[00:00.59]Chapter 15, the man of the island.
[00:04.36]I saw something move behind the trees.
[00:07.90]Was it a man or a bear?
[00:10.97]I couldn't tell.
[00:12.71]It was dark and shaggy and moved with great speed.
[00:17.63]I stopped, trying to think what to do.
[00:22.60]I was cut off on both sides.
[00:26.96]Behind me, the murderers, ahead of me, the thing in the trees.
[00:34.59]Wherever I went, it followed me, darting from tree to tree like a deer.
[00:41.70]It ran like a man on two legs, but it was bent over almost double.
[00:50.53]I began to think of what I'd heard about cannibals and was on the point of calling for help.
[00:57.66]Then I remembered my loaded pistol in my pocket.
[01:03.92]Taking courage, I walked straight towards the man of the island.
[01:10.91]He was hiding behind a tree trunk.
[01:14.57]Seeing me, he came out and took a nervous step towards me.
[01:21.57]Then, to my surprise, he threw himself down on his knees.
[01:28.48]Who are you?
[01:30.81]I asked.
[01:34.57]Ben Gunn.
[01:36.82]He answered.
[01:41.16]His voice sounded like the scrape of a key in a rusty lock.
[01:49.85]Poor Ben Gunn, I am, and I haven't spoken to a living soul for three long years.
[02:00.14]I had never seen such a ragged looking beggar in my life.
[02:06.63]He was clothed with a patchwork of sail cloth, held together by buttons and bits of twig.
[02:17.00]His face and lips were burnt dark by the sun, and his fair eyes gave him a startled expression.
[02:27.05]Three years?
[02:29.18]I said.
[02:31.04]Were you shipwrecked?
[02:34.73]No, mate, maroon, he replied.
[02:41.35]They left me here three years ago, and I've lived on goats and berries and oysters ever since.
[02:55.72]You don't happen to have a piece of cheese on you, do you?
[03:02.76]He was feeling in my pockets like an excited child.
[03:07.99]If ever I can get aboard again, you shall have cheese by the pound, I said.
[03:16.45]He looked me up and down.
[03:19.64]What do you call yourself, mate?
[03:23.78]Jim, I said.
[03:27.47]Jim, Jim, he said, as if pleased with the sound.
[03:34.77]Now, Jim, I'll tell you something.
[03:39.15]He lowered his voice to a whisper.
[03:42.97]I'm rich, rich, rich.
[03:49.88]And I'll tell you what, I'll make a gentleman of you, Jim.
[03:57.86]I felt that living alone on the island, the poor fellow must have gone half mad.
[04:04.85]He gripped my hand and held up his finger.
[04:11.02]Now, Jim, you tell me true.
[04:16.30]That ain't Flint's ship out there?
[04:21.00]It's not, I replied.
[04:24.23]Flint is dead.
[04:27.72]But there are some of Flint's men aboard, worst luck for us.
[04:34.16]Not a man with one leg?
[04:38.71]He gasped.
[04:41.86]Silver, I said.
[04:44.64]He's the ring leader.
[04:47.66]He tightened his grip on my hand.
[04:51.33]If you were sent by Long John, I'm as good as dead, mate.
[05:00.66]By now, I was sure he was a friend, if a strange one.
[05:08.01]To calm his fears, I told him the whole story of our voyage and the mutiny.
[05:14.95]When I'd finished, he patted my head.
[05:18.97]You're a good lad, Jim, and you're in a tight spot for sure, but you leave it to old Ben Gunn.
[05:29.61]This squire you talked of, is he a good man?
[05:35.12]If old Ben Gunn were to help you, would he get his share of the treasure and a passage home?
[05:44.39]The squire is a gentleman, I said.
[05:49.04]And besides, without a crew, we'd need your help to sail the ship home.
[06:01.05]This seemed to put his mind at rest.
[06:04.17]We sat down and he began to tell me his story.
[06:12.73]I was in Flint ship when he buried the treasure.
[06:17.94]Him and six strong seamen went ashore to bury it.
[06:23.89]They were gone a week.
[06:29.07]Then Flint came back in a boat by himself.
[06:35.60]Where's the other six?
[06:37.73]says you.
[06:40.43]Dead and buried.
[06:46.03]How he done it, none of us knew.
[06:49.67]Long John and Billy Bones asked him where the treasure was.
[06:56.03]But Flint didn't answer and ordered us to put to sea.
[07:02.88]Well, three years ago, I was on another ship and we came to this island.
[07:11.12]I knew it at once.
[07:14.44]Boys, says I, Flint's treasure lies here.
[07:19.43]Let's land and find it.
[07:25.18]The captain didn't like it, but the crew were with me.
[07:32.78]12 days we searched and found not a deblone.
[07:41.35]Then they turned on old Ben Gunn.
[07:46.28]They left me here maroon with only a musket, a spade, and a pickaxe for company.
[07:56.46]You stay here, says they, and find Flint's treasure yourself.
[08:05.53]Well, Jim, three years I've been here, rain and shine, night and day.
[08:15.37]Sometimes, maybe I thinks of praying, but most times I was busy with another matter.
[08:23.99]He laughed to himself and added, you tell your squire, Gunn is a good man, he is.
[08:34.97]I shook my head.
[08:37.59]How can I talk to the squire when I can't even get aboard the ship?
[08:44.05]Ah, says he.
[08:48.84]I have a boat, made with my own hands.
[08:54.00]I keeps it by the big white rock on the beach.
[08:59.17]If it comes to the worst, we can reach it after dark.
[09:04.66]He broke off.
[09:07.65]Hi.
[09:08.80]What's that?
[09:12.89]For just at that moment, the silence of the island was broken by cannon fire.
[09:21.04]They'd begun to fight, I cried.
[09:24.35]Follow me.
[09:28.84]I ran towards the anchorage, all my fears forgotten.
[09:36.71]Ben Gun trotted at my side, talking all the time in his wild way.
[09:44.43]The cannon shot was followed by a gunfire.
[09:49.55]Then, a little way in front of me, I saw a union jack flutter in the air above a wood.