Chapter 5
Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the cavewhich the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.
At sunrise all were on the shore at the extremity of the promontory, andtheir gaze was directed towards the horizon, of which two-thirds ofthe circumference were visible. For the last time the engineer couldascertain that not a sail nor the wreck of a ship was on the sea, andeven with the telescope nothing suspicious could be discovered.
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 had the rest of the coast, and even from theextremity of the Serpentine Peninsula Claw Cape 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 return toGranite House by the Mercy. Harding then thought that the western coastwould have offered refuge, either to a ship in distress, or to a vesselin her regular course; but now, as he saw that this coast presented nogood anchorage, he wished to seek on the south what they had not beenable 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 at whatdistance 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 must beat least another ten miles.
"Make it forty miles in all," replied the engineer, "and do not hesitateto do it. At least we should survey the unknown shore, and then we shallnot 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 is infestedby thieves!"
"Yet," said the sailor, "when I remember the history of the turtle, I amfar from confident of that."
"The turtle! the turtle!" replied the reporter. "Don't you know that thesea turned it over?"
"Who knows?" murmured the engineer.
"But,--" said Neb.
Neb had evidently something to say, for he opened his mouth to speak andyet 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 bridge ifwe wish to have an easy access to the Far West!"
"A bridge!" cried Pencroft. "Well, is not the captain the best engineerin his profession? He will make us a bridge when we want one. As totransporting you this evening to the other side of the Mercy, and thatwithout wetting one thread of your clothes, I will take care of that. Wehave provisions for another day, and besides we can get plenty 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. But therewas not an hour to lose, for forty miles was a long march, and theycould 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; nodebris, 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 southwest. Twenty-five miles off the coastterminated in the Claw Cape, which loomed dimly through the morningmists, and which, by the phenomenon of the mirage, appeared as ifsuspended 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, formed ClawCape.
Such was the development of this part of the island, which the settlerstook in at a glance, while stopping for an instant.
"If a vessel ran in here," said Pencroft, "she would certainly be lost.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 the sands,"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 hull ofa 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 the beachwas 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 even rushedinto the surf whenever any object attracted their attention. But theyfound nothing, some curious formations of the rocks having deceivedthem. They ascertained, however, that eatable shellfish abounded there,but these could not be of any great advantage to them until some easymeans of communication had been established between the two banks of theMercy, and until the means of transport had been perfected.
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 and sparswould have been washed on shore, just as the chest had been, which wasfound 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 harbor, invisible from the sea,and was entered by a narrow channel.
At the back of this creek some violent convulsion had torn up therocky border, and a cutting, by a gentle slope, gave access to an upperplateau, which might be situated at least ten miles from Claw Cape, andconsequently four miles in a straight line from Prospect Heights. GideonSpilett proposed to his
companions that they should make a halt here.They agreed readily, for their walk had sharpened their appetites;and although it was not their usual dinner-hour, no one refused tostrengthen himself with a piece of venison. This luncheon would sustainthem until their supper, which they intended to take at Granite House.In a few minutes the settlers, seated under a clump of fine sea-pines,were devouring the provisions which Neb produced from his bag.
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 in UnionBay. Neither the islet nor Prospect Heights was visible, and could notbe from thence, for the rising ground and the curtain of trees closedthe 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 of thewater to the cliff, and nothing could be discovered even with the aid ofthe instrument.
"Well," said Gideon Spilett, "it seems we must make up our minds toconsole ourselves with thinking that no one will come to dispute with usthe 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, a vessel,either voluntarily or not, came here."
"What! then you admit, Cyrus, that she was swallowed up without leavingany 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 has nowleft 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?" said Neb.
"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 the dogissued 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 the forest.Harding and his companions made ready their firearms, in case of anemergency.
They advanced some way into the wood, but to their great disappointment,they as yet saw no signs of any human being having passed that way.Shrubs and creepers were uninjured, and they had even to cut them awaywith the axe, as they had done in the deepest recesses of the forest.It was difficult to fancy that any human creature had ever passed there,but yet Top went backward and forward, not like a dog who searches atrandom, but like a dog being endowed with a mind, who is following up anidea.
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. All atonce Pencroft shouted,--"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 thepine, 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 has beencaught 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, Mr.Spilett, what do you say to an island where shirts grow on the trees?"
It was certainly a lucky circumstance for the settlers in Lincoln Islandthat the balloon, after having made its last bound into the air, hadfallen on the island and thus given them the opportunity of finding itagain, whether they kept the case under its present form, or whetherthey wished to attempt another escape by it, or whether they usefullyemployed the several hundred yards of cotton, which was of fine quality.Pencroft's joy was therefore shared by all.
But it was necessary to bring down the remains of the balloon fromthe tree, 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, thatis 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.
It was a fortune which had fallen from the sky.
"All the same, captain," said the sailor, "if we ever decide to leavethe island, it won't be in a balloon, will it? These airboats won't gowhere we want them to go, and we have had some experience in that way!Look here, we will build a craft of some twenty tons, and then we canmake a main-sail, a foresail, and a jib out of that cloth. As to therest of it, 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 while 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't meanfrom 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 over theMercy, so as to establish an easy communication with the south of theisland; then the cart must be taken to bring back the balloon, for thecanoe alone could not carry it, then they would build a decked boat, andPencroft would rig it as a cutter, and they would be able to undertakevoyages of circumnavigation round the island, etc.
In the meanwhile night came on, and it was already dark when thesettlers reached Flotsam Point, where they had found the precious chest.
The distance between Flotsam Point and Granite House was another fourmiles, and it was midnight when, after having followed the shore to themouth of the Mercy, the settlers arrived at the first angle formed bythe Mercy.
There the river was eighty feet in breadth, which was awkward to cross,but as Pencroft had taken upon himself to conquer this difficulty, hewas compelled to do it. The settlers certainly had reason to be prettytired. The journey had been long, and the task of getting down theballoon had not rested either their arms or legs. T
hey were anxiousto reach Granite House to eat and sleep, and if the bridge had beenconstructed, in a quarter of an hour they would have been 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 the Mercy.He and Neb, armed with axes, chose two trees near the water, and beganto attack them at the base.
Cyrus Harding and Spilett, seated on the bank, waited till theircompanions were ready for their help, while Herbert roamed about, thoughwithout going to any distance. All at once, the lad, who had strolled bythe river, came running back, and, pointing up the Mercy, exclaimed,--
"What is floating there?"
Pencroft stopped working, and seeing an indistinct object moving throughthe gloom,--
"A canoe!" cried he.
All approached, and saw to their extreme surprise, a boat floating downthe current.
"Boat ahoy!" shouted the sailor, without thinking that perhaps it wouldbe best to keep silence.
No reply. The boat still drifted onward, and it was not more than twelvefeet 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 current shouldhave swept it away out of the mouth of the river, but Neb and Pencroftcleverly managed this by means of a long pole.
The canoe touched the shore. The engineer leaped 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 Harding.
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, that theboat should arrive just at the moment when the settlers were there toseize it on its way, for a quarter of an hour earlier or later it wouldhave been lost in the sea.
If they had been living in the time of genii, this incident wouldhave given them the right to think that the island was haunted by somesupernatural being, who used his power in the service of the castaways!
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 for thefirst steps, uttered a cry.
There was no longer a ladder!