James ""Jim"" Hawkins is the young son of the owners of the Admiral Benbow Inn.

An old drunken seaman named Billy Bones becomes a long-term lodger at the inn, only paying for about the first week of his stay.

Jim quickly realizes that Bones is in hiding, and that he particularly dreads meeting an unidentified seafaring man with one leg.

Some months later, Bones is visited by a mysterious sailor named Black Dog.

Their meeting turns violent, Black Dog flees and Bones suffers a stroke.

While Jim cares for him, Bones confesses that he was once the mate of the late notorious pirate, Captain Flint, and that his old crewmates want Bones' sea chest.

Some time later, another of Bones' crew mates, a blind man named Pew, appears at the inn and forces Jim to lead him to Bones.

Pew gives Bones a paper. After Pew leaves, Bones opens the paper to discover it is marked with the Black Spot, a pirate summons, with the warning that he has until ten o'clock to meet their demands.

Bones drops dead on the spot...