Chapter: THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN


My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear; for I could not
remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering
my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our
door. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven
or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along the
road, and the man with the lantern some paces in front. Three men ran
together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the
middle man of this trio was the blind beggar. The next moment his voice
showed me that I was right.

"Down with the door!" he cried.

"Ay, ay, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was made upon the
"Admiral Benbow," the lantern-bearer following; and then I could see
them pause, and hear speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were
surprised to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the blind
man again issued his commands. His voice sounded louder and higher, as
if he were afire with eagerness and rage.

"In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay.

Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining on the road with the
formidable beggar. There was a pause, then a cry of surprise, and then
a voice shouting from the house:

"Bill's dead!"

But the blind man swore at them again for their delay.

"Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the rest of you aloft and
get the chest," he cried.

I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so that the house
must have shook with it. Promptly afterward fresh sounds of astonishment
arose; the window of the captain's room was thrown open with a slam and
a jingle of broken glass, and a man leaned out into the moonlight, head
and shoulders, and addressed the blind beggar on the road below him.

[Illustration: _"Pew!" he cried, "they've been before us"_ (Page 34)]

"Pew!" he cried, "they've been before us. Someone's turned the chest out
alow and aloft."

"Is it there?" roared Pew.

"The money's there."

The blind man cursed the money.

"Flint's fist, I mean," he cried.

"We don't see it here, nohow," returned the man.

"Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind man again.

At that, another fellow, probably he who had remained below to search
the captain's body, came to the door of the inn. "Bill's been overhauled
a'ready," said he, "nothin' left."

"It's these people of the inn--it's that boy. I wish I had put his eyes
out!" cried the blind man, Pew. "They were here no time ago--they had
the door bolted when I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em."

"Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the fellow from the
window.

"Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated Pew, striking
with his stick upon the road.

Then there followed a great to-do through all our old inn, heavy feet
pounding to and fro, furniture all thrown over, doors kicked in, until
the very rocks re-echoed, and the men came out again, one after another,
on the road, and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And just
then the same whistle that had alarmed my mother and myself over the
dead captain's money was once more clearly audible through the night,
but this time twice repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's
trumpet, so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault; but I now found
that it was a signal from the hillside toward the hamlet, and, from its
effect upon the buccaneers, a signal to warn them of approaching danger.

"There's Dirk again," said one. "Twice! We'll have to budge, mates."

"Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. "Dirk was a fool and a coward from the
first--you wouldn't mind him. They must be close by; they can't be far;
you have your hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs. Oh, shiver
my soul," he cried, "if I had eyes!"

This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began
to look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought,
and with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest
stood irresolute on the road.

"You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg! You'd
be as rich as kings if you could find it, and you know it's here, and
you stand there skulking. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill, and I
did it--a blind man! And I'm to lose my chance for you! I'm to be a
poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a
coach! If you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit, you would catch
them still."

"Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloons!" grumbled one.

"They might have hid the blessed thing," said another. "Take the
Georges, Pew, and don't stand here squalling."

Squalling was the word for it; Pew's anger rose so high at these
objections; till at last, his passion completely taking the upper hand,
he struck at them right and left in his blindness, and his stick sounded
heavily on more than one.

These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant, threatened him
in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch the stick and wrest it from
his grasp.

This quarrel was the saving of us; for while it was still raging,
another sound came from the top of the hill on the side of the
hamlet--the tramp of horses galloping. Almost at the same time a
pistol-shot, flash, and report came from the hedge side. And that was
plainly the last signal of danger, for the buccaneers turned at once and
ran, separating in every direction, one seaward along the cove, one
slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half a minute not a sign of
them remained but Pew. Him they had deserted, whether in sheer panic or
out of revenge for his ill words and blows, I know not; but there he
remained behind, tapping up and down the road in a frenzy, and groping
and calling for his comrades. Finally he took the wrong turn, and ran a
few steps past me, towards the hamlet, crying:

"Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," and other names, "you won't leave old Pew,
mates--not old Pew?"

Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four or five riders
came in sight in the moonlight, and swept at full gallop down the slope.

At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and ran straight for
the ditch, into which he rolled. But he was on his feet again in a
second, and made another dash, now utterly bewildered, right under the
nearest of the coming horses.

The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went Pew with a cry that
rang high into the night, and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him
and passed by. He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face,
and moved no more.

I leaped to my feet and hailed the riders. They were pulling up, at any
rate, horrified at the accident, and I soon saw what they were. One,
tailing out behind the rest, was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to
Doctor Livesey's; the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the
way, and with whom he had had the intelligence to return at once. Some
news of the lugger in Kitt's Hole had found its way to Supervisor Dance,
and set him forth that night in our direction, and to that circumstance
my mother and I owed our preservation from death.

Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when we had carried her up
to the hamlet, a little cold water and salts very soon brought her back
again, and she was none the worse for her terror, though she still
continued to deplore the balance of the money.

In the meantime the supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt's
Hole; but his men had to dismount and grope down the dingle, leading,
and sometimes supporting, their horses, and in continual fear of
ambushes; so it was no great matter for surprise that when they got
down to the Hole the lugger was already under way, though still close
in. He hailed her. A voice replied, telling him to keep out of the
moonlight, or he would get some lead in him, and at the same time a
bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon after, the lugger doubled the
point and disappeared. Mr. Dance stood there, as he said, "like a fish
out of water," and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B---- to
warn the cutter. "And that," said he, "is just about as good as nothing.
They've got off clean, and there's an end. Only," he added, "I'm glad I
trod on Master Pew's corns"; for by this time he had heard my story.

I went back with him to the "Admiral Benbow," and you cannot imagine a
house in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down by
these fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; and
though nothing had actually been taken away except the captain's
money-bag and a little silver from the till, I could see at once that we
were ruined. Mr. Dance could make nothing of the scene.

"They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins, what in fortune were
they after? More money, I suppose?"

"No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. "In fact, sir, I believe I
have the thing in my breast-pocket; and, to tell you the truth, I should
like to get it put in safety."

"To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. "I'll take it, if you like."

"I thought, perhaps, Doctor Livesey--" I began.

"Perfectly right," he interrupted, very cheerily, "perfectly right--a
gentleman and a magistrate. And, now I come to think of it, I might as
well ride round there myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's
dead, when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's dead, you see, and
people will make it out against an officer of his Majesty's revenue, if
make it out they can. Now, I'll tell you, Hawkins, if you like, I'll
take you along."

I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked back to the hamlet
where the horses were. By the time I had told mother of my purpose they
were all in the saddle.

"Dogger," said Mr. Dance, "you have a good horse; take up this lad
behind you."

As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt, the supervisor
gave the word, and the party struck out at a bouncing trot on the road
to Doctor Livesey's house.

[Illustration]

 The curiosity of Jim prevails even in these testing times. Hiding behind bushes, Jim sees seven or eight men running towards the Inn. Jim spots the blind beggar who orders the men to break down the door to get inside. When the marauders find Bill dead and the sea chest already opened and cleared of its treasure, the beggar concludes that Jim is responsible and must be nearby. He tells his men to find Jim and his mother and to destroy the Inn. A whistling sound is heard, like the one Jim and his mother had heard earlier, upon hearing it, the men stop their activity and quickly prepare to leave. Pew, the blind beggar, tries to entice them to stay with the treasure that is awaiting them. This doesnt work and much to the relief of Jim they start quarreling amongst themselves. The men hear the sound of four or five horse riders approaching, then coming into sight in full gallop. The men abandon Pew and run away. Even with his handicap, the blind man also tries his best to save himself, but he was trampled by the horses and drops dead. Jim and his mother are saved and are relieved to find Supervisor Dance and his revenue officers making their appearance just in time. With a hope of tracking some men who were stationed at Kitts hole, Mr. Dance goes back, only find that they have already left. Proud that he has captured Pew, Mr. Dance returns with Jim to the ruined inn. He asks Jim what the men were after, Jim tells him that the secret is safe in his pocket and that he would like to hand it over to Dr. Livesey. Accepting Jims decision, without any argument, Mr. Dance offers him a ride to Dr. Livesey. After telling his mother where he is going, Jim is taken to Dr. Livesay's house by one of Mr. Dance's men.

