`The doctor--' I began.
But he broke in cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice, but heartily. `Doctors is all swabs,' he said; `and that doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a - heaving like the sea with earthquakes - what do the doctor know of lands like that? - and I lived on rum, I tell you. It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a lee shore, my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that Doctor swab;' and he ran on again for a while with curses. `Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges,' he continued, in the pleading tone. `I can't keep 'em still, not I. I haven't had a drop this blessed day. That doctor's a fool, I tell you. If I don't have a drain o' rum, Jim, I'Il have the horrors; I seen some on 'em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll raise Cain. Your doctor himself said one glass wouldn't hurt me. I'll give you a golden guinea for a noggin, Jim.'
He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, who was very low that day, and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the doctor's words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe.
`I want none of your money,' said I, `but what you owe my father. I'll get you one glass, and no more.'
When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily, and drank it out.
`Ay, ay,' said he, `that's some better, sure enough. And now, matey, did that doctor say how long I was to lie here in this old berth?'
`A week at least,' said I.
`Thunder!' he cried. `A week! I can't do that: they'd have the black spot on me by then. The lubbers is going about get the wind of me this blessed moment; lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to nail what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? But I'm saving soul. I never wasted good money of mine, nor lost neither; and I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll shake out another reef, matey, and daddle 'em again.'
As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with great difficulty, holding to my shoulder with a grip that almost made me cry out, and moving his legs like so much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the voice in which they were uttered. He paused when he had got into a sitting position on the edge.
`That doctor's done me,' he murmured. `My ears is singing. Lay me back.'
Before I could do much to help him he had fallen back again to his former place, where he lay for a while silent.
`Jim,' he said, at length, `you saw that seafaring man to-day?'
`Black Dog?' I asked.
`Ah! Black Dog,' says he. `He's a bad 'un; but there's worse that put him on. Now, if I can't get away nohow, and the tip me the black spot, mind you, it's my old sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse - you can,can't you? Well, there you get on a horse, and go to - well, yes, I will! - to this eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands magistrates and such - and he'll lay 'em aboard at the "Admiral Benbow" - all old Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate and I'm the on'y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, you see. But you won't peach unless they get the black spot on me, or unless you see that Black Dog again, or a seafaring man with one leg, Jim - him above all.'
`But what is the black spot, Captain?' I asked.
`That's a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get that. But you keep your weather-eye open, Jim, and I'll share with you equals, upon my honour.'
He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker; but soon after I had given him his medicine, which he took like a child, with the remark, `If ever a seaman wanted drugs, it's me,' he fell at last into a heavy, swoon-like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have done had all gone well I do not know. Probably I should have told the whole story to the doctor; for I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my poor father died quite suddenly that evening, which put all other matters on one side. Cur natural distress, the visits of the neighbours, the arranging of the funeral, and all the work of the inn to be carried on in the meanwhile, kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of the captain, far less to be afraid of him.
He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had his meals as usual, though he ate little, and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through his nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but, weak as he was, we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles away, and was never near the house after my father's death. I have said the captain was weak; and indeed he seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up and downstairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to the walls as he went for support, and breathing hard and fast like a man on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and, allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But, with all that, he minded people less, and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once, for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a different air, a kind of country love-song, that he must have learned in his youth before he had begun to follow the sea.
So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and about three o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing slowly near along the road. H was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick, an wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood, that made him appeal positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful looking figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and, raisin his voice in an odd sing-song, addressed the air in front of him:--
`Will any kind friend inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native country, England, and God bless King George! - where or in what part of this country he may now be?'
`You are at the "Admiral Benbow," Black Hill Cove, my good man,' said I.
`I hear a voice,' said he - `a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my kind, young friend, and lead me in?'I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyeless creature gripped it in a moment like a vice. I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw; but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single action of his arm.
`Now, boy,' he said, `take me in to the captain.'
`Sir,' said I, `upon my word I dare not.'
`Oh,' he sneered, `that's it! Take me in straight, or I'll break your arm.'
And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench that made me cry out. `Sir,' said I, `it is for yourself I mean. The captain is not what he used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass. Another gentleman--'
`Come, now, march,' interrupted he; and I never heard a voice so cruel, and cold, and ugly as that blind man's. It cowed me more than the pain; and I began to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was sitting, dazed with rum. The blind man clung close to me, holding me in one iron fist, and leaning almost more of his weight on me than I could carry. `Lead me straight up to him, and when I'm in view, cry out, "Here's a friend for you, Bill." If you don't, I'll do this;' and with that he gave me a twitch that I thought would have made me faint. Between this and that, I was so utterly terrified of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of the captain, and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words he had ordered in a trembling voice.
The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the rum went out of him, and left him staring sober. The expression of his face was not so much of terror as of mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I do not believe he had enough force left in his body.
`Now, Bill, sit where you are,' said the beggar. `If I can't see, I can hear a finger stirring. 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. 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, an the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart.
“吉姆，”他说，“你是这里惟一可靠的人，你知道我一向待你不薄。我月月不落地给你个四便士的角子。可是现在你看，伙计，我是多么不走运，所有的人都背弃了我。来，吉姆，现在给我拿一小杯酒好不好，伙计？”
“医生——”我开口说。
但是他却破口骂起医生来，气若游丝，却很动火。“医生都是笨蛋，”他说，“那个医生也不例外，喂，他能对海员懂得多少？我曾在像沥青油那么烫的地方呆过，同伴们得了黄热病一个接一个地倒下去了，那鬼地方又发生了地震，地动得像海一样——医生知道那种地方吗？——我告诉你，我是靠酒活过来的，对我来说，它是粮食、是水、是伙伴、是老婆。要是现在我离了酒，我就是下风岸上的一艘可怜的破废船。你得对我负责，吉姆，而那个医生是个笨蛋。”他又骂了一阵。“看，吉姆，我的指头抖得有多厉害，”他用乞求的口气接着说，“我不能叫它们安分下来，这该死的日子我滴酒未沾哩。我告诉你，医生是个笨蛋。要是我一口酒也喝不上，吉姆，我会得恐怖症的。我已经看到了他们中的一些人。我看见老弗林特在那个角落里，就在你身后，我看见他就像印出来似的清楚。要是我得了恐怖症，我这人就会作害人的事，会搅得死人也不得安生。你的医生也说过一杯对我不碍事，我会为这一小杯酒付给你一个金基尼哩，吉姆。”
他变得越来越兴奋，这使我警醒起来，想到了我的父亲，那天他病得非常厉害，需要安静。另外，他对我引述的医生的那句话使我打消了顾虑，而他想贿赂我的表示却令我相当反感。
“我不要你的什么钱，”我说，“但是你欠我父亲的。我可以给你弄一杯，多了不行。”
当我把酒拿给他时，他贪婪地一把抓过去，一饮而尽。
“啊，啊，”他说，“这会儿好多了，千真万确。好吧，伙计，那医生说我要在这破床上躺多久？”
“至少一个星期。”我说。
“天呀！”他叫道，“一个星期！我可办不到，到那时他们就会给我下黑券了。那些半吊子水手们在这个该死的时候会找到我的，他们既保不住自己得到的东西，却又想攫取别人的。这种水手的行径，如今我还会不知道吗？但是我是节俭的，我从不浪费掉我的一个子儿，也不会让它们白白跑掉。我得逗他们一下子，我并不怕他们。我要再一次的扬帆启航，伙计，要再捉弄他们一回。”
当他这么说着的时候，他已经吃力地从床上抬起身子来，一把抓住我的肩膀，几乎要使我叫出声来，一边还挪动着他那死沉的腿。他讲这番话时，口气的强硬和声音的微弱形成了可悲的对比。当他终于坐到床边之后，他停顿了一下。“那个医生害苦我了，”他咕哝着，“我的耳朵嗡嗡直响。放我躺下来。”
我还没来得及帮上他多少忙，他就已经倒在原先躺着的地方了，半晌不语。
“吉姆，”最后他说，“你今天看见那个船员了吧？”
“‘黑狗’？”我问道。
“啊！‘黑狗’！”他说。“他是个坏蛋，但是派他来的人更坏。现在，要是他们给我下了黑券而我跑不开的话，我跟你讲，他们想要的是我那只航海用的旧箱子，你就骑上一匹马——你行的，不是吗？然后，你骑上马去——噢，对了，我有主意了——去那个永远是笨蛋的医生那儿，让他召集所有的人来——地方官吏之类的——他就会在‘本葆海军上将’这儿将他们一网打尽——所有老弗林特的部下，老的少的，所有这些人，一个不拉。我曾经是大副，我是，老弗林特的大副，知道那地方的人就剩我一个了。在萨凡纳①，在他临死的时候，他把它给了我，你看，就像这会儿。但是，除非他们给我下了黑券，或是你看到‘黑狗’又来了，或者是那个‘独腿水手’——特别是这个人，吉姆，你再去告发。”
①北美洲港口，靠大西洋，在佛罗里达半岛以北。——译者注
“但是，什么是‘黑券’呢，船长？”我问道。
“那是一种通牒，伙计。要是他们送来了，我会告诉你。但你要留神，吉姆。我以我的名誉起誓，好处我们五五开。”
他胡思乱想了一小会儿，声音微弱了下来；但我赶紧给他吃了药，他像个孩子似的嘟囔着：“要是竟然有水手吃药，就是我了。”最后，他昏昏沉沉地睡去，像死了似的，使我得以脱身走开。我不知如何是好，也许我该把这前前后后都告诉医生，因为我怕得厉害，怕船长后悔他的坦白而要了我的命。但是这时出了事，我可怜的父亲这天晚间突然去世了，这使所有其他的事情都靠到了一边。我们发自天性的悲恸，邻居们的探望，葬礼的安排，旅店的一切事务，在这段时间里这一切同时到来，使我忙得腾不出时间来想船长，更别说怕他了。
说真的，第二天早上他就下楼了，像往常一样进餐，尽管吃得极少，酒喝得恐怕比平时给他的还多，因为他一直呆在酒吧间里，满脸怒气并哼着鼻子，这使得谁都不敢从他面前经过。在葬礼的前一天晚上，他又像往常一样喝得烂醉，在这幢悲恸的房子里，听到他难听的水手老调，不禁使人毛骨悚然。由于他很虚弱，我们都担心他一命归西，而医生突然到很多里地以外的地方出诊去了，自我父亲去世后他便再没到我家附近来过。我说过船长很虚弱，他的确看上去越来越糟糕而不是在恢复元气。他上楼又下楼，从客厅走到酒吧又走回客厅，有时他到门外嗅嗅海的气味，用手扶着墙行走，呼吸沉重而急促，就像人在爬陡峭的高山时的样子。他从不找我专门谈话，我但愿他忘掉了所托之事。但是他的脾气更加乖戾了，并且随着身体的日渐衰弱，也比平时更为粗暴。现在，他采取了一项警戒措施，就是当他饮酒时，把那把水手用的短刀抽出来放到他面前的桌子上。但是，这么做的同时，他对别人的注意反倒减少了，似乎沉浸在自己的思想里，到了很远的地方。比方说有一次，他使我们万分惊奇地突然哼出了一个不同的调子，一首乡村的情歌，那肯定是在他出海之前的年轻时候学会的。
事情就这样地过去了，直到葬礼后一个多雾、严寒的下午，大约三点多钟，我在门口站了一会儿，满怀对我父亲的哀思。这时，我看见有个人正慢慢地沿着大路向这边走来。他显然是个瞎子，因为他用棍子敲着路面，一个大绿罩子遮住了他的眼睛和鼻子。他弯曲着身子，似乎是上了岁数，要不就是因为有病的关系。他穿一件很大的、带着个风帽的旧航海斗篷，使他看上去格外怪异。我这一生从未见过比这更吓人的形象了。他在旅店前停了一下，接着用一种古怪的、唱歌似的调子提着嗓子向他前面的空中探问道：
“哪个好心人愿意告诉我这个可怜的瞎人——一个为了庄严地保卫他的祖国英格兰和神佑的乔治王而失去了宝贵的视力的人——他现在在这个镇子的什么地方？”
“你现在是在‘本葆海军上将’旅店前，在黑岗湾，我的好人儿。”我说。
“我听见了一个声音，”他说，——“一个年轻的声音。你愿意把你的手给我、领我进去吗，我好心的年轻朋友？”
我伸出了我的手，立刻，那个可怕的、软声软气的瞎眼的家伙像一把虎头钳似地抓住了它。我大吃一惊，想挣脱开，但是那个瞎子用胳膊一下子把我拖到他身边来。
“现在，孩子，”他说，“带我去见船长。”
“先生，”我说，“说实话，我不敢。”
“噢，”他冷笑道，“原来如此呀！马上带我去，不然我拧断你的胳膊。”
说着他就拧了一下子，这一下拧得我叫了起来。
“先生，”我说，“我是为你着想，船长不同从前了，现在他拿着刀坐在那里。另外一位先生——”
“喂，过来，往前走，”他打断了我。我从来没听过像这瞎子这样严酷、冰冷和难听的声音，这比疼痛还要令我恐惧，所以我马上便老老实实地服从他了，走进门去，直奔客厅，我们那个生着病的老海盗正坐在那儿，喝得烂醉呢。瞎子牢牢靠紧我，用那只铁手抓着我，差不多全身的重量都压到了我身上，弄得我都快要垮下去。“马上把我领到他跟前，当他能看到我时，喊：‘这是你的朋友，比尔，’要是你不照办，我就会这样。”说完他猛地拽了我一下子，我想我快要昏过去了。两相比较，我对这个瞎乞丐是如此的惧怕，以致于打消了我对船长的畏惧，当我打开客厅的门时，便用颤抖的声音喊出了他命令我喊的那句话。
可怜的船长抬起了他的眼睛，一瞥之下便酒意全无，清醒地瞪着眼。他脸上的表情与其说是恐惧，倒不如说是垂死的病容。他挣扎着要起来，但是我不相信他有足够的力气来挪动他的身体。
“现在，比尔，坐在你原来的地方，”乞丐说，“我不能看，却能听得到一根指头的动静。公事公办，伸出你的右手。孩子，捉住他的右手腕，拿到我右手这边来。”
我们两个都照他的话做了，接着，我看到他从握手杖的手心里拿出个东西放到了船长的手上，船长立刻握住了它。
“现在，完事了。”瞎子说，说完他就突然放开我，以令人难以置信的精确和敏捷窜出了客厅，到了路上。我呆呆地站在那里，能听得到他的棍子笃笃地探路的声音，那声音越来越远了。
我和船长都费了半天工夫才缓过神来。但是最后，几乎是同时，我松开了一直抓着的他的腕子，而他抽回了那只手，迅速地看了看掌心。
“十点！”他叫道，“还有六个钟头，我们还可以捉弄他们。”说着他跳了起来。尽管如此，他还是遇到了麻烦，他用手捏着喉咙，站在那儿摇晃了一会儿，接着便头朝下轰地一声栽倒在地板上。
我赶紧跑过去，一边喊我的母亲。但是再快也无济于事了，船长由于中风，已经一命呜呼了。这是不好理解的一件怪事，因为我肯定从未喜欢过这个人，尽管近来开始可怜他，可一旦看到他死了，我却禁不住泪如泉涌。这是我知道的第二个人的死亡，而对前一个人的哀思在我心里仍清晰如新。