`` Then rest his soul for a true seaman ! And as for you , John Silver , long you 've been a mate of mine , but you 're mate of mine no more . If I die like a dog , I 'll die in my dooty . You 've killed Alan , have you ? Kill me too , if you can . But I defies you . '' And with that , this brave fellow turned his back directly on the cook and set off walking for the beach . But he was not destined to go far . With a cry John seized the branch of a tree , whipped the crutch out of his armpit , and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air . It struck poor Tom , point foremost , and with stunning violence , right between the shoulders in the middle of his back . His hands flew up , he gave a sort of gasp , and fell . Whether he were injured much or little , none could ever tell . Like enough , to judge from the sound , his back was broken on the spot . But he had no time given him to recover . Silver , agile as a monkey even without leg or crutch , was on the top of him next moment and had twice buried his knife up to the hilt in that defenceless body . From my place of ambush , I could hear him pant aloud as he struck the blows . I do not know what it rightly is to faint , but I do know that for the next little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling mist ; Silver and the birds , and the tall Spy-glass hilltop , going round and round and topsy-turvy before my eyes , and all manner of bells ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear . When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together , his crutch under his arm , his hat upon his head . Just before him Tom lay motionless upon the sward ; but the murderer minded him not a whit , cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass . Everything else was unchanged , the sun still shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of the mountain , and I could scarce persuade myself that murder had been actually done and a human life cruelly cut short a moment since before my eyes .
But now XXXXX put his hand into his pocket , brought out a whistle , and blew upon it several modulated blasts that rang far across the heated air .
Alan John Silver Tom dooty hilltop murder right sward violence