Chapter 27: “Pieces of Eight”
It’s some time before Jim is able to regain his senses following his battle with Israel Hands in the previous chapter, but eventually he is able to calm down and take stock of his wounded shoulder. Though bleeding and painful, he finds that the dagger did not pierce him badly, instead only slicing the skin somewhat; just his shirt is actually pinned to the mast, as opposed to himself.
He frees the dagger and climbs back down to the deck of the ship. Only now does he push the dead, red-capped man overboard, commenting on how he, a 14-year-old boy, is now completely desensitized to corpses and deciding he won’t be traumatized by any of the events in this novel.
Jim also cuts away a sail that had ended up partially submerged and threatened to pull the ship under. I don’t know if this will come back up later, but if it does I’m going to have to put in more effort to explain it, so I figured it was easier to mention it now just in case. This is the kind of consideration you get from a well-experienced summarizer like myself.
On land once more, Jim sets off southward to rejoin the stockade, in justifiably high spirits since he single-handedly reclaimed the Hispaniola and procured a means of escape. He has a lot of ground to cover, and he’s only halfway by the time the day fully disappears, leaving him to do much of his navigation by moonlight. During his travel—around the area where he met Ben Gunn—he sees the glow of a fire in the distance, on one of the mountain peaks. He assumes Ben is cooking dinner, and wonders if this isn’t careless on his part, for wouldn’t Silver be able to see the light down in the harbor?
But he thinks nothing more of it, and eventually reaches the clearing where the stockade is located, the cabin still standing within. Outside, he sees the embers of a big bonfire still smouldering, which gives him pause; he recalls that Captain Smollett had been pretty stingy about firewood, and wonders if something bad had happened to his companions. Still, he approaches the cabin, and is relieved to hear the sound of snoring coming from within. Perhaps they’re being a bit foolhardy not to leave a watch overnight (or maybe they lack the men to do so), but at least they’re safe and sleeping peacefully.
In fact, as he reaches the front door, Jim is already planning to sneak in and lay down peacefully in his bed so that he’ll be found tomorrow morning as if nothing ever happened, and everyone can enjoy a good laugh. This is a total Skep move, I would absolutely do this.
The cabin is completely dark as Jim steps inside; but as he navigates the small space, a squawk pierces the silence:
“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!”
Silver’s parrot was awake and sounded the alarm at Jim’s arrival; and before he can turn and run, the pirates occupying the cabin are roused, and he is quickly seized.