Israel Hands

• The Hispaniola arrives at the northern end of the island.
• Because they have no anchor, they have to wait until the tide goes out a bit so they can beach the ship.
• So Jim hangs out with Israel Hands.
• Israel wants Jim to throw O'Brien's body overboard because it's bad luck to have a corpse aboard, but Jim isn't strong enough.
• Israel wants Jim to go below deck to get a bottle of wine – he claims the brandy has become too strong for him.
• Jim starts to get suspicious of why Israel wants him off the deck, but he decides to play along.
• He says he'll go below for wine, but that he'll have to spend a long time looking for it.
• Jim makes a lot of noise as he goes below deck, then creeps back up to watch Israel Hands.
• Even though he's injured, Israel gets up and manages to find a knife hidden in a coil of rope. Jim realizes that he can move around and is now armed.
• Jim is sure Israel Hands means to kill him. But before that happens, he and Hands both want the same thing: they want to beach the ship in a sheltered place so that it will be safe.
• Jim thinks Israel Hands won't kill him until the Hispaniola is ashore.
• Jim slips back into the cabin, grabs a bottle of wine, and brings it to Israel Hands.
• Israel pretends not to have moved. He also acts like he's on his deathbed.
• Jim tells him he should say his prayers.
• Israel Hands replies that he's been at sea 30 years, and he's never seen anything good happen to a good man.
• Hands then tells Jim to follow his directions exactly so they can arrive at the North Inlet.
• Jim gets so involved in this final bit of steering that he forgets to watch Hands. It's only instinct that makes him turn around just as Hands is drawing a knife on him.
• Jim leaps to the side and lets go of the steering lever, which suddenly hits Hands in the chest.
• Jim uses this moment to reach for one of his pistols.
• He pulls the trigger but nothing happens – the pistol has become soaked with seawater and isn't usable.
• Hands leaps for Jim again, and the two start dodging back and forth.
• Suddenly, the Hispaniola hits ground and tips at an angle.
• Both Israel Hands and Jim roll straight down the deck.
• Jim quickly recovers and climbs up to the top of the mast.
• There he reloads his pistols while Hands starts climbing up the rigging with his knife in his teeth.
• Jim warns Hands that if he keeps climbing, Jim will blow his brains out.
• Hands says he and Jim will have to come to an agreement – but even as he's saying this, something comes flying through the air to pin Jim's shoulder to the mast.
• It's the knife: Hands has thrown it at him.
• As the knife hits Jim, he fires his two pistols. The bullets hit Hands, who falls dead into the sea below.