Chapter 29: The Black Spot Again
There is absolutely zero further discussion on the bombshell that was dropped right at the end of the last chapter, and instead Jim looks out the window to see what the other pirates are up to. He spots them hunched over, using a knife and a book near the smoldering campfire. It doesn’t take him long for him to learn what they’re doing, as the group returns back inside shortly after.
One of the pirates hands Silver a small scrap of paper. It’s the black spot—akin to the one received by Bill “the captain” at the beginning of the book. Silver does not seem at all surprised by this turn of events. In fact the only thing he chastises them for is cutting the paper out of a bible, and even then it’s really in a “you dumbasses” kind of way.
In this case, the black spot indicates that the crew is ousting Silver as captain, intending to vote in somebody else. Silver states that before he steps down, it’s his right to hear and respond to their grievances. It goes without saying their biggest grievance is that, under Silver’s leadership, they have no treasure, two-thirds of them are dead, and their ship is gone; I would consider this a legitimate criticism. They also have complaints about not being allowed to kill Jim just now, about not being allowed to kill Livesey when he showed up this morning, and about how Silver “let the enemy get away” by accepting the best trade ever of all time.
To these accusations, Silver responds—belittling them all the while—that if anybody botched the adventure, it was the crew themselves, by following their own whims and scheming behind Silver’s back. Of course, we as the reader never witnessed any of this. As for the other points, Silver raises such arguments as “Don’t you think having a hostage might be beneficial?” and “Isn’t it handy to have an actual doctor around to patch you fools up?” and “Didn’t I win you some food when y’all were complaining about starvation?” and “If I’m such a bad captain, then how did I get this?” On that last point, he tosses the map on the ground for them to see.
Of course, the promise of treasure easily placates them, their other complaints quickly forgotten. At last, Silver relinquishes his captainship… for all of two seconds, because when he urges them to pick their next leader, they all cheer his name again.