Fifteen men of 'em good and true, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Every man Jack could a' sailed with Old Pew, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! There was chest on chest of Spanish gold And a ton of plate in the middle hold, And the cabin's riot of loot untold-- And there they lay that had took the plum, With sightless eyes and with lips struck dumb, And we shared all by rule o' thumb-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! More was seen through the stern light's screen, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Chartings undoubt where a woman had been, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! A flimsy shift on a bunker cot With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot And the lace stiff dry in a purplish rot-- Or was she wench or shuddering maid, She dared the knife and she took the blade-- Faith, there was stuff for a plucky Jade! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest, Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! We wrapped 'em all in a mainsail tight With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight, And we heaved 'em over and out of sight With a yo-heave-ho and a fare-ye-well, And a sullen plunge in a sullen swell, Ten fathoms along on the road to hell-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! [12] To observe liberties taken with the text, compare these verses with authentic version. * * * * * _September 20, 1914._ Who that loves tales of adventure, thrilling yarns involving the search for mysteriously lost treasure, has not gloried in "Treasure Island"? And who that recalls STEVENSON's stirring romance does not involuntarily chant to himself the ridiculous but none the leas fascinating verse commencing "Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest--"