The Hispaniola was far out in the bay, but at last, our small boat came alongside the ship and we stepped aboard.
The first mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears, saluted us, and the squire greeted him like an old friend.
But I soon observed that things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and Captain Smollett.
We'd hardly gone below deck and entered the captain's cabin when the captain himself came in and angrily shut the door behind him.
"Captain Smollett, all is well, I hope?" Squire Trelawney said.
"Well, sir," the captain said, "I'll be frank. I don't like this voyage, I don't like the men, and I don't like my first mate."
"Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" the squire asked angrily.
"I can't say that, as I haven't tried her," the captain replied.
"I guess you don't like your employer either?" the squire shot back.
Seeing a fight brewing, Dr. Livesey cut in. "Calm down, gentlemen.
Questions like that can only produce ill feelings, Squire," he said.
"Captain, I'd like an explanation. Why don't you like this voyage?"
"I've just learned we're going after treasure—heard it from my own crew," the captain said.
"Searching for buried treasure can be dangerous, especially when the reason for the voyage is kept secret from the captain, Mr. Trelawney."
"What are you suggesting, sir?" Trelawney asked indignantly.
"There's been too much talk," the captain said.
"I don't believe either of you know what we're facing, but I'll tell you what I think will happen—
it'll come down to life or death, and a narrow escape, if we're lucky."
"We are not as ignorant as you believe," Dr. Livesey said.
"You say you don't like the crew. Aren't they good seamen?"
"I should have been allowed to choose my own crew, sir," Captain Smollett replied.
"Perhaps my friend should have included you in the hiring," said the doctor.
"But the squire did not mean to overstep his authority. You don't like Mr. Arrow?"
"I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman, but he's too chummy with the men.
A first mate should behave with authority. Mr. Arrow acts as if he's one of the crew."
"Tell us what you want, Captain," the doctor said.
"If you're determined to go on this voyage," Smollett said, "then all the gunpowder and arms must be stored under my cabin.
Second, I want to move your berths right beside my cabin."
"Anything else?" asked the squire.
"There's been too much blabbing," said the captain.
"Far too much," the doctor agreed.
"I've heard you have a map of an island, with crosses that show where the treasure is," the captain said,
and then he named the exact latitude and longitude of the island.
"I never told a soul!" Squire Trelawney cried.
"The crew knows all about the island, sir," said the captain.
"Livesey, you or Hawkins must have said something," the squire said.
"It doesn't matter who," replied the doctor.
"Well, gentlemen," the captain said, "I don't know who has this map, but keep it secret, even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise, I will resign."
"You fear a mutiny," the doctor said. "That's the reason you want all of us and the guns in the stern of the ship."
"I wouldn't go to sea if I had evidence of a possible mutiny," Captain Smollett said.
"No captain would do that. But I am responsible for the life of everyone on board.
So I'm asking you to take certain precautions or let me resign, that's all."
"I will do as you desire," said the squire, "but I don't like your attitude very much."
"I don't care what you think, sir," the captain said. "But I must do my duty." And with that, he left.
"Trelawney," the doctor said, "I believe you've managed to get two honest men on board with you—that man and Long John Silver."
"Of course Silver is honest," the squire yelled, "but as for that intolerable captain, I think he is unmanly and downright unpatriotic."
"Well," the doctor said, "we shall see."
When we came back on deck, the men were already moving the arms and gunpowder into the space underneath the cabin.
The captain and Mr. Arrow supervised while the men worked hard to fix up the whole ship.
Six new berths had been constructed in the stern of the ship from part of the galley, with a passageway to the captain's cabin on the port side.
It was decided that the doctor, the squire, Redruth, Hunter, Joyce, and I would sleep there.
Mr. Arrow would sleep on deck in a hammock to keep watch.
As the crew finished their work, Long John and a few men came alongside the ship in a shore boat.
Long John scrambled up the side of the ship like a monkey and called out, "Yo ho, mates! What's going on?"
"We're moving all the guns," a man answered.
"Why?" Long John bellowed. "If we do that, it will delay our departure!"
"It's my orders!" snapped the captain. "You may go below, cook. The men will want supper."
"Aye, aye, sir," Long John answered, and saluting, he disappeared toward the galley.
"He's a good man, Captain," the doctor said.
"Very likely, sir," Captain Smollett replied. "Easy with that, men—easy," he said to the men carrying the crates of gunpowder.
Then he saw me examining a small cannon on deck.
"Hey, you! Ship's boy!" he shouted. "Leave that alone! Go to the cook and get to work."
As I was hurrying off, I heard him say quite loudly to the doctor, "I'll have no favorites on my ship."
I fully agreed with the squire. I hated the captain deeply.