THIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five grown men, and three of them - Trelawney, Redruth, and the captain - over six feet high, was already more than she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a hundred yards.
The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more evenly. All the same, we were afraid to breathe.
In the second place, the ebb was now making-a strong rippling current running westward through the basin, and then south'ard and seaward down the straits by which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples were a danger to our overloaded craft; but the worst of it was that we were swept out of our true course, and away from our proper landing-place behind the point. If we let the current have its way we should come ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any moment.
`I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir,' said I to the captain. I was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars. `The tide keeps washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?'
`Not without swamping the boat,' said he. `you must bear up, sir, if you please - bear up until you see you're gaining.'
I tried, and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping us westward until I had laid her head due east, or just about right angles to the way we ought to go.
`We'll never get ashore at this rate,' said I.
`If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must even lie it,' returned the captain. `We must keep up- stream. You see, sir,' he went on, `if once we dropped to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say where we should get ashore besides the chance of being boarded by the gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, and then we can dodge back along the shore.'
`The current's less a'ready, sir,' said the man Gray, who was sitting in the fore-sheets; `you can ease her off a bit.'
`Thank you, my man,' said I, quite as if nothing had happened; for we had all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves.
Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his voice was a little changed.
`The gun!' said he.
`I have thought of that,' said I, for I made sure he was thinking of a bombardment of the fort. `They could never get the gun ashore, and if they did, they could never haul it through the woods.'
`Look astern, doctor,' replied the captain.
We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to our horror, were the five rogues busy about her, getting off her jacket, as they called the stout tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, but it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot and the powder for the gun had been left behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into the possession of the evil ones aboard.
`Israel was Flint's gunner,' said Gray, hoarsely.
At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the landing-place. By this time we had got so far out of the run of the current that we kept steerage way even at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was, that with the course I now held, we turned our broadside instead of our stern to the Hispaniola, and offered a target like a barn door.
I could hear, as well as see, that brandy-faced rascal, Israel Hands, plumping down a round-shot on the deck.
`Who's the best shot?' asked the captain.
`Mr Trelawney, out and away,' said I.
`Mr Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of these men, sir? Hands, if possible,' said the captain.
Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the priming of his gun.
`Now,' cried the captain, `easy with that gun, sir, or you'll swamp the boat. All hands stand by to trim her when he aims.'
The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop.
They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the swivel, and Hands, who was at the muzzle with the rammer, was, in consequence, the most exposed. However, we had no luck; for just as Trelawney fired, down he stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of the other four who fell.
The cry he gave was echoed, not only by his companions on board, but by a great number of voices from the shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling into their places in the boats.
`Here come the gigs, sir,' said I.
`Give way then,' cried the captain. `We mustn't mind if we swamp her now. If we can't get ashore, all's up.'
`Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir,' I added, `the crew of the other most likely going round by shore to cut us off.'
`They'll have a hot run, sir,' returned the captain. `Jack ashore, you know. It's not them I mind; it's the round-shot. Carpet-bowls! My lady's maid couldn't miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and we'll hold water.'
In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped but little water in the process. We were now close in; thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her; for the ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below the clustering trees. The gig was no longer to be feared; the little point had already concealed it from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed us, was now making reparation, and delaying our assailants. The one source of danger was the gun.
`If I durst,' said the captain, `I'd stop and pick off another man.'
But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay their shot. They had never so much as looked at their fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I could see him trying to crawl away.
`Ready!' cried the squire.
`Hold!' cried the captain, quick as an echo.
And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily under water. The report fell in at the same instant of time. This was the first that Jim heard, the sound of the squire's shot not having reached him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew; but I fancy it must have been over our heads, and that the wind of it may have contributed to our disaster.
At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in three feet of water, leaving the captain and myself, facing each other, on our feet. The other three took complete headers, and came up again, drenched and bubbling.
So far there was no great harm. No lives were lost, and we could wade ashore in safety. But there were all our stores at the bottom, and, to make things worse, only two guns out of five remained in a state for service. Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my head, by a sort of instinct. As for the captain, he had carried his over his shoulder by a bandoleer, and, like a wise man, lock uppermost. The other three had gone down with the boat.
To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing near us in the woods along shore; and we had not only the danger of being cut off from the stockade in our half-crippled state, but the fear before us whether, if Hunter and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would have the sense an conduct to stand firm. Hunter was steady, that we knew; Joyce was a doubtful case - a pleasant, polite man for a valet, and to brush one's clothes, but not entirely fitted for a man of war.
With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast as we could, leaving behind us the poor jolly-boat, and a good half of all our powder and provisions.
船长让我们将人和物品的位置调整了一番，船就平衡、稳定了一些。即便如此，我们也还是连大气都不敢出。
其次，现在正值退潮——一道泛着细浪的湍流经过海湾向西流去，然后再穿过我们早晨通过的那个海峡，向南汇入大海。即便仅是些细浪而已，也对我们这超载的划子构成了威胁，但是，更为糟糕的是，我们被冲出既定的航向，偏离了小拐角后面那个理想的着陆地点。要是我们顺着湍流来的话，就会在他们那两只划子旁边靠岸，而那里随时都可能有海盗出现。
“我无法使船头对准寨子，先生，”我对船长说。当他和雷卓斯这两个未曾消耗过体力的汉子在摇桨时，我在掌着舵。“潮水一个劲儿地把船往下推，你们能不能再使点儿劲儿？”
“再用劲儿就要把船弄翻了，”他说，“你必须顶住，先生，请勿见怪，你要坚持到你认为已大功告成的时候。”
我又作了一番努力，通过试验发现，要是我把船头对准东边，这股湍流就不会把我们带到西边去，也就是使船身与既定的航向成一个直角。
“照这个速度，我们永远也上不了岸。”我说。
“要是这是我们惟一可行的航向，先生，我们就得照这个来，”船长答道。“你看，先生，我们必须逆水行舟，”他接着说道，“要是一旦我们错过了那个着陆地点，很难说我们会在哪儿上岸，除非是在那两只划子边上停船，反之，照我们现在这个航向走，湍流势必是要减弱的，然后我们就可以沿着海岸退回来。”
“湍流已经减弱了，先生，”那个葛雷说道，他正坐在船头板上，“你可以稍微使舵偏过来一点。”
“谢谢你，兄弟。”我说，显出若无其事的样子，因为我们全都一心想把他当自己人看待。
突然，船长又开口了，而我听出他的声音有点异样。
“大炮！”他说。
“我已经想过这个了，”我说，因为我认定他想的是敌人可能会炮击寨子这码事。“他们决不会把大炮弄上岸，即使他们真的把它弄上岸了，也决不会把它拖过树林。”
“向后看，医生。”船长答道。
我们把“大雪茄”忘了个一干二净；这会儿我们大吃一惊，船上那五个歹徒正围着它忙得团团转，除去它的炮衣，他们把那东西称之为“结实的油布罩子”，在航行时大炮是罩在那下面的。不仅如此，与此同时，我摹地想起，大炮用的炮弹和火药也留在船上了，只须拿把斧子劈一下，就会全落入船上那伙坏蛋的手里。“伊斯莱尔是弗林特的炮手。”葛雷哑着嗓子说道。我们奋不顾身地将船头对准了着陆地点。到目前为止，我们已经完全不受湍流左右了，只需用必要的、平稳的速度划桨，即可保持这个航向，而我也将舵掌得既稳又准了。但是最糟糕的是，在调整了航向之后，我们便将船舷而不是船尾对着了伊斯班袅拉号，为他们提供了个谷仓大门似的有发必中的靶子。
我可以听见，甚至还可以看见，那个被酒灌得满脸通红的伊斯莱尔·汉兹正扑通一声把一发炮弹放到了甲板上。
“谁是最好的射手？”船长问。
“特里罗尼先生，枪法超群。”我说。
“特里罗尼先生，劳驾你给我干掉他们中的一个好吗？可能的话，干掉伊斯莱尔·汉兹，先生。”船长说。
特里罗尼像块钢铁一般的冷静。他检查了一下他枪膛里的火药。
“喂，”船长叫道，“拿枪的时候放松些，先生，否则你会把船弄翻的。当他瞄准的时候，所有的人都到这边来，保持船身平衡。”
乡绅端起了枪，桨停了下来，我们都闪到了船的另一侧，以使船身保持平衡，一切都按部就班地如期实现了，我们连一滴水都没让进到船里来。
这时，他们正将大炮旋好位置对准我们，而正在用通条通炮口的汉兹，显然便处在了最为暴露的位置。然而，我们运气不佳，因为就在特里罗尼开枪的一刹那，他弯下了身，子弹从他的头上唿哨而过，另外四个人中的一个便应声倒地。
他的惨叫声不仅在他船上的同党中引起了反响，而且岸上也传来了一大阵吵嚷声，当我向那个方向望去的进候，只见其他的海盗正成群地从树林里出来，跌跌撞撞地登上划子。
“他们的划子过来了，先生。”我说。
“加劲划，”船长叫道，“这会儿就是船翻了我们也在所不惜。要是我们上不了岸，那就全完了。”
“只有一只划子上有人，先生，”我补充道，“其他人极可能是要从岸上包抄我们，截断我们的去路。”
“那也够他们跑的，先生，”船长答道。“你知道，杰克上了岸就显不出能耐了。让人担心的不是他们，倒是炮弹！我夫人的使女也不会打不中，就像在地毯上b@
“要是我办得到，”船长说，“我会停下来再于掉他们一个。”
但是，显然什么也阻挡不了他们放炮。尽管倒下去的他们的那个同伙并没有死，我还能看到他在竭力地往旁边爬哩，可是他们对他看都不看一眼。
“准备！”乡绅叫道。
“停桨！”船长应声叫道。
接着他和雷卓斯撤身向后一坐，船的尾部就一下子没到水中了。在这同一时刻，炮声响了。这就是吉姆听到的第一声炮响，乡绅的枪声并没传到他那儿。我们谁也不知道炮弹是从哪儿飞过去的，但我猜想它一定是从我们的头顶上，而它的气浪则给我们带来了灾难。
总之，船尾是沉下去了。一点点地，直沉到水下三英尺的地方，只剩下我和船长两个站在那里面面相觑。另外那三个全都没了顶，当他们又出来时，浑身精湿，水里冒出了一大堆气泡。
至此尚未造成大的损害。人都安然无恙，我们都能平安地涉水上岸。但是，我们的物资全都沉到了水底，使事情更为糟糕的是，五支枪中只有两支尚可使用。出于某种本能，我将枪从膝上抓起举过了头，至于船长，他用一条子弹带将枪背在了肩上，并且，像一个明智的人所做的那样，枪机冲上。另外三支都和船一起沉了下去。
使我们更为担心的是，从岸上树丛中传来的人声在我们耳中是越来越近了。我们不仅面临着在磕磕绊绊地通往寨子的途中被截断去路的危险，而且还担心在我们前面，亨特和乔埃斯能否抵挡得住半打人的袭击，他们能否有这个意志。亨特是坚毅的，这我们知道；乔埃斯就不好说了——他是个讨人喜欢的、有礼貌的仆役，刷刷衣服这类的活干得蛮好，但是当一名战士却不大适合。
我们带着所有这些想法，尽快地向岸上跑去，身后撤下了那只可怜的划子，还有一大半的弹药和给养。