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I . The Old Sea Captain When I was a boy , my father kept an inn called the Admiral Benbow . It stood by the sea , above a small bay called Black Hill Cove . My name is Jim Hawkins , and this is the story of Treasure Island . My friends asked me to write it all down . I will tell you everything except the place where the island lies , because there is still some treasure there . It all began on the day when the old seaman came to our inn . A man followed him with a big sea chest on a hand cart . The seaman was tall , strong and heavy , and his face was brown from the sun . His hair hung down his back in a long , dirty pigtail , and there was an old white scar across one cheek . It was the mark of a sword . He looked round at the bay and the cliffs , and then he began to sing an old sea song in a high , broken voice : “ Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest , yo - ho - ho , and a bottle of rum ! ” Then he called for a glass of rum and asked my father about the inn . My father told him that very few people came there . “ Then this is the place for me , ” said the seaman . “ I’m a plain man . Rum , bacon and eggs are all I want , and that hill up there , where I can watch the ships . You can call me captain . ” He threw four gold coins on the floor . “ Tell me when I’ve spent that , ” he said . He looked as proud as a king . He was a very quiet man . All day he walked along the cliffs with a brass telescope . All evening he sat by the fire in the parlour , our best room , and drank strong rum and water . Every day , when he came back from his walk , he asked the same question . “ Have any seamen gone past on the road ? ” At first we thought that he wanted company . Soon we understood that he wanted to avoid them . One day he took me to one side . “ Listen , boy , ” he said . “ Keep your eyes open for a seaman with one leg . Tell me the moment he appears . If you do , I’ll give you a silver fourpenny coin on the first day of every month . ” After that , the man with one leg often ran after me in my dreams . On some nights the captain drank too much rum . Then he sang his wild old songs and told terrible stories about storms and pirates , and everybody in the room had to listen . He stayed for months , and the four gold coins were soon spent . But my father never dared to ask him for more money . My father was ill that year , and Dr Livesey often came to see him . The doctor was a clever , kind man with bright black eyes and a white wig . One evening , after his visit , he sat smoking his pipe in the parlour . Suddenly the captain banged the table . “ Silence ! ” he shouted . Everybody stopped talking except the doctor . The captain looked at him angrily and swore .
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