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 ; and 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 . 4 The Sea-chest I LOST 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 XXXXX 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 .
Dog Livesey Sea-chest apoplexy hours left nimbleness o'clock parlour right