7 The Crew Is Assembled

CHAPTER 7 The Crew Is Assembled It took time to get ready. The doctor and the Squire both had work to do. I stayed at the hall under the watch of Redruth, the gamekeeper, waiting with eagerness. I spent my time studying the map and imagined how our journey would be: thick with danger and enemies and intrigue. But, of course, nothing I imagined was as strange and tragic as what occurred when our true journey began. One day a letter came, addressed to Dr. Livesey or myself. I opened it with Redruth

standing next to me, and scanned its message. The Squire had found a ship called the Hispaniola, which he purchased from a man named Blandly. This man, by his own admission, had been in town, talking of the treasure we would soon be sailing for. He had stumbled upon an old sailor, down on his luck, who offered to be the ship's cook and who could help put together a crew. "Long John Silver he is called, and has lost a leg in his country's service. He has no pension and I took him on immediately. He is a great man and we are lucky to have him!" Furthermore, Long John Silver had helped him pick a crew for our journey, including a first mate named Arrow. The letter finished with the Squire's excitement about our voyage and recommended I should spend one night with my mother before leaving. I found her in good health and was happy

to see that the Squire had had the inn repaired and repainted. He had also sent her an apprentice, and when I saw that I had been replaced, I wept. I had only been thinking of my adventures, but now I understood that I was truly leaving home. The next morning, as we walked away from the inn, I thought of Captain Billy Bones and the way he had walked along the shore. The Admiral Benbow was soon out of sight.

We next went by coach to Bristol. I saw that the quay and the docks were a busy, furious place with the smell of tar and salt. There were sailors with rings in their ears, and some who wore pigtails, while others walked by like proud peacocks. I thought that now I was going to be one of them and was delighted! We then met the Squire, who was dressed like a ship's Admiral in all his finery. "Oh sir I cried "when do we sail?" "We sail tomorrow!" he answered.