Print at 100% scale on letter paper, with no added margins.

Chapter 26

Treasure Island

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and a moment or two passed in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was such a game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove, but never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart as now.

Jim calls the dodging "such a game as I had often played at home", with "feints" on one side and "corresponding movements" on the other. What does calling it a game do for Jim in that moment, and what does the phrase "wildly beating heart" admit that the word game does not?

Discussion

Narration Tell back what happens from Hands's request for wine to the moment he plunges into the water.

1. Hands sends Jim below for wine, and Jim answers, “Will you have white or red?” Why does Jim play along?Inference

2. Hands asks if a dead man stays dead, and Jim answers, “You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit.” Why might Hands ask, and why does Jim answer so?Character

3. Jim tells Hands to “go to my prayers like a Christian man,” and Hands answers, “I never seen good come o goodness yet.” Who sounds more convincing to you, and why?Theme

4. Jim drops the tiller and leaps sideways, and later scrambles up the mizzen shrouds. Was it skill, instinct, or luck that kept him alive?Moral reasoning

5. Jim says he was “as conceited as a cock upon a wall” when the dirk comes. Why might the author have Jim tell us that about himself?Author's choice

Make a Connection Tell about a time someone you trusted turned out to be hiding something, in a story or in life.

Vocabulary

Crossword
12
34
56
7
8
9
Across
  • Across 1. pretended attacks meant to mislead
  • Across 5. matching; answering to
  • Across 7. run aground on the shore
  • Across 8. uneasiness
  • Across 9. the wide mouth of a river where it meets the sea
Down
  • Down 2. a junior who carries out orders
  • Down 3. falling into ruin
  • Down 4. confusion; puzzlement
  • Down 6. a false reason given to hide the real one
  • Down 7. grave seriousness
The words in the chapter
  • feints a moment or two passed in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine.
  • corresponding a moment or two passed in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine.
  • pretext The whole story was a pretext.
  • stranded We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in a sheltered place,
  • solemnity spoke with the most unusual solemnity.
  • subaltern I think I was a good, prompt subaltern,
  • dilapidation we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation.
  • estuary more like, what in truth it was, the estuary of a river.
  • disquietude a sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head.
  • perplexity his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity.

Critical thinking

1. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim learns that Hands means to hurt him.

2. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why Jim thinks Hands will not attack him until the ship is beached.

3. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim keeps himself alive on the deck after the ship grounds.