Treasure Island: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

Outside the stockade it’s just Silver and another pirate. Smollett tells the others to stay inside, as it could well be a trick, and to keep a look out on all sides. Silver’s servant says that “Cap’n Silver” has come to make terms. Smollett says that he’ll allow Silver in—any treachery will be on the other side—but Silver laughs and says the captain is a gentleman.

Silver limps up the knoll to the log-house. When Silver asks why he won’t be let inside, Smollett declares that he can either be an honest ship-cook or “Cap’n Silver,” a mutineer and pirate, in which case he’s worth nothing. Unfazed, Silver greets Jim cheerfully. He acknowledges that they made some good shots the night before, but that it can’t happen again. Smollett doesn’t let on how confused he is, though Jim suspects that Gunn had snuck up on the pirates and picked a few of them off.

Silver says that all the pirates want is the treasure, while Smollett and the others presumably want to save their lives. He demands that the captain give him the treasure map. The captain coolly refuses. They both light a pipe and silently sit, smoking. Silver again asks for the chart: if he gets it, they can either come aboard with the pirates and be left at another port, or they can stay on the island with provisions.

Smollett, in turn, says that if the pirates surrender unarmed, he’ll take them back to England for a fair trial: if not, he’ll see them “to Davy Jones”—that is, kill them. They can’t find the treasure and there’s none among them who can sail the ship. The next time he sees Silver, the captain concludes, he’ll shoot him straightaway. Suddenly furious, Silver roars for someone to help him up: no one does, so he crawls to the porch and hoists himself up, then spits on the ground, saying that’s what he thinks of them. In an hour, he’ll be ready for battle, he says, and limps off.