“No,” said Roger.
“Well, you promise to come?”
“Yes.”
“Then lean over a bit that way. Bend down so that you can see under that bough. That’s the island.”
“But that’s Cormorant Island.”
“It’s Treasure Island too.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard the pirates burying their treasure there last night when I was in Amazon .”
“Real pirates?”
“Of course, real ones. They swore like anything.”
“Real treasure?”
“Of course, real treasure. I heard them say how heavy it was.”
“How shall we carry it if it’s very heavy?”
“Bit by bit. Some of it will be in ingots of gold. And then there’ll be lots of gold pieces, guineas and things. And precious stones. Diamonds. We’ll carry away a little at a time.”
The boy listened while the able-seaman told him all she knew about treasure islands. She knew a great deal. She told him how pirates captured ship after ship and took all the treasure out of each ship and made the crew walk the plank and fall into the sea to feed the sharks, and