand into the captain's palm.
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"And now that's done," the blind man said.
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He let go of me, and with incredible nimbleness, skipped out of the inn.
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He went out to the road, his stick tap-tap-tapping into the distance.
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The captain looked sharply into his palm.
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"Ten o'clock!" he cried. "Six hours."
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He sprang to his feet but then staggered backward, putting his hand to his throat.
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Swaying for a moment, he then fell with a thud to the floor.
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I ran to him at once. "Mother!" I cried. "Help us! Mother!"
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But it was too late. The captain was dead.
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I burst into tears. It was the second death I'd known, and the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart.