Таинственный остров / Mysterious Island

Chapter V

The first care of Pencroff was to make the Chimneys habitable. One narrow, winding passage was arranged to carry out the smoke and to quicken the draught of the fire. The Chimneys were divided into three or four chambers. They were dry, and one could stand up in them, or at least in the principal one, which was in the centre. The floor was covered with sand. While working, Herbert and Pencroff chatted together.

“Perhaps,” said the boy, “our companions found a better place than ours.”

“It is possible,” answered the sailor, “but, until we know, don’t let us stop. Better have two houses than none at all!”

“Oh,” said Herbert, “if they can only find Mr. Smith, and bring him back with them, how thankful we will be!”

“Yes,” murmured Pencroff. “He was a good man.”

“Was!” said Herbert. “Do you think we will not see him again?”

“Heaven forbid![26]” replied the sailor.

Once the work was accomplished, Pencroff declared himself satisfied.

“Now,” said he, “our friends may return, and they will find a good shelter.”

It was 5 o’clock when they returned again to the Chimneys. Towards 6 o’clock, just as the sun was disappearing behind the high land in the west, Herbert, who was walking back and forth upon the shore, announced the return of Neb and Gideon Spilett. They came back alone. The sailor was right: they could not find the engineer.

The reporter, when he came up, seated himself upon a rock, without speaking. Fainting from fatigue, half dead with hunger, he was unable to utter a word. Neb’s reddened eyes showed that he was weeping and lost all hope.

The reporter gave the history of their search. Neb and he had followed the coast for more than eight miles. The shore was deserted. Not a trace upon the sand, not a footprint, was upon the shore. It was evident that nobody inhabited that portion of the island.

At that moment Neb raised his head, and exclaimed:

“No, he is not dead! It is impossible! He is a man who can get out of anything!”

Herbert ran to him and cried:

“Neb, we will find him; God will give him back to us; but please eat something.”

And the lad offered the poor servant a handful of shell-fish. But Neb refused them. Poor fellow! Deprived of his master, he wished no longer to live.

As to Gideon Spilett, he devoured the mollusks, and then laid down upon the sand at the foot of a rock. He was exhausted, but calm. Herbert, approaching him, took his hand.

“Mr. Spilett,” said he, “we have discovered a shelter where you will be more comfortable. The night is coming on; so come and rest there. Tomorrow we will see.”

The reporter rose, and, guided by the lad, proceeded towards the Chimneys.

Pencroff took the match and made some fire. Two dozen eggs were brought by Herbert, and the reporter, seated in a corner, watched them without speaking. Did Cyrus still live? If alive, where was he?

In a few minutes the food was ready, and the sailor invited the reporter to take part in the supper. This was the first meal of the castaways upon this unknown coast. The hard eggs were excellent.

Thus passed the 25th of March. The reporter had retired to a dark corner. Herbert fell asleep at once. The sailor passed the night by the fire. Neb wandered upon the sands calling for his master.

Chapter VI

The castaways had nothing but the clothes they wore in the balloon. Spilett had a watch and a note-book; but there were no firearms and no tools, not even a pocket knife. They had thrown everything overboard to lighten the balloon. The castaways could rely on Providence only, and on their own hands.

It seemed to Pencroff that it was better to wait a few days before undertaking an exploration. They had to try to procure more satisfying food than eggs and shellfish. It was decided then to wait a few days at the Chimneys, and to prepare for an expedition either along the coast or into the interior of the land.

This plan was especially agreeable to Neb, who did not believe that Smith was dead. Upon the morning of the 26th of March, at daybreak, Neb started along the coast northward.

For breakfast that morning they had only eggs and lithodomes, with salt which Herbert had found in the cavities of the rocks. When the meal was over they divided forces. The reporter stayed behind to keep up the fire, while Herbert and Pencroff went into the forest.

“We will go hunting, Herbert,” said the sailor. “We will cut our guns in the forest.”

At 9 o’clock the weather was threatening and the breeze blew from the southeast. When Herbert and Pencroff reached the forest, Pencroff broke from a tree two thick branches which he made into cudgels. The sailor carefully observed the character and peculiarities of the region. On this left bank the surface was flat, rising insensibly towards the interior. Sometimes it was moist and swampy. The opposite bank was more undulating, and the valley was more clearly defined[27]. The hill, covered with trees, rising in terraces, intercepted the vision. They could hardly walk along the right bank, for the descent was steep, and the trees were only sustained by their roots. It is needless to say that both forest and shore seemed a virgin wilderness. They even saw fresh traces of animals whose species was unknown to them.

They hardly spoke, and their hunting was fruitless. Birds were singing and flying to and fro[28] under the trees; but they showed an instinctive fear of their enemy man. Among fir trees was fluttering a flock of birds, with small bodies and long, glittering tails.

“These are couroucous[29],” said Herbert. “They are good to eat; their meat is delicious. Besides, I think we can easily get at them with our sticks.”

They reached the foot of a tree. Using their sticks like a scythe, they mowed down whole rows of the couroucous, of whom 105 were knocked over before the stupid birds thought of escape.

Their route was indicated by the river; they followed it downward, and by 6 o’clock Herbert and Pencroff re-entered the Chimneys.

Chapter VII

Gideon Spilett stood motionless upon the shore, gazing on the sea, whose horizon was darkened. The wind, already strong, was freshening, and the heavens had an angry look. Pencroff began to prepare dinner. At 7 o’clock Neb was still absent.

The storm began. A furious gust of wind passed over the coast from the southeast. At 8 o’clock Neb had not returned. The birds were all they had for supper, but the party found them excellent eating. Pencroff and Herbert devoured them. Then each one retired to his corner, and Herbert was soon asleep.

It was about 2 o’clock when Pencroff was suddenly aroused from a deep sleep. The reporter was shaking him.

“What’s the matter?” Pencroff cried.

The reporter was bending over him and saying:

“Listen, Pencroff, listen!”

The sailor listened, but could hear nothing interesting.

“It is the wind,” he said.

“No,” answered Spilett, “listen again! I think I heard…”

“What?”

“The barking of a dog!”

“A dog!” cried Pencroff, springing to his feet.

“Yes, the barking.”

“Impossible!” answered the sailor.

“Wait and listen,” said the reporter.

Pencroff listened most attentively, and at length he caught the sound of distant barking.

“Is it?” asked the reporter.

“Yes, yes!” said Pencroff.

“It is Top! It is Top!” cried Herbert, who had just wakened, and the three rushed to the entrance of the Chimneys. The darkness was absolute. Sea, sky, and earth, were one intense blackness.

For some moments the reporter and his two companions stood in this place, drenched by the rain, blinded by the sand. Then again, in the hush of the storm, they heard, far away, the barking of a dog. This must be Top. But was he alone or accompanied?

It was indeed Top. But he was alone! Neither his master nor Neb accompanied him. It seemed inexplicable how, through the darkness and storm, the dog’s instinct had directed him to the Chimneys. Herbert had drawn him towards him, patting his head; and the dog rubbed his neck against the lad’s hands.

“If the dog is found, the master will be found also,” said the reporter.

“Top will guide us!” responded Herbert.

Pencroff made no objection. The tempest was, perhaps, at its maximum intensity. It was difficult to follow a straight course. The better way, therefore, was to trust to the instinct of Top. The reporter and the lad walked behind the dog, and the sailor followed after. To speak was impossible. The rain was not heavy, but the strength of the storm was terrible.

They felt, no doubt, that Neb had found his master and had sent the faithful dog to them. But was the engineer living or dead?

“Saved! He is saved! Isn’t he, Top?” repeated the boy. And the dog barked his answer[30].

By 4 o’clock they estimated the distance travelled as eight miles. The clouds had risen a little, and the wind was drier and colder. No murmur passed their lips. They were determined[31] to follow Top wherever he wished to lead them.

Towards 5 o’clock the day began to break[32]. The sailor and his companions were some six miles from the Chimneys, following a very flat shore. Top ran ahead, returned, and seemed to try to hurry them on[33]. The dog had left the coast, and had gone among the downs[34]. The border of the downs was composed of hills and hillocks. It was like a little Switzerland of sand, but a dog’s astonishing instinct could find the way.

Five minutes after the reporter and his companions reached a sort of hollow, before which Top stopped with a loud bark. The three entered the cave. Neb was there, kneeling beside a body extended upon a bed of grass. It was the body of Cyrus Smith.

Chapter VIII

Neb did not move. The sailor uttered one word.

“Alive?” he cried.

Neb did not answer. Spilett and Pencroff turned pale[35]. Herbert stood motionless. But it was evident that the poor servant, overcome by grief, had not heard the voice of the sailor.

The reporter knelt down beside the motionless body, and pressed his ear to the chest of the engineer. Then he tried to detect some movement of the heart.

Neb was hardly recognizable. He believed his master dead. Gideon Spilett, however, after a long and attentive examination, rose up.

“He lives!” he said.

Pencroff, in his turn[36], knelt down beside Cyrus Smith; he also detected some heartbeats. Herbert hurried in search of water. A hundred paces off he found a clear brook; so the lad soaked his handkerchief in the stream, and hastened back with it to the cave.

The drops of fresh water produced an instantaneous effect. A sigh escaped from the breast of Smith.

“We will save him,” said the reporter.

Neb removed the clothing from his master to see if his body was wounded anywhere. But neither on his head nor body nor limbs was there a bruise or even a scratch. That was an astonishing circumstance.

“You thought he was dead?” asked the sailor Neb.

“Yes, I thought so,” answered Neb. “And if Top had not found you and brought you back, I would have buried my master and died beside him.”

Then Neb told them what had happened. The day before, Neb had followed along the coast in a direction due north, until he reached that part of the beach. There he searched the shore, the rocks, the sand for any marks that could guide him. He did not hope to find his master living. Then he decided to continue some miles further up the coast. It was possible that the currents had carried the body to some distant point. He followed the shore two miles further, hardly hoping to find anything, when yesterday evening, about 5 o’clock, he discovered footprints upon the sand.

“Footprints?!” cried Pencroff.

“Yes, sir,” replied Neb.

“And did they begin at the water?” demanded the reporter.

“No,” answered Neb, “above high-water mark; below that the tide had washed out the others. The sight of these footprints made me wild with joy. They went towards the downs. I followed them for a quarter of an hour. Five minutes later, as it was growing dark, I heard a dog bark. It was Top. And he brought me here, to my master.”

“So you, Neb,” said the reporter, “did not bring your master to this place?”

“No, it was not I,” answered Neb.

They must wait for the solution of the mystery until the engineer could speak. It was therefore the unanimous opinion that Cyrus Smith must be carried to the Chimneys as soon as possible.

Soon the engineer opened his eyes. Neb and the reporter were leaning over him.

“My master! My master!” cried Neb.

The engineer heard him. He recognized Neb and his companions.

“Is it an island or a continent?” he murmured.

“What the devil do we care[37],” cried Pencroff, unable to restrain the exclamation, “now that you are alive, sir. Island or continent? We will find that out later.”

The engineer seemed to sleep. The sailor was repeating:

“Island or continent! To think of that! What a man!”

Pencroff and his companions constructed a litter, which they covered with leaves and grass. This work occupied some little time, and it was 10 o’clock when the three returned to Smith and Spilett.

The engineer had just wakened from the sleep. The color had come back to his lips. He raised himself slightly, and looked about.

“Well,” said the sailor, “Mr. Smith, your litter is ready, and we will carry you to our house.”

“Thanks, my friend,” replied the engineer. “In an hour or two we will go.”

The reporter related everything that had happened.

“But,” asked Smith, in a feeble voice, “You did not pick me up on the beach?”

“No,” replied the reporter.

“And it was not you who brought me to this hollow?”

“No.”

“How far is this place from the reef?”

“At least half a mile,” replied Pencroff. “And we are very surprised to find you here. But cannot you remember anything that happened after you were washed away by the sea?”

Cyrus Smith tried to think, but he remembered little. The wave had swept him from the net of the balloon. Then Top had sprung to his rescue. Smith found himself in the midst of the tumultuous sea, more than half a mile from shore. He swum vigorously against the waves, and Top sustained him by his garments; but a strong current seized him, carrying him to the north, and, after struggling for half an hour, he sank, dragging the dog with him into the abyss. From that moment he remembered nothing.

“It’s strange,” said the reporter. “If someone had rescued you from the waves, why should he then have abandoned you?”

“That is inexplicable.”

Towards noon, Pencroff asked Smith if he felt strong enough to be carried. Eight miles had to be travelled, and the wind was still strong, but, fortunately, it had ceased raining. At half past 5 the little party reached the Chimneys.

Chapter IX

The engineer had sunk into a lethargy, the result of the journey. First of all, Cyrus Smith was carried into the main corridor. There they were able to make for him a couch of seaweeds.

The supper that evening consisted of the lithodomes, which Herbert and Neb had gathered from the beach.

The next day, the 28th of March, when the engineer awoke at about 8 o’clock, he saw his companions beside him, and, as on the day before, his first words were “Island or continent?”

It was his one thought.

“Well, Mr. Smith,” answered Pencroff, “we don’t know.”

“You haven’t found out yet?”

“But we will,” affirmed Pencroff, “when you are able to guide us in this country.”

“I believe that I am able to do that now,” answered the engineer, who, without much effort, rose up.

“That is good,” exclaimed the sailor.

“When you were carrying me here yesterday, did I not see a mountain rising in the west?”

“Yes,” said Spilett, “quite a high one.”

“All right,” exclaimed the engineer. “Tomorrow we will climb to its summit and determine whether this is an island or a continent.”

“But,” asked Spilett, “whether it is a continent or an island, where do you think this storm has thrown us, Cyrus?”

“In truth, I cannot say,” replied the engineer, “but the probability is that we are somewhere in the Pacific. When we left Richmond the wind was northeast, and its very violence proves that its direction did not vary much. We crossed North and South Carolina[38], Georgia[39], the Gulf of Mexico[40], and the narrow part of Mexico, and a portion of the Pacific Ocean. I do not estimate the distance traversed by the balloon at less than 6,000 or 7,000 miles. But if this coast belongs to some barren island in the Micronesian Archipelago[41], perhaps we will never leave it.

“Never?” cried the reporter. “Do you say “never”, my dear Cyrus?”

“We will know how to act when we first ascend the mountain,” answered Smith.

“But will you be able, Mr. Smith, to make the climb tomorrow?” asked Herbert.

“I hope so,” answered the engineer, “if Pencroff and you, my boy, show yourselves to be good hunters.”

Chapter X

The three hunters were seated before a sparkling fire. Beside them sat Cyrus Smith and the reporter.

“Yes, my good fellow,” said the reporter, “a fire, a real fire!”

“But who lighted it?” said the sailor.

“The sun.”

The sailor could not believe his eyes.

“Do you have a burning-glass[42], sir?” asked Herbert of Cyrus Smith.

“No, my boy,” said he, “but I made one.”

And he showed his lens. It was simply the two glasses, from his own watch and the reporter’s, which he had taken out, filled with water, and stuck together at the edges with a little clay. Thus he had made a veritable burning-glass, and by concentrating the solar rays on some dry moss had set it on fire.

With the help of Neb, the sailor arranged the spit. The engineer and his companion had made good use of their day[43]. Smith had almost entirely recovered his strength. They had a pleasant supper. The engineer said little; he was planning for the next day. After supper, the party lay down to sleep. The morning found them fresh and eager for the expedition.

Everything was ready. At half past 7 they left the Chimneys, each with a stout cudgel. By Pencroff’s advice, they took the route of the previous day, which was the shortest way to the mountain. They turned the southern angle, and followed the left bank of the river. They took the path under the evergreens, and soon reached the northern border of the forest. The soil was flat and swampy, then dry and sandy. Among the trees appeared a few animals. The engineer was going straight for the top of the mountain.

The mountain was composed of two cones. The first was truncated about 2,500 feet up, and supported by fantastic spurs. Between these spurs were narrow valleys. On the northeast side of the mountain, vegetation was scanty.

On the first cone lay the second one, slightly rounded towards the summit. The surface seemed utterly bare. The object of the expedition was to reach the top of this cone, and their best way was along the edge of the spurs.

“We are in a volcanic country,” said Cyrus Smith, as they began to climb, little by little, up the side of the spurs. They were gradually ascending. At noon, when the little company halted to dine at the foot of a great clump of firs, they were still half way from the first plateau, and could hardly reach it before nightfall. From this point the sea stretched broad beneath their feet. On the left they could see directly north for several miles; but the northwest was concealed from them.

At 1 o’clock, the ascent again began. The easiest route slanted upwards towards the southwest, through the thick copse. Leaving the copse, the climbers ascended for a hundred feet up a very steep hill, and reached a terrace, almost bare of trees, whose soil was evidently volcanic. From hence, their course was a zigzag towards the east. Neb and Herbert led the way, then came Smith and the reporter; Pencroff was last.

They had come across large animals, with thick horns, curved backwards and flattened at the end, and with woolly fleece. They were not the common sheep. Their name, according to Herbert, was а Moufflon[44].

As the ascension continued, the traces of lava were more frequent, and little sulphur springs[45] intercepted their route. As they neared the first plateau, formed by the truncation of the lower cone, the ascent became very difficult. By 4 o’clock the last belt of trees had been passed. Fortunately for the engineer and his party, it was a pleasant, mild day. The sky overhead was extremely bright and clear. A perfect calm reigned around them. The sun was hidden by the upper mountain, which cast its shadow westward to the edge of the sea.

There were only 500 feet between the explorers and the plateau where they meant to encamp for the night. Little by little the evening set in, and it was almost night when the party, tired out by a seven hours’ climb, arrived at the top of the first cone.

Now they must pitch their camp, and think of supper and sleep. The sailor built up a fireplace with huge stones, while Neb and Herbert went after the combustibles[46]. They soon came back with a load of thistles.

The night was beautiful and still; and not yet very dark. They walked together in silence. Sometimes the plateau was wide and easy, sometimes very encumbered with rubbish. There were yet 1,000 feet to climb. Fortunately, the long and sinuous declivities described a winding staircase, and greatly helped their ascent. The volcano was not only quiet, but extinct.

It was nearly 8 o’clock when they set foot on the summit[47] of the cone. The darkness was by this time complete, and they could hardly see a couple of miles around them. Was the land an island, or the eastern extremity of a continent? They could not yet discover. At one point of the horizon suddenly appeared a vague light, which slowly sank as the clouds mounted to the zenith. The line of the horizon was now cloudless, and as the moon touched it, the engineer seized the boy’s hand.

“An island!” said he.

Chapter XI

A half hour later they walked back to the camp. The land was an island, and tomorrow they would consider what to do.

The next day, March 30, after a hurried breakfast, they started out for the summit of the volcano. All desired to see the isle on which perhaps they were to spend their lives. It was about 7 o’clock in the morning when they left the camp.

“Bah!” said Pencroff, “we got out of Richmond without the permission of the authorities, and it will be strange if we can’t get away some time from this place!”

It was a superb day, and the southern side of the mountain was bathed in sunlight. The crater was a huge shaft gradually opening to a height of 1,000 feet above the plateau. The interior of the crater was easily scaled. They saw on the way traces of ancient lava. As to the volcano chimney, its depth could not be estimated by the eye, for it was lost in obscurity. Before 8 o’clock, the party was standing at the summit of the crater.

“The sea! The sea everywhere!” was the universal exclamation. There it lay, an immense sheet of water around them on every side. Nothing appeared to the horizon-line, a radius of more than fifty miles. Not a sail was in sight. Around the island stretched a desert infinity of ocean.

Silent and motionless, they surveyed every point of the horizon. Then they looked down upon their island, and the silence was broken by Spilett:

“How large do you think this island is?”

“It seemed small enough in the midst of the infinite ocean.”

“My friends,” said Smith, “if I am not mistaken, the coast of the island is more than 100 miles around.”

If Smith was right, the island would be about the size of Malta[48]; but it was more irregular than it. The eastern coast, upon which the castaways had landed, was a decided curve, embracing a large bay. On the northeast, two other capes shut in the bay, and between them lay a narrow gulf. From northeast to northwest the coast was round and flat, like the skull of a wild beast; then came a sort of indeterminate hump, whose centre was occupied by the volcanic mountain. From this point the coast ran directly north and south. For twothirds of its length it was bordered by a narrow creek; then it finished in along cue, like the tail of a gigantic alligator. The narrowest part of the island, between the Chimneys and the creek, on the west, was ten miles wide, but its greatest length was not less than thirty miles.