After breakfast, the squire gave me a note to deliver to Long John Silver.
"He runs a tavern called The Spyglass," Trelawney said.
"Follow the docks until you see a sign with a telescope on it."
I set off and picked my way through people and carts until I found the place, a bright little tavern with crisp, red curtains.
In spite of clouds of tobacco smoke, I could clearly see the customers inside the room, and most of them were loud seafaring men.
As I stood in the door, a man came out of a side room, and I was sure he must be Long John.
His left leg was cut off close to the hip, and under his left shoulder was a crutch that he managed with wonderful skill.
He was tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent.
He whistled as he moved about the tables and had a merry word for his favorite guests.
From the very first mention of Long John in Squire Trelawney's letter, I feared he would be the evil one-legged sailor the captain had warned me about.
But one look at the man before me was enough.
I'd seen the captain, Black Dog, and blind Pew, and I believed I knew what a pirate looked like.
This one-legged tavern owner was very different; he was clean and pleasant-tempered.
I walked up to him. "Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note.
"Yes, my lad," he said. "And who are you?" Then he saw the squire's letter.
"Oh!" he said, quite loud. "You're our new cabin boy—pleased to meet you."
He took my hand in his large, firm grasp.
Just then, a customer rose suddenly and made for the door, and I recognized him right away.
It was the greasy-faced man, missing two fingers, who had come to the Admiral Benbow.
"Oh," I cried, "stop him! It's Black Dog!"
"I don't care who he is," said Long John, "but if he hasn't paid his bill . . . Harry, run and catch him!"
A man nearest the door leapt up and started in pursuit.
"Who did you say he was?" Long John asked. "Black what?"
"Dog, sir," said I. "Didn't Mr. Trelawney tell you about the pirates? He was one of them."
"Let's see—Black Dog?" Long John said thoughtfully.
"I don't know that name, but I have seen him before.
He came in here once with a blind man."
"The blind man's name was Pew," I said.
"It was!" Long John said, stamping up and down the tavern on his crutch.
"Pew! That was his name for certain. Ah, he looked like a shark, he did.
If we catch this Black Dog, now won't that please Captain Trelawney!
Harry's a good runner—he should catch him."
My suspicions were thoroughly reawakened on finding Black Dog at The Spyglass, despite what Long John said, and I watched the one-legged man narrowly.
Long John was too clever for me, however, and by the time Harry came back, out of breath,
I would have sworn that Long John was innocent of conspiring to break the law with any villainous character.
The fellow was so convincing as he acted out his lie that any policeman would have believed Long John and Black Dog were strangers to each other.
"I'm sorry," Harry gasped. "I lost him in a crowd."
"You are a worthless swab!" Long John yelled. He scolded him with a furious intensity.
"What's Captain Trelawney to think?" he said.
"This pirate was sitting in my own tavern drinking my own rum, and you let him give us the slip!"
He turned to me. "Now, Hawkins, you're a lad, but you're as smart as a fox.
I saw that when you first came in.
What could I do, with this old wooden crutch I hobble on?
When I was young, I would have asked the man his purpose here immediately, but now—"
And then, all of a sudden, his jaw dropped as though he'd remembered something.
"His bill!" he burst out. "Three glasses of rum! Why, shiver my timbers, he owes me a lot of money!"
Finally he plopped down on a nearby bench and burst into laughter, making me laugh too.
"You and I should get on well, Hawkins," he said.
"But come with me now. We'll go see Captain Trelawney and report this whole incident.
Mind you, this is serious, and neither you nor I will look very good in his eyes.
Certainly we won't look very smart."
As we walked to the inn, Long John told me about all the ships we passed, explaining the work that was being done on them and the cargo they carried.
It was then I decided he would be one of the best possible shipmates I could ever sail with.
When we arrived, Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey were seated together,
and Long John told the story from beginning to end with great spirit and perfect truth.
"That's how it was, now, wasn't it, Hawkins?" he said, and I nodded.
"It's a pity Black Dog got away," Trelawney said, "but there's nothing to be done about it now. Thank you for telling us."
Long John took up his crutch and said, "Aye, aye, sir," as he departed.
"Well, Squire," Dr. Livesey said, "As a general rule, I don't put much faith in your judgments of character, but Silver suits me."
"He's a fine person," Trelawney declared.
"And now," the doctor said, "may we go on board?"
"Of course," Trelawney said. "Get your hat. We'll see the ship."