jamesemcgraw:

“I was standing on the dock when, by the merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found he was an old sailor, kept a public-house, knew all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his health ashore and wanted a good berth as cook to get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. I was monstrously touched and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the spot to be ship’s cook. LONG JOHN SILVER, he is called…”  

Treasure Island – Part Two: The Sea-cook