CHAPTER XX
A Night at Sea -- Shark Gulf -- Confidences -- Preparations for Winter -- Forwardness of the bad Season -- Severe Cold -- Work in the Interior -- In six Months -- A photographic Negative -- Unexpected Incident.
Things happened as Pencroft had predicted, he being seldom mistaken inhis prognostications. The wind rose, and from a fresh breeze it soonincreased to a regular gale; that is to say, it acquired a speed offrom forty to forty-five miles an hour, before which a ship in theopen sea would have run under close-reefed topsails. Now, as it wasnearly six o'clock when the _Bonadventure_ reached the gulf, and as atthat moment the tide turned, it was impossible to enter. They weretherefore compelled to stand off, for even if he had wished to do so,Pencroft could not have gained the mouth of the Mercy. Hoisting thejib to the mainmast by way of a storm-sail, he hove to, putting thehead of the vessel towards the land.
Fortunately, although the wind was strong, the sea, being sheltered bythe land, did not run very high. They had then little to fear from thewaves, which always endanger small craft. The _Bonadventure_ woulddoubtlessly not have capsized, for she was well ballasted; butenormous masses of water falling on the deck, might injure her, if hertimbers could not sustain them. Pencroft, as a good sailor, wasprepared for anything. Certainly, he had great confidence in hisvessel, but nevertheless he awaited the return of day with someanxiety.
During the night, Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett had no opportunityfor talking together, and yet the words pronounced in the reporter'sear by the engineer were well worth being discussed, together with themysterious influence which appeared to reign over Lincoln Island.Gideon Spilett did not cease from pondering over this new andinexplicable incident,--the appearance of a fire on the coast of theisland. The fire had actually been seen! His companions, Herbert andPencroft, had seen it with him! The fire had served to signalise theposition of the island during that dark night, and they had notdoubted that it was lighted by the engineer's hand; and here was CyrusHarding expressly declaring that he had never done anything of thesort! Spilett resolved to recur to this incident as soon as the_Bonadventure_ returned, and to urge Cyrus Harding to acquaint theircompanions with these strange facts. Perhaps it would be decided tomake in common a complete investigation of every part of LincolnIsland.
However that might be, on this evening no fire was lighted on theseyet unknown shores, which formed the entrance to the gulf, and thelittle vessel stood off during the night.
When the first streaks of dawn appeared in the western horizon, thewind, which had slightly fallen, shifted two points, and enabledPencroft to enter the narrow gulf with greater ease. Towards seveno'clock in the morning, the _Bonadventure_, weathering the NorthMandible Cape, entered the strait and glided on to the waters, sostrangely enclosed in the frame of lava.
"Well," said Pencroft, "this bay would make admirable roads, in whicha whole fleet could lie at their ease!"
"What is especially curious," observed Harding, "is that the gulf hasbeen formed by two rivers of lava, thrown out by the volcano, andaccumulated by successive eruptions. The result is that the gulf iscompletely sheltered on all sides, and I believe that even in thestormiest weather, the sea here must be as calm as a lake."
"No doubt," returned the sailor, "since the wind has only that narrowentrance between the two capes to get in by; and besides, the northcape protects that of the south in a way which would make the entranceof gusts very difficult. I declare our _Bonadventure_ could stay herefrom one end of the year to the other, without even dragging at heranchor!"
"It is rather large for her!" observed the reporter.
"Well! Mr. Spilett," replied the sailor, "I agree that it is too largefor the _Bonadventure_; but if the fleets of the Union were in want ofa harbour in the Pacific, I don't think they would ever find a betterplace than this!"
"We are in the shark's mouth," remarked Neb, alluding to the form ofthe gulf.
"Right into its mouth, my honest Neb!" replied Herbert; "but you arenot afraid that it will shut upon us, are you?"
"No, Mr. Herbert," answered Neb; "and yet this gulf here doesn'tplease me much! It has a wicked look!"
"Hallo!" cried Pencroft, "here is Neb turning up his nose at my gulf,just as I was thinking of presenting it to America!"
"But, at any rate, is the water deep enough?" asked the engineer, "fora depth sufficient for the keel of the _Bonadventure_, would not beenough for those of our iron-clads."
"That is easily found out," replied Pencroft.
And the sailor sounded with a long cord, which served him as alead-line, and to which was fastened a lump of iron. This cordmeasured nearly fifty fathoms, and its entire length was unrolledwithout finding any bottom.
"There," exclaimed Pencroft, "our iron-clads can come here after all!They would not run aground!"
"Indeed," said Gideon Spilett, "this gulf is a regular abyss; but,taking into consideration the volcanic origin of the island, it is notastonishing that the sea should offer similar depressions."
"One would say too," observed Herbert, "that these cliffs wereperfectly perpendicular; and I believe that at their foot, even with aline five or six times longer, Pencroft would not find the bottom."
"That is all very well," then said the reporter; "but I must point outto Pencroft that his harbour is wanting in one very importantrespect!"
"And what is that, Mr. Spilett?"
"An opening, a cutting of some sort, to give access to the interior ofthe island. I do not see a spot on which we could land."
And, in fact, the steep lava cliffs did not afford a single placesuitable for landing. They formed an insuperable barrier, recalling,but with more wildness, the fiords of Norway. The _Bonadventure_,coasting as close as possible along the cliffs, did not discover evena projection which would allow the passengers to leave the deck.
Pencroft consoled himself by saying that with the help of a mine theycould soon open out the cliff when that was necessary, and then, asthere was evidently nothing to be done in the gulf, he steered hisvessel towards the strait and passed out at about two o'clock in theafternoon.
"Ah!" said Neb, uttering a sigh of satisfaction.
One might really say that the honest negro did not feel at his ease inthose enormous jaws.
The distance from Mandible Cape to the mouth of the Mercy was not morethan eight miles. The head of the _Bonadventure_ was put towardsGranite House, and a fair wind filling her sails, she ran rapidlyalong the coast.
To the enormous lava rocks succeeded soon those capricious sand dunes,among which the engineer had been so singularly recovered, and whichsea-birds frequented in thousands.
About four o'clock, Pencroft, leaving the point of the islet on hisleft, entered the channel which separated it from the coast, and atfive o'clock the anchor of the _Bonadventure_ was buried in the sandat the mouth of the Mercy.
The colonists had been absent three days from their dwelling. Ayrtonwas waiting for them on the beach, and Jup came joyously to meet them,giving vent to deep grunts of satisfaction.
A complete exploration of the coast of the island had now been made,and no suspicious appearances had been observed. If any mysteriousbeing resided on it, it could only be under cover of the impenetrableforest of the Serpentine Peninsula, to which the colonists had not yetdirected their investigations.
Gideon Spilett discussed these things with the engineer, and it wasagreed that they should direct the attention of their companions tothe strange character of certain incidents which had occurred on theisland, and of which the last was the most unaccountable.
However, Harding, returning to the fact of a fire having been kindledon the shore by an unknown hand, could not refrain from repeating forthe twentieth time to the reporter--
"But are you quite sure of having seen it? Was it not a partialeruption of the volcano, or perhaps some meteor?"
"No, Cyrus," answered the reporter; "it was certainly a fire lightedby the hand of man. Besides, question Pencroft and He
rbert. They sawit as I saw it myself, and they will confirm my words."
In consequence therefore, a few days after, on the 25th of April, inthe evening, when the settlers were all collected on Prospect Heights,Cyrus Harding began by saying,--
"My friends, I think it my duty to call your attention to certainincidents which have occurred in the island, on the subject of which Ishall be happy to have your advice. These incidents are, so to speak,supernatural--"
"Supernatural!" exclaimed the sailor, emitting a volume of smoke fromhis mouth. "Can it be possible that our island is supernatural?"
"No, Pencroft, but mysterious, most certainly," replied the engineer;"unless you can explain that which Spilett and I have until now failedto understand."
"Speak away, captain," answered the sailor.
"Well, have you understood," then said the engineer, "how was it thatafter falling into the sea, I was found a quarter of a mile into theinterior of the island, and that, without my having any consciousnessof my removal there?"
"Unless, being unconscious--" said Pencroft.
"That is not admissible," replied the engineer. "But to continue. Haveyou understood how Top was able to discover your retreat five milesfrom the cave in which I was lying?"
"The dog's instinct--" observed Herbert.
"Singular instinct!" returned the reporter; "since notwithstanding thestorm of rain and wind which was raging during that night, Top arrivedat the Chimneys, dry and without a speck of mud!"
"Let us continue," resumed the engineer. "Have you understood how ourdog was so strangely thrown up out of the waters of the lake, afterhis struggle with the dugong?"
"No! I confess, not at all," replied Pencroft; "and the wound whichthe dugong had in its side, a wound which seemed to have been madewith a sharp instrument; that can't be understood either."
"Let us continue again," said Harding. "Have you understood, myfriends, how that bullet got into the body of the young peccary; howthat case happened to be so fortunately stranded, without there beingany trace of a wreck; how that bottle containing the documentpresented itself so opportunely, during our first sea-excursion; howour canoe, having broken its moorings, floated down the current of theMercy and rejoined us precisely at the very moment we needed it; howafter the ape invasion the ladder was so obligingly thrown down fromGranite House; and lastly, how the document, which Ayrton asserts wasnever written by him, fell into our hands?"
As Cyrus Harding thus enumerated, without forgetting one, the singularincidents which had occurred in the island, Herbert, Neb, and Pencraftstared at each other, not knowing what to reply, for this successionof incidents, grouped thus for the first time, could not but excitetheir surprise to the highest degree.
"'Pon my word," said Pencroft at last, "you are right, captain, and itis difficult to explain all these things!"
"Well, my friends," resumed the engineer, "a last fact has just beenadded to these, and it is no less incomprehensible than the others!"
"What is it, captain?" asked Herbert quickly.
"When you were returning from Tabor Island, Pencroft," continued theengineer, "you said that a fire appeared on Lincoln Island?"
"Certainly," answered the sailor.
"And you are quite certain of having seen this fire?"
"As sure as I see you now."
"You also, Herbert?"
"Why, captain," cried Herbert, "that fire was blazing like a star ofthe first magnitude!"
"But was it not a star?" urged the engineer.
"No," replied Pencroft, "for the sky was covered with thick clouds,and at any rate a star would not have been so low on the horizon. ButMr. Spilett saw it as well as we, and he will confirm our words."
"I will add," said the reporter, "that the fire was very bright, andthat it shot up like a sheet of lightning."
"Yes, yes! exactly," added Herbert, "and it was certainly placed onthe heights of Granite House."
"Well, my friends," replied Cyrus Harding, "during the night of the19th of October, neither Neb nor I lighted any fire on the coast."
"You did not!" exclaimed Pencroft, in the height of his astonishment,not being able to finish his sentence.
"We did not leave Granite House," answered Cyrus Harding, "and if afire appeared on the coast, it was lighted by another hand than ours!"
Pencraft, Herbert, and Neb were stupefied. No illusion could bepossible, and a fire had actually met their eyes during the night ofthe 19th of October.
Yes! they were obliged to acknowledge it, a mystery existed! Aninexplicable influence, evidently favourable to the colonists, butvery irritating to their curiosity, was executed always in the nick oftime on Lincoln Island. Could there be some being hidden in itsprofoundest recesses? It was necessary at any cost to ascertain this.
Harding also reminded his companions of the singular behaviour of Topand Jup when they prowled round the mouth of the well, which placedGranite House in communication with the sea, and he told them that hehad explored the well, without discovering anything suspicious. Thefinal resolve taken, in consequence of this conversation, by all themembers of the colony, was that as soon as the fine season returnedthey would thoroughly search the whole of the island.
But from that day, Pencroft appeared to be anxious. He felt as if theisland which he had made his own personal property belonged to himentirely no longer, and that he shared it with another master, to whomwhether willing or not, he felt subject. Neb and he often talked ofthose unaccountable things, and both, their natures inclining them tothe marvellous, were not far from believing that Lincoln Island wasunder the dominion of some supernatural power.
In the meanwhile, the bad weather came with the month of May, theNovember of the northern zones. It appeared that the winter would besevere and forward. The preparations for the winter season weretherefore commenced without delay.
RETURNING FROM A SPORTING EXCURSION]
Nevertheless, the colonists were well prepared to meet the winter,however hard it might be. They had plenty of felt clothing, and themusmons, very numerous by this time, had furnished an abundance of thewool necessary for the manufacture of this warm material.
It is unnecessary to say that Ayrton had been provided with thiscomfortable clothing. Cyrus Harding proposed that he should come tospend the bad season with them in Granite House, where he would bebetter lodged than at the corral, and Ayrton promised to do so, assoon as the last work at the corral was finished. He did this towardsthe middle of April. From that time Ayrton shared the common life, andmade himself useful on all occasions; but still humble and sad, henever took part in the pleasures of his companions.
For the greater part of this, the third winter which the settlerspassed in Lincoln Island, they were confined to Granite House. Therewere many violent storms and frightful tempests, which appeared toshake the rocks to their very foundations. Immense waves threatened tooverwhelm the island, and certainly any vessel anchored near the shorewould have been dashed to pieces. Twice, during one of thesehurricanes, the Mercy swelled to such a degree as to give reason tofear that the bridges would be swept away, and it was necessary tostrengthen those on the shore, which disappeared under the foamingwaters, when the sea beat against the beach.
It may well be supposed that such storms, comparable to water-spoutsin which were mingled rain and snow, would cause great havoc on theplateau of Prospect Heights. The mill and the poultry-yardparticularly suffered. The colonists were often obliged to makeimmediate repairs, without which the safety of the birds would havebeen seriously threatened.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE]
During the worst weather, several jaguars and troops of quadrumanaventured to the edge of the plateau, and it was always to be fearedthat the most active and audacious would, urged by hunger, manage tocross the stream, which besides, when frozen, offered them an easypassage. Plantations and domestic animals would then have beeninfallibly destroyed, without a constant watch, and it was oftennecessary to make use of the guns to keep those dangerou
s visitors ata respectful distance. Occupation was not wanting to the colonists,for without reckoning their out-door cares, they had always a thousandplans for the fitting up of Granite House.
They had also some fine sporting excursions, which were made duringthe frost in the vast Tadorn marsh. Gideon Spilett and Herbert, aidedby Jup and Top, did not miss a shot in the midst of the myriads ofwild-duck, snipe, teal, and others. The access to thesehunting-grounds was easy; besides, whether they reached them by theroad to Port Balloon, after having passed the Mercy Bridge, or byturning the rocks from Flotsam Point, the hunters were never distantfrom Granite House more than two or three miles.
Thus passed the four winter months, which were really rigorous, thatis to say, June, July, August, and September. But, in short, GraniteHouse did not suffer much from the inclemency of the weather, and itwas the same with the corral, which, less exposed than the plateau,and sheltered partly by Mount Franklin, only received the remains ofthe hurricanes, already broken by the forests and the high rocks ofthe shore. The damages there were consequently of small importance,and the activity and skill of Ayrton promptly repaired them, when sometime in October he returned to pass a few days in the corral.
During this winter, no fresh inexplicable incident occurred. Nothingstrange happened, although Pencroft and Neb were on the watch for themost insignificant facts to which they attached any mysterious cause.Top and Jup themselves no longer growled round the well or gave anysigns of uneasiness. It appeared, therefore, as if the series ofsupernatural incidents was interrupted, although they often talked ofthem during the evenings in Granite House, and they remainedthoroughly resolved that the island should be searched, even in thoseparts the most difficult to explore. But an event of the highestimportance, and of which the consequence might be terrible,momentarily diverted from their projects Cyrus Harding and hiscompanions.
It was the month of October. The fine season was swiftly returning.Nature was reviving; and among the evergreen foliage of the coniferaewhich formed the border of the wood, already appeared the young leavesof the banksias, deodars, and other trees.
It may be remembered that Gideon Spilett and Herbert had, at differenttimes, taken photographic views of Lincoln Island.
Now, on the 17th of this month of October, towards three o'clock inthe afternoon, Herbert, enticed by the charms of the sky, thought ofreproducing Union Bay, which was opposite to Prospect Heights, fromCape Mandible to Claw Cape.
The horizon was beautifully clear, and the sea, undulating under asoft breeze, was as calm as the waters of a lake, sparkling here andthere under the sun's rays.
The apparatus had been placed at one of the windows of the dining-roomat Granite House, and consequently overlooked the shore and the bay.Herbert proceeded as he was accustomed to do, and the negativeobtained, he went away to fix it by means of the chemicals depositedin a dark nook of Granite House.
Returning to the bright light, and examining it well, Herbertperceived on his negative an almost imperceptible little spot on thesea horizon. He endeavoured to make it disappear by reiteratedwashing, but could not accomplish it.
"It is a flaw in the glass," he thought.
And then he had the curiosity to examine this flaw with a strongmagnifier which he unscrewed from one of the telescopes.
But he had scarcely looked at it, when he uttered a cry, and the glassalmost fell from his hands.
Immediately running to the room in which Cyrus Harding then was, heextended the negative and magnifier towards the engineer, pointing outthe little spot.
Harding examined it; then seizing his telescope he rushed to thewindow.
The telescope, after having slowly swept the horizon, at last stoppedon the looked-for spot, and Cyrus Harding lowering it, pronounced oneword only,--
"A vessel!"
And in fact a vessel was in sight, off Lincoln Island!
THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to theclosest paragraph break.
3. Due to the poor scan quality of the original, text was found to bemissing at some places. Most prominent were the missing periods whichhave been added for the sake of clarity. Also few missing punctuationmarks like commas, quotes, etc. have been added where obvious need wasfelt. Apart from that, some missing text has also been added afterverification from other sources.
4. The words manoeuvred & manoeuvre have oe ligature in the original.
5. The following misprints have been corrected: "Ned" corrected to "Neb" (page 13) "cruciferae" corrected to "cruciferae" (page 25) "thoughfully" corrected to "thoughtfully" (page 182) "pronouced" corrected to "pronounced" (page 199) "resoved" corrected to "resolved" (page 205)
6. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistenciesin spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained.
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