I remembered I had a gun if I needed it, and turned back towards this man of the island. He was hiding behind another tree but stepped out to meet me.

“Who are you?” I asked, staring at him.

“Ben Gunn”, he answered, and his voice sounded rough and strange. His skin was burnt nearly black by the sun and his clothes were made from pieces of a ship's sail. “Poor Ben Gunn, he went on.” Alone for three years.

“Were you shipwrecked(船遇难)?” I asked.

“No, my friend”, he said. “Marooned.”

I had heard the word before, and knew it meant cruel(残忍的) punishment often used by pirates-leaving a man alone on some distant, empty island.

“Marooned for three years,” he continued, “living on wild goats and fish. But I'm in great need for real English food back home. You don't have a piece of cheese, do you? Many nights I've dreamed of cheese.”

He continued. “Well, tell me your name.”

“Jim,” I told him.

“Well, Jim”, he said, looking around and lowering his voice to a whisper, “I'm rich”. I was now sure the poor man was crazy, but he repeated his words. “Rich, I say! Now, Jim, that isn't Flint's ship, is it?”

I began to think that I had found a friend, and I answered him at once. “It's not Flint's ship any more. Flint is dead, but there are still some of Flint's men aboard, and that's bad news for us.”

“A man with one leg?” he asked, fear in his voice.

“Silver?” I asked.

“Yes, Silver,” he said, “that was his name.”

“He's the cook, and their leader too. And told him the fight between Flint and the cook, and the danger we were now in.”

“You're in trouble, Jim,” he said when I'd finished. “Well, Ben Gunn will help you. Will your squire(乡绅) be generous if do, do you think? I don' t want him to give me a job, but will he give me one thousand pounds out of money that's really mine?”

“I'm sure he will,” I said.

(Adapted from Treasure Island)