Scar Island

With his lantern broken and its light extinguished, Jonathan is lost in the darkness of a place that he describes as a dungeon. He slips and falls down a staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, he sees a glowing light somewhere ahead of him.

He starts crawling toward the light and notices it is coming from under a door. He hears an adult voice coming from the door. As he moves toward the door, he steps on a pile of something that makes a loud noise when it crashes to the floor. He hears a grunt coming from behind the door. Then, the door opens, and a voice says, “What are you doing here?”

Before he can answer the question asked of him, a hand grabs his sleeve, and a voice says, “Get in here” (93).

Jonathan sees that the room is full of books. He realizes he has stumbled upon Slabhenge’s library and that the person standing in front of him is the librarian. Jonathan notices the man is extremely old with thin white hair “draping over his shoulders and far down his back” (94).

The librarian tells Jonathan that it has been four years since he saw anyone except rats. He says he does not like the Admiral and the others who run the reformatory, and they do not like him, so he is left alone. He survives by taking food from the kitchen in the middle of the night.

The librarian takes Robinson Crusoe from one of the shelves and gives it to Jonathan. He explains that the book is about a man stuck on an island “with bloodthirsty natives” (97).

The librarian then introduces Jonathan to his pet. At first, Jonathan thinks the animal is a cat, but he is soon shocked to discover it is a huge rat. The rat’s name is Ninety-Nine, and the librarian describes him as “my big, beautiful boy” (98).

When Jonathan returns to the dining room, he sees Sebastian sitting in the Admiral’s chair holding the Admiral’s sword. Sebastian asks Jonathan if he wants one of the grown-up’s rooms. Jonathan declines the offer. Colin warns Jonathan that his declining the room offer angers Sebastian. Sebastian dismisses Colin’s suggestion for the boys to take turns sleeping in the adults’ rooms.

When Sebastian asks Jonathan what he found when he went to look at the Hatch, Jonathan answers that it is “just a door” (103). He decides to keep his discovery of the library and librarian a secret, “like the key in his pocket. And the reason he was sent to Slabhenge in the first place” (103).

Colin suggests the boys need a plan to keep from running out of food. Sebastian responds that they should “be careful about eating too much” (108) and notes that a supply boat will arrive in two days. Jonathan points out that they will need to give mail to the mail boat every day, not just receive it. Sebastian agrees that the boys should continue writing letters every day like they were doing when the adults were in charge. He says he plans to read every letter before it is sent.

After reading Jonathan’s letter home, Sebastian’s henchman Benny tells Jonathan, “I know what you did” (110). He says he read Jonathan’s file in the Admiral’s office when Jonathan arrived. He warns Jonathan to do whatever he and Sebastian say, or he will tell Jonathan’s secret.

Sebastian orders Colin and Jonathan to fill the coal furnace even though he knows Jonathan doesn’t like fire. While filling the furnace, Colin says he knows Jonathan is keeping a secret from him regarding the Hatch. Jonathan tells him about the sounds and the skull but does not mention the librarian.

Colin asks Jonathan why he is afraid of fire. Jonathan shows Colin the burn scars on his arm. Colin asks Jonathan if he was in a fire. Jonathan’s eyes tear up, and he responds, “I was not in the fire” (115). He doesn’t say anything more about the incident.

After the boys put their mattresses in the dining room, Walter notices Jonathan reading Robinson Crusoe and asks him to read it aloud. He begins to read the book aloud to a small group of the boys.