[00:00.35] Chapter three.
[00:02.38] The Black Spot.
[00:04.94] Later, I went to the captain's room with some medicine.
[00:09.32] He seemed weak, but also excited.
[00:12.83] Jim, he said.
[00:15.93] You know I've always been good to you.
[00:19.47] Gave you a silver four pence every month.
[00:24.86] You see how low I am.
[00:28.89] Bring me a glass of rum, won't you, matey?
[00:33.77] But the doctor, I began.
[00:37.15] Doctors is all swabs, he interrupted.
[00:42.49] What do they know of a seaman's life?
[00:47.37] I lived on rum, I tell you.
[00:50.98] It's been meat and drink to me.
[00:54.78] And if I don't get it now, I'm nothing but a poor old wreck on the shore.
[01:03.12] I'll give you a golden guinea for a glass, Jim.
[01:12.06] He was getting more and more excited.
[01:17.10] I didn't want him to wake my father, who was very sick that day.
[01:22.68] So, I brought him the rum.
[01:26.07] He snatched it and drank it down greedily.
[01:31.79] Ah, I, that's better, he said.
[01:37.33] Now, how long did that doctor say I was to lie here in bed?
[01:44.59] A week, at least, I answered.
[01:48.67] A week?
[01:50.83] By thunder, I can't do that.
[01:55.70] They'll have the black spot on me by then.
[01:59.67] They'll be getting news of me this very moment.
[02:04.88] As he spoke, he tried to raise himself up, leaning hard on me.
[02:11.82] But he was too weak and sank back on the bed.
[02:17.30] Jim, he said after a while.
[02:23.61] You saw that seafaring man today.
[02:28.20] Black dog, I asked.
[02:31.59] Ah, Black dog.
[02:36.24] He's a baden.
[02:38.79] But there's worse who sent him.
[02:43.36] It's my old sea chest they're after, Jim.
[02:49.43] If I can't get away, you jump on a horse and go to that doctor and tell him to bring help to the inn.
[02:59.82] Tell him he can arrest Old Flint's crew, all that's left of them.
[03:07.18] I was Flint's mate, and I'm the only one that knows the place.
[03:14.68] He gave it to me when he lay dying, just like I am now.
[03:26.06] But what is the black spot, captain? I asked.
[03:33.95] That's the sign they gives you when they're coming for you, mate.
[03:42.36] His voice was getting weaker, but he rambled on for a while until I gave him his medicine.
[03:52.23] Perhaps I should have gone to the doctor then and told him the whole story.
[03:59.93] But I didn't get a chance.
[04:03.85] That evening my father died very suddenly.
[04:12.56] With all the arrangements for the funeral and my own sad thoughts, I soon forgot all about the captain.
[04:23.59] The next morning, he managed to get downstairs.
[04:28.29] He ate little, but helped himself to more rum from the bar.
[04:39.06] The day after the funeral was a cold, foggy morning.
[04:47.28] I was standing by the door, thinking about my poor father, when I saw someone coming up the hill.
[04:58.23] He tapped in front of himself with a stick, so I guessed he was blind.
[05:05.98] Bent over, he wore a huge old tattered sea cloak that made him look like a strange bird.
[05:16.91] Will any kind friend tell a poor old blind man where he is?
[05:24.05] He cried in an odd singsong voice.
[05:28.94] You are at the Admiral Benbow in, I answered.
[05:37.97] Give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in, he said.
[05:45.59] The moment he had my hand, he gripped it like iron.
[05:51.08] Now, boy, he said, take me into the captain or I'll break your arm.
[06:02.35] I never heard a voice so cruel or cold as that blind man's.
[06:09.07] I was more terrified of him than the captain himself.
[06:16.40] I led him inside and spoke the words he told me to say.
[06:24.47] Look, here's a friend for you, Bill.
[06:33.18] The poor captain raised his eyes and turned deathly pale.
[06:41.07] Now, Bill, sit where you are, said the blind man.
[06:47.38] Business is business.
[06:51.92] Hold out your left hand.
[06:55.37] Boy, bring it near to me.
[07:00.79] We both obeyed, and I saw him pass something into the captain's hand.
[07:09.67] And now that's done, said the blind man.
[07:16.57] He suddenly let go of me and darted out of the door with surprising speed.
[07:25.94] It was some time before the captain or I moved or spoke.
[07:31.87] Then the captain drew in his hand and looked at what lay in it.
[07:39.93] 10:00!
[07:42.41] he cried.
[07:44.47] Six hours.
[07:47.91] We'll beat them yet, and he sprang to his feet.
[07:57.80] Even as he did, he clutched at his throat and stood swaying for a moment.
[08:06.95] Then, with a peculiar sound, he fell face down on the floor.
[08:15.48] I called for my mother, but there was nothing she could do.
[08:21.13] The captain was dead, killed by a second stroke just as Dr. Lisey had predicted.
[08:33.16] Though I'd never liked him, I burst into tears.
[08:39.51] It was the second death under our roof in a few days.