CHAPTER V
Proposal to return by the Southern Shore -- Configuration of the Coast -- Searching for the supposed Wreck -- A Wreck in the Air -- Discovery of a small Natural Port -- At Midnight on the Banks of the Mercy -- The Canoe Adrift.
Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in thecave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.
At sunrise all were on the shore at the extremity of the promontory,and their gaze was directed towards the horizon, of which two-thirdsof the circumference were visible. For the last time the engineercould ascertain that not a sail nor the wreck of a ship was on thesea, and even with the telescope nothing suspicious could bediscovered.
There was nothing either on the shore, at least, in the straight lineof three miles which formed the south side of the promontory, forbeyond that, rising ground hid the rest of the coast, and even fromthe extremity of the Serpentine Peninsula Cape Claw could not be seen.
The southern coast of the island still remained to be explored. Nowshould they undertake it immediately, and devote this day to it?
This was not included in their first plan. In fact, when the boat wasabandoned at the sources of the Mercy, it had been agreed that afterhaving surveyed the west coast, they should go back to it, and returnto Granite House by the Mercy. Harding then thought that the westerncoast would have offered refuge, either to a ship in distress, or to avessel in her regular course; but now, as he saw that this coastpresented no good anchorage, he wished to seek on the south what theyhad not been able to find on the west.
Gideon Spilett proposed to continue the exploration, that the questionof the supposed wreck might be completely settled, and he asked atwhat distance Claw Cape might be from the extremity of the peninsula.
"About thirty miles," replied the engineer, "if we take intoconsideration the curvings of the coast."
"Thirty miles!" returned Spilett. "That would be a long day's march.Nevertheless, I think that we should return to Granite House by thesouth coast."
"But," observed Herbert, "from Claw Cape to Granite House there mustbe at least another ten miles."
"Make it forty miles in all," replied the engineer, "and do nothesitate to do it. At least we should survey the unknown shore, andthen we shall not have to begin the exploration again."
"Very good," said Pencroft. "But the boat?"
"The boat has remained by itself for one day at the sources of theMercy," replied Gideon Spilett; "it may just as well stay there twodays! As yet, we have had no reason to think that the island isinfested by thieves!"
"Yet," said the sailor, "when I remember the history of the turtle, Iam far from confident of that."
"The turtle! the turtle!" replied the reporter. "Don't you know thatthe sea turned it over?"
"Who knows?" murmured the engineer.
"But--" said Neb.
Neb had evidently something to say, for he opened his mouth to speakand yet said nothing.
"What do you want to say, Neb?" asked the engineer.
"If we return by the shore to Claw Cape," replied Neb, "after havingdoubled the Cape, we shall be stopped--"
"By the Mercy! of course," replied Herbert, "and we shall have neitherbridge nor boat by which to cross."
"But, captain," added Pencroft, "with a few floating trunks we shallhave no difficulty in crossing the river."
"Never mind," said Spilett, "it will be useful to construct a bridgeif we wish to have an easy access to the Far West!"
"A bridge!" cried Pencroft. "Well, is not the captain the bestengineer in his profession? He will make us a bridge when we want one.As to transporting you this evening to the other side of the Mercy,and that without wetting one thread of your clothes, I will take careof that. We have provisions for another day, and besides we can getplenty of game. Forward!"
The reporter's proposal, so strongly seconded by the sailor, receivedgeneral approbation, for each wished to have their doubts set at rest,and by returning by Claw Cape the exploration would be ended. Butthere was not an hour to lose, for forty miles was a long march, andthey could not hope to reach Granite House before night.
At six o'clock in the morning the little band set out. As a precautionthe guns were loaded with ball, and Top, who led the van, receivedorders to beat about the edge of the forest.
From the extremity of the promontory which formed the tail of thepeninsula the coast was rounded for a distance of five miles, whichwas rapidly passed over, without even the most minute investigationsbringing to light the least trace of any old or recent landings; no_debris_, no mark of an encampment, no cinders of a fire, nor even afootprint!
From the point of the peninsula on which the settlers now were theirgaze could extend along the south-west. Twenty-five miles off thecoast terminated in the Claw Cape, which loomed dimly through themorning mists, and which, by the phenomenon of the mirage, appeared asif suspended between land and water.
Between the place occupied by the colonists and the other side of theimmense bay, the shore was composed, first, of a tract of low land,bordered in the background by trees; then the shore became moreirregular, projecting sharp points into the sea, and finally ended inthe black rocks which, accumulated in picturesque disorder, formedClaw Cape.
Such was the development of this part of the island, which thesettlers took in at a glance, whilst stopping for an instant.
"If a vessel ran in here," said Pencroft, "she would certainly belost. Sandbanks and reefs everywhere! Bad quarters!"
"But at least something would be left of the ship," observed thereporter.
"There might be pieces of wood on the rocks, but nothing on thesands," replied the sailor.
"Why?"
"Because the sands are still more dangerous than the rocks, for theyswallow up everything that is thrown on them. In a few days the hullof a ship of several hundred tons would disappear entirely in there!"
"So, Pencroft," asked the engineer, "if a ship has been wrecked onthese banks, is it not astonishing that there is now no trace of herremaining?"
"No, captain, with the aid of time and tempest. However, it would besurprising, even in this case, that some of the masts or spars shouldnot have been thrown on the beach, out of reach of the waves."
"Let us go on with our search, then," returned Cyrus Harding.
At one o'clock the colonists arrived at the other side of WashingtonBay, they having now gone a distance of twenty miles.
They then halted for breakfast.
Here began the irregular coast, covered with lines of rocks andsandbanks. The long sea-swell could be seen breaking over the rocks inthe bay, forming a foamy fringe. From this point to Claw Cape thebeach was very narrow between the edge of the forest and the reefs.
Walking was now more difficult, on account of the numerous rocks whichencumbered the beach. The granite cliff also gradually increased inheight, and only the green tops of the trees which crowned it could beseen.
After half an hour's rest, the settlers resumed their journey, and nota spot among the rocks was left unexamined. Pencroft and Neb evenrushed into the surf whenever any object attracted their attention.But they found nothing, some curious formations of the rocks havingdeceived them. They ascertained, however, that eatable shell-fishabounded there, but these could not be of any great advantage to themuntil some easy means of communication had been established betweenthe two banks of the Mercy, and until the means of transport had beenperfected.
Nothing therefore which threw any light on the supposed wreck could befound on this shore, yet an object of any importance, such as the hullof a ship, would have been seen directly, or any of her masts andspars would have been washed on shore, just as the chest had been,which was found twenty miles from here. But there was nothing.
Towards three o'clock Harding and his companions arrived at a snuglittle creek. It formed quite a natural harbour, invisible from thesea, and was entered by a narrow channel. At the back of this creeksome violent convulsion had torn
up the rocky border, and a cutting,by a gentle slope, gave access to an upper plateau, which might besituated at least ten miles from Claw Cape, and consequently fourmiles in a straight line from Prospect Heights. Gideon Spilettproposed to his companions that they should make a halt here. Theyagreed readily, for their walk had sharpened their appetites; andalthough it was not their usual dinner-hour, no one refused tostrengthen himself with a piece of venison. This luncheon wouldsustain them till their supper, which they intended to take at GraniteHouse. In a few minutes the settlers, seated under a clump of finesea-pines, were devouring the provisions which Neb produced from hisbag.
This spot was raised from fifty to sixty feet above the level of thesea. The view was very extensive, but beyond the cape it ended inUnion Bay. Neither the islet nor Prospect Heights were visible, andcould not be from thence, for the rising ground and the curtain oftrees closed the northern horizon.
It is useless to add that notwithstanding the wide extent of sea whichthe explorers could survey, and though the engineer swept the horizonwith his glass, no vessel could be found.
The shore was of course examined with the same care from the edge ofthe water to the cliff, and nothing could be discovered even with theaid of the instrument.
"Well," said Gideon Spilett, "it seems we must make up our minds toconsole ourselves with thinking that no one will come to dispute withus the possession of Lincoln Island!"
"But the bullet," cried Herbert. "That was not imaginary, I suppose!"
"Hang it, no!" exclaimed Pencroft, thinking of his absent tooth.
"Then what conclusion may be drawn?" asked the reporter.
"This," replied the engineer, "that three months or more ago, avessel, either voluntarily or not, came here."
"What! then you admit, Cyrus, that she was swallowed up withoutleaving any trace?" cried the reporter.
"No, my dear Spilett, but you see that if it is certain that a humanbeing set foot on the island, it appears no less certain that he hasnow left it."
"Then, if I understand you right, captain," said Herbert, "the vesselhas left again?"
"Evidently."
"And we have lost an opportunity to get back to our country?" saidNeb.
"I fear so."
"Very well, since the opportunity is lost, let us go on, it can't behelped," said Pencroft, who felt home sickness for Granite House.
But just as they were rising, Top was heard loudly barking; and thedog issued from the wood, holding in his mouth a rag soiled with mud.
Neb seized it. It was a piece of strong cloth!
Top still barked, and by his going and coming, seemed to invite hismaster to follow him into the forest.
"Now there's something to explain the bullet!" exclaimed Pencroft.
"A castaway!" replied Herbert.
"Wounded, perhaps!" said Neb.
"Or dead!" added the reporter.
All ran after the dog, among the tall pines on the border of theforest. Harding and his companions made ready their fire-arms, in caseof an emergency.
They advanced some way into the wood, but to their greatdisappointment, they as yet saw no signs of any human being havingpassed that way. Shrubs and creepers were uninjured, and they had evento cut them away with the axe, as they had done in the deepestrecesses of the forest. It was difficult to fancy that any humancreature had ever passed there, but yet Top went backwards andforwards, not like a dog who searches at random, but like a beingendowed with a mind, who is following up an idea.
In about seven or eight minutes Top stopped in a glade surrounded withtall trees. The settlers gazed around them, but saw nothing, neitherunder the bushes nor among the trees.
"What is the matter, Top?" said Cyrus Harding.
Top barked louder, bounding about at the foot of a gigantic pine. Allat once Pencroft shouted,--
"NOW THERE'S SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN THE BULLET!"EXCLAIMED PENCROFT]
"Ho, splendid! capital!"
"What is it?" asked Spilett
"We have been looking for a wreck at sea or on land!"
"Well?"
"Well, and here we've found one in the air!"
And the sailor pointed to a great white rag, caught in the top of apine, a fallen scrap of which the dog had brought to them.
"But that is not a wreck!" cried Gideon Spilett.
"I beg your pardon!" returned Pencroft.
"Why? is it--?"
"It is all that remains of our airy boat, of our balloon, which hasbeen caught up aloft there, at the top of that tree!"
Pencroft was not mistaken, and he gave vent to his feelings in atremendous hurrah, adding,--
"There is good cloth! There is what will furnish us with linen foryears. There is what will make us handkerchiefs and shirts! Ha, ha, MrSpilett, what do you say to an island where shirts grow on the trees?"
It was certainly a lucky circumstance for the settlers in LincolnIsland that the balloon, after having made its last bound into theair, had fallen on the island and thus given them the opportunity offinding it again, whether they kept the case under its present form,or whether they wished to attempt another escape by it, or whetherthey usefully employed the several hundred yards of cotton, which wasof fine quality. Pencroft's joy was therefore shared by all.
But it was necessary to bring down the remains of the balloon from thetree, to place it in security, and this was no slight task. Neb,Herbert, and the sailor, climbing to the summit of the tree, used alltheir skill to disengage the now reduced balloon.
The operation lasted two hours, and then not only the case, with itsvalve, its springs, its brasswork, lay on the ground, but the net,that is to say a considerable quantity of ropes and cordage, and thecircle and the anchor. The case, except for the fracture, was in goodcondition, only the lower portion being torn.
A WRECK IN THE AIR]
It was a fortune which had fallen from the sky. "All the same,captain," said the sailor, "if we ever decide to leave the island, itwon't be in a balloon, will it? These air-boats won't go where we wantthem to go, and we have had some experience in that way! Look here, Wewill build a craft of some twenty tons, and then we can make amain-sail, a fore-sail, and a jib out of that cloth. As to the rest ofit, that will help to dress us."
"We shall see, Pencroft," replied Cyrus Harding; "we shall see."
"In the meantime, we must put it in a safe place," said Neb.
They certainly could not think of carrying this load of cloth, ropes,and cordage, to Granite House, for the weight of it was veryconsiderable, and whilst waiting for a suitable vehicle in which toconvey it, it was of importance that this treasure should not be leftlonger exposed to the mercies of the first storm. The settlers unitingtheir efforts managed to drag it as far as the shore, where theydiscovered a large rocky cavity, which owing to its position could notbe visited either by the wind or rain.
"We needed a locker, and now we have one," said Pencroft; "but as wecannot lock it up, it will be prudent to hide the opening. I don'tmean from two-legged thieves, but; from those with four paws!"
At six o'clock, all was stowed away, and after having given the creekthe very suitable name of "Port Balloon," the settlers pursued theirway along Claw Cape. Pencroft and the engineer talked of the differentprojects which it was agreed to put into execution with the briefestpossible delay. It was necessary first of all to throw a bridge overthe Mercy, so as to establish an easy communication with the south ofthe island; then the cart must be taken to bring back the balloon, forthe canoe alone could not carry it, then they would build a deckedboat, and Pencroft would rig it as a cutter, and they would be able toundertake voyages of circumnavigation round the island, etc.
In the meanwhile night came on, and it was already dark when thesettlers reached Flotsam Point, the place where they had discoveredthe precious chest.
The distance between Flotsam Point and Granite House was another fourmiles, and it was midnight when, after having followed the shore tothe mouth of the Mercy, the settlers arrived at the
first angle formedby the Mercy.
There the river was eighty feet in breadth, which was awkward tocross, but as Pencroft had taken upon himself to conquer thisdifficulty, he was compelled to do it. The settlers certainly hadreason to be pretty tired. The journey had been long, and the task ofgetting down the balloon had not rested either their arms or legs.They were anxious to reach Granite House to eat and sleep, and if thebridge had been constructed, in a quarter of an hour they would havebeen at home.
The night was very dark. Pencroft prepared to keep his promise byconstructing a sort of raft, on which to make the passage of theMercy. He and Neb, armed with axes, chose two trees near the water,and began to attack them at the base.
Cyrus Harding and Spilett, seated on the bank, waited till theircompanions were ready for their help, whilst Herbert roamed about,though without going to any distance. All at once, the lad, who hadstrolled by the river, came running back, and, pointing up the Mercy,exclaimed,--
"What is floating there?"
Pencroft stopped working, and seeing an indistinct object movingthrough the gloom,--
"A canoe!" cried he.
All approached, and saw to their extreme surprise, a boat floatingdown the current.
"Boat ahoy!" shouted the sailor, without thinking that perhaps itwould be best to keep silence.
No reply. The boat still drifted onwards, and it was not more thantwelve feet off, when the sailor exclaimed--
"But it is our own boat! she has broken her moorings, and floated downthe current. I must say she has arrived very opportunely."
"Our boat?" murmured the engineer.
Pencroft was right. It was indeed the canoe, of which the rope hadundoubtedly broken, and which had come alone from the sources of theMercy. It was very important to seize it before the rapid currentshould have swept it away out of the mouth of the river, but Neb andPencroft cleverly managed this by means of a long pole.
The canoe touched the shore. The engineer leapt in first, and found,on examining the rope, that it had been really worn through by rubbingagainst the rocks.
"Well," said the reporter to him, in a low voice, "this is a strangething."
"Strange indeed!" returned Cyrus Handing.
Strange or not, it was very fortunate. Herbert, the reporter, Neb, andPencroft, embarked in turn. There was no doubt about the rope havingbeen worn through, but the astonishing part of the affair was, thatthe boat should have arrived just at the moment when the settlers werethere to seize it on its way, for a quarter of an hour earlier orlater it would have been lost in the sea.
If they had been living in the time of genii, this incident would havegiven them the right to think that the island was haunted by somesupernatural being, who used his power in the service of thecastaways!
A few strokes of the oar brought the settlers to the mouth of theMercy. The canoe was hauled up on the beach near the Chimneys, and allproceeded towards the ladder of Granite House.
But at that moment, Top barked angrily, and Neb, who was looking forthe first steps, uttered a cry.
There was no longer a ladder!
THERE WAS NO LONGER A LADDER!]