Treasure Island II Summary

Black Dog Appears and Disappears

A stranger called Black Dog confronts Billy Bones at the Admiral Benbow; a violent fight and a stroke follow, and Dr. Livesey warns Bones against rum.

A frost‑rimed pebble cove and the narrow road skirting the inn, the low January sun just touching the hilltops and turning the tide into a sheet of cold silver. The Admiral Benbow sign hangs weathered and splintered nearby, its painted plank bearing a fresh notch; the beach lies empty, wind biting at the grass on the bank.
A frost‑rimed pebble cove and the narrow road skirting the inn, the low January sun just touching the hilltops and turning the tide into a sheet of cold silver. The Admiral Benbow sign hangs weathered and splintered nearby, its painted plank bearing a fresh notch; the beach lies empty, wind biting at the grass on the bank.

Summary

In a bitter January morning at the Admiral Benbow, Jim Hawkins prepares breakfast while the ailing lodger known as the captain (Billy Bones) walks along the beach. A pale, tallow-faced stranger whom Jim has never seen before enters the inn and asks for rum, then proceeds to hide Jim behind the door while he waits for the captain. The stranger taunts and questions Billy Bones when he returns, addressing him as an old shipmate named Bill and making furtive, threatening remarks. The parley turns violent: chairs and a table are overturned, steel clashes, and Black Dog flees wounded from a blow struck by the captain that is only partially intercepted by the inn’s signboard.

After the scuffle the captain staggers and collapses in the parlour; Jim and his mother fear he is fatally wounded. Dr. Livesey arrives, examines the man, and quickly determines that Bones has suffered a stroke rather than a mortal wound. The doctor draws blood, exposes Bones’s tattooed arm (noting the gallows sketch with a grim, almost prophetic touch), and rebukes him sternly for his drinking—telling him that rum is death for a man in his condition. Dr. Livesey helps carry Bones to bed and advises that he must lie still or risk another disabling stroke.

Key events

  1. Jim sees a stranger (Black Dog) enter the inn and asks for rum.
  2. Black Dog hides Jim to await Billy Bones and then greets the returning captain as an old shipmate.
  3. A violent argument breaks out; Black Dog is wounded and flees down the road.
  4. Billy Bones reels, collapses, and appears seriously ill.
  5. Dr. Livesey arrives, diagnoses a stroke, draws blood, and warns Bones against drinking rum.

II in pictures

A bitter, frosty morning on the shore: Billy Bones strides away from the inn along the grey cove with his cutlass under the coat and a brass telescope under his arm, his breath steaming like smoke in the cold air. Young Jim Hawkins watches from the inn doorway as the captain turns the big rock and snorts, the low sun just touching the hilltops and glinting on the telescope.
A bitter, frosty morning on the shore: Billy Bones strides away from the inn along the grey cove with his cutlass under the coat and a brass telescope under his arm, his breath steaming like smoke in the cold air. Young Jim Hawkins watches from the inn doorway as the captain turns the big rock and snorts, the low sun just touching the hilltops and glinting on the telescope.
The tallow‑faced stranger—Black Dog—steps into the parlour, leering, missing fingers held up like an accusing talon as he sits on the table and menaces Jim while waiting for his 'mate Bill'. The scene explodes into violence as Billy Bones returns, turns ghostly pale, and the two men clash with drawn cutlasses; Black Dog flees down the road bleeding from his shoulder while the captain's last wild cut is arrested by the Admiral Benbow signboard, leaving a deep notch.
The tallow‑faced stranger—Black Dog—steps into the parlour, leering, missing fingers held up like an accusing talon as he sits on the table and menaces Jim while waiting for his 'mate Bill'. The scene explodes into violence as Billy Bones returns, turns ghostly pale, and the two men clash with drawn cutlasses; Black Dog flees down the road bleeding from his shoulder while the captain's last wild cut is arrested by the Admiral Benbow signboard, leaving a deep notch.
After the scuffle the doctor kneels over the captain: Dr. Livesey rips up Billy Bones's sleeve to reveal tattooed forearm—gallows and sailor mottos—and calmly prepares his lancet. Jim holds the basin as the doctor opens a vein; blood beads into the basin while Billy lies pallid and semi-conscious, and the doctor's stern, exhausted face warns that rum will be his death.
After the scuffle the doctor kneels over the captain: Dr. Livesey rips up Billy Bones's sleeve to reveal tattooed forearm—gallows and sailor mottos—and calmly prepares his lancet. Jim holds the basin as the doctor opens a vein; blood beads into the basin while Billy lies pallid and semi-conscious, and the doctor's stern, exhausted face warns that rum will be his death.
A dim, wood‑panelled parlour with the hearth banked low and a heavy table amid toppled chairs; a dark smear stains the floor where a struggle took place. A basin and lancet rest on a sideboard beside a sweating flagon, while narrow shafts of pale January sun cut through the leaded windows and dust.
A dim, wood‑panelled parlour with the hearth banked low and a heavy table amid toppled chairs; a dark smear stains the floor where a struggle took place. A basin and lancet rest on a sideboard beside a sweating flagon, while narrow shafts of pale January sun cut through the leaded windows and dust.
A burly, sinister Black Dog looms over the gaunt, sea‑worn Billy Bones in the dim, smoke‑filled parlour of the inn; their fists meet in a sudden, vicious grapple while a terrified young Jim Hawkins cowers by the door, candlelight throwing long shadows. Bits of spilled ale and a toppled chair emphasize the chaos of the encounter.
A burly, sinister Black Dog looms over the gaunt, sea‑worn Billy Bones in the dim, smoke‑filled parlour of the inn; their fists meet in a sudden, vicious grapple while a terrified young Jim Hawkins cowers by the door, candlelight throwing long shadows. Bits of spilled ale and a toppled chair emphasize the chaos of the encounter.

Analysis

This chapter introduces immediate physical danger from Billy Bones’s past and deepens the sense that his presence at the Admiral Benbow draws violent consequences to the inn. Black Dog’s abrupt appearance and the scuffle make explicit that Bones is a man pursued by former comrades and enemies; the half-familiar, half-threatening rapport between them hints at a larger seafaring history and lawlessness beyond Jim’s sheltered world. The violent clash followed by the captain’s collapse juxtaposes external conflict with internal fragility—Bones can fight but is fatally vulnerable to his vice and health. Dr. Livesey functions as a rational, medical counterpoint to the disorderly pirate world: his calm diagnosis, bloodletting, and blunt moral warning about rum establish him as authority and caretaker and underscore the theme of civilization versus vice. The tattooed arm and the sketch of a gallows serve as symbols: they mark Bones’s seafaring identity and subtly foreshadow peril and possible judgment; the doctor’s “prophetic” touch signals that this image matters. Narratively, the chapter moves plot and atmosphere forward quickly—introducing a named antagonist (Black Dog), demonstrating Bones’s precarious state, and positioning Jim as an observer drawn deeper into adult danger. The voice remains Jim’s: youthful, observant, and impressionable, which maintains reader sympathy and grounds the story in a coming-of-age perspective amid rising threats.

Important quotes

““Black Dog!” said he.”

Billy BonesBones recognizes the stranger and the name reveals their past connection, sparking the violent confrontation.

““If it comes to swinging, swing all, say I.””

Billy BonesAn oath from Bones during the argument that shows his coarse outlook and hints at the brutal world he belongs to.

““I clear my conscience—the name of rum for you is death.””

Dr. LiveseyThe doctor’s stern medical and moral warning to Bones after diagnosing the stroke, establishing conflict between health and vice.

Characters in II

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