2 Black Dog A bitter winter settled in and the doctor warned us that my father was not likely to see the spring Helping my mother keep my father comfortable and the inn well tended took all of my time I paid little attention to the old captain and his rants and rambles Then one January morning while the captain was out on a walk the parlor door opened and a pale man walked in He looked around and I noticed he was missing three fingers on his left hand May I be of service I asked politely Rum he muttered then turned to me sharply Is this here table set for my mate Bill 10
This is the table of the captain who stays here I said Ah that’s probably Bill the thin man said with a smile I didn’t like Bill has a cut on one cheek He looked around again as if Bill might pop up by magic Where is my mate He’s out walking But he should soon return I said I began easing toward the door when the tall thin man snatched my arm Let’s not spoil the surprise when he returns he said He dragged me to one side where we couldn’t be seen when the parlor door opened There we waited The captain soon strode in with a slam of the door Bill the stranger said his voice a notch higher than when he’d spoken to me The captain gasped Black Dog I’ve come to talk square with an old shipmate Black Dog said He turned to me then You can fetch that glass of rum now 11
I got the drink quickly and Black Dog told me to leave and not to listen in I fled the parlor Minutes later I heard a crash of furniture and shouting Black Dog ran out clutching a streaming wound in his shoulder The captain chased him outside and would surely have killed him with a second vicious swing of his cutlass but the blow instead struck the sign for the inn nicking a piece from it With Black Dog well away the captain staggered back inside and dropped to the floor with a moan My mother came down from tending my father and saw the old pirate sprawled on the floor Oh dear she cried This is disgraceful And with your father sick We were much relieved when Dr Livesey came for a visit with my father He helped us get the captain to a bed where he announced the old man had fallen from a stroke He bled him as was the medical custom of the time 12
When the captain woke the doctor warned him If you don’t stop with the rum you’ll die At the doctor’s leaving the captain called loudly for rum I couldn’t have him shouting with my father needing quiet in the room next door so I got him the drink he demanded You’re a good boy Jim the captain said Listen that Black Dog is a bad one but he has mates that are worse They’ll come again for sure If I’m not away when they do don’t let them get my sea chest They have no right to it I say I calmed the pirate as best I could and assured him that he would soon be well In truth he was up well before the week the doctor had ordered He leaned on walls and furniture to travel from his room but he managed Meanwhile my father died With the funeral and my deep sadness I forgot about pirates and secrets until the day after the funeral when I could forget them no more 13
