THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN
"That 's fair enow," said the old man Morgan.
"Fair! I reckon so," said the sea-cook. "You lost the ship; I found the treasure. Who's the better man at that? And now I resign, by thunder! Elect whom you please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it."
"Silver!" they cried. "Barbecue for ever! Barbecue for cap'n!"
"So that 's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. "George, I reckon you'll have to wait another turn, friend; and lucky for you as I 'm not a revengeful man. But that was never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot? 'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck and spoiled his Bible, and that 's about all."
"It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?" growled Dick, who was evidently uneasy at the curse he had brought upon himself.
"A Bible with a bit cut out!" returned Silver, derisively. "Not it. It don't bind no more 'n a ballad-book."
"Don't it, though?" cried Dick, with a sort of joy. "Well, I reckon that's worth having, too."
"Here, Jim—here's a cur'osity for you," said Silver; and he tossed me the paper.
It was a round, about the size of a crown piece. One side was blank, for it had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of Revelation—these words among the rest, which struck sharply home upon my mind: "Without are dogs and murderers." The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had been written with the same
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