Willis the Pilot : A Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson

by Adrien Paul

  CHAPTER VII.

  THE SEARCH FOR THE UNKNOWN--THREE FLEETS ON DRY LAND--THEINDISCRETIONS OF A SUGAR CANE--LARBOARD AND STARBOARD--THE SUPPOSEDSENSIBILITY OF PLANTS--THE FLY-TRAP--VENDETTA--ROOT AND GERM--MINE ANDCOUNTERMINE--THE POLYPI--OVIPAROUS AND VIVIPAROUS--A QUID PRO QUO.

  "Have any of you been at Falcon's Nest lately?" inquired Becker, whenhe had verified the truth of Fritz's intelligence.

  "None of us," unanimously replied all the boys.

  "You will understand that the question I put to you is, under thecircumstances in which we are placed, one of the greatest moment. If,therefore, there is any unseemly joking, any trick, or secret projectin contemplation, with which this affair is connected, do not concealit any longer."

  All the boys again reiterated their innocence of the matter inquestion.

  Becker then called to mind the mysterious disappearance of Willis,and, although they were too short in duration to admit of his havingbeen at Falcon's Nest, still he deemed it advisable to put thequestion to him individually.

  Willis declared that the present was the first time he had been in thevicinity of the Nest, and his word was known to be sacred.

  "There can be no mistake then," said Becker; "the traces areself-evident. This is altogether a circumstance calculated to give usserious uneasiness. Nevertheless, we must view the matter calmly, andconsider what steps we should take to unravel the mystery."

  "Let us instantly beat up the island," suggested Fritz.

  "It appears to me," remarked Willis, "that the _Nelson_ has beenwrecked after all, and that one of the men has escaped."

  "That," replied Ernest, "is very unlikely. All the crew knew that theisland was inhabited, and consequently, had any one of them beenthrown on shore, he would have come at once to Rockhouse, and notstopped here."

  "As regards the Captain or Lieutenant Dunsley," said Willis, "who wereon shore, and could easily find their way, what you say is quite true;but the men were kept on board; and if we suppose that a sailor hadbeen thrown on the opposite coast, he would not be able to determinehis position in fifteen days."

  "Much less could he expect to find a villa in a fig-tree."

  "To say nothing of the light that has been kept burning recently onShark's Island, nor of the buildings with which the land is strewn,nor the fields and plantations that are to be met with in alldirections. For, although a swallow alone is sufficient to convey theseeds of a forest from one continent to another, still it requires thehand of man to arrange the trees in rows and furnish them with props."

  "Perhaps we may have crossed each other on the way; and the stranger,after passing the night here, has steered, by some circuitous route,in the direction of Safety Bay."

  "May it not have been a large monkey," suggested Jack, "who hasresolved to play us a trick for having massacred its companions atWaldeck?"

  "Monkeys," replied Ernest, "do not generally open doors, and, seeingno bed prepared for them, go down stairs and collect material for amattress. You may just as well fancy that the monkey, in this case,came to pass the night at Falcon's Nest with a cigar in its mouth."

  "Then he must have been dreadfully annoyed to find neither slippersnor a night-cap."

  "There is, unquestionably, a wide field of supposition open for us,"said Becker; "but that need not prevent us taking active measures toarrive at the truth. Our first duty is to care for the safety of theladies; Mr. Wolston is still ailing and feeble, so that, if a strangerwere suddenly to appear amongst them, they might be terriblyalarmed."

  "There are six of us here," remarked Willis, "the cream of our sea andland forces; we could divide ourselves into three squadrons, one ofwhich might sail for Rockhouse."

  "Just so; let Fritz and Frank start for Rockhouse."

  "And what shall we say to the ladies, father?" inquired the latter;"it does not seem to me necessary to alarm our mother, Mrs. Wolston,and the young ladies, until something more certain is ascertained."

  "Your idea is good, my son, and I thank you for bringing it forward;it is one of those that arise from the heart rather than the head."

  "We have, only to find a pretext for their sudden return," observedErnest.

  "Very well," said Jack, "they have only to say it is too hot to work."

  "Just as if it were not quite as hot for us as for them. Your excuse,Jack, is not particularly artistic."

  "Might they not as well say they had forgotten a tool or a pockethandkerchief?"

  "Or, better still, that they had forgotten to shut the door when theyleft, and came back to repair the omission."

  "We shall say," replied Fritz, "that, finding there were twelve strongarms here to do what my father accomplished fifteen years ago byhimself--for the assistance of us boys could not then be reckoned--wewere ashamed of ourselves, and had returned to Rockhouse to makeourselves useful in repairing the damage to the gallery caused by thetempest."

  "Well, that excuse has, at least, the merit of being reasonable; andlet it be so. Fritz and Frank will return to Rockhouse; Ernest andmyself will continue the work in hand, and receive the friend or enemywhich God has sent us, should he return to resume his quarters; Willisand Jack will investigate the neighborhood."

  "By land or water, Willis?" inquired Jack.

  "By land, Master Jack, for this cruise. I shall abandon the helm toyou, for I know nothing of the shoals here-abouts."

  "If," continued Becker, "though highly improbable, any thing importantshould have happened, or should happen at Rockhouse, you will fire acannon, and we will be with you immediately. Willis and Jack willdischarge a rifle if threatened with danger; and we shall do the sameon our side, if we require assistance."

  "It is a pity," remarked Jack, "that we had not two or threefour-pounders amongst the provisions."

  "I scarcely regard this matter as altogether a subject for joking,"continued Becker, "and sincerely hope that all our precautions mayprove useless. Take each of you a rifle and proceed with caution;above all, do not go far apart from each other; do not fire withouttaking good aim, and only in case of self-defence or absolutenecessity; for this time it does not appear to be a question of bearsand hyenas, but, as far as we are able to judge, one of our ownspecies."

  Two of the squadrons then hauled off in different directions,carefully examining the ground as they went, beating up the thickets,and endeavoring to obtain some further trace of the stranger, in orderto confirm those at Falcon's Nest.

  The squadron of observation, in the meanwhile set diligently to work.A tree having been selected at about fifteen paces from that alreadyexisting, it was necessary, as on the former occasion, to discharge anarrow carrying the end of a line, and in such a way that the cordmight fall across some of the strongest branches; this done, thebamboo ladder was drawn up from the opposite side and held fast untilErnest had ascended and fastened it with nails to the top of the tree.

  Ernest then commenced lopping off the branches to the right and left,so as to form a space in the centre for their contemplated dwelling;whilst Becker himself below was making an entrance into the trunk,taking care to avoid an accident that formerly happened, by assuringhimself that a colony of bees had not already taken possession of theground. The gigantic fig-trees at Falcon's Nest being for the mostpart hollow, and supported in a great measure by the bark--like thewillows in Europe when they reach a certain stage of their growth--itwas easy to erect a staircase in the interior; still this was a workof time, and Becker had resolved in the meantime to give up thehabitation already constructed to Wolston and his family, at leastuntil such time as an entrance was attached to the new one that didnot require any extraordinary amount of gymnastics.

  A portion of the day had been occupied in these operations, whenWillis and Jack returned to the camp.

  "We have seen no one," said the Pilot.

  "But," said Jack, "we are on the track of Fritz's knife."

  "Be good enough to explain yourself."

  "Well, father, at the entrance to the cocoa-nut tree wood we
stumbledupon two sugar canes completely divested of their juice."

  "Which proves--" said Ernest; but his remark was cut short by Jack,who continued--

  "Not a bit of it; a philosopher would have passed these two worthlesssugar canes just as a place-hunter passes an overthrown minister, thatis, as unworthy of notice."

  "And what did you do?"

  "Well, I, the headless, the thoughtless, the stupid--for these are theepithets I am usually favored with--I took them up, scrutinized themcarefully, and discovered--"

  "That they were sugar canes."

  "In the first instance, yes."

  "Very clever, that!"

  "And then that they had not been torn up--_they had been cut_."

  "Is that all?"

  "Yes, most wise and learned brother, that is all; and I leave you todraw the inferences."

  "I may add," observed the sailor, "that, as we were steering for theplantation, myself on the starboard and Jack on the larboard--"

  "On the what?"

  "Master Jack on the left and myself on the right."

  "That I pitched right over these canes without ever noticing them."

  "Which is not much to be wondered at; Willis has been so long at seathat he has no confidence in the solidity of the land; during ourcruise, he kept a look-out after the wind, expecting, I suppose, thatit would perform some of the wonderful things you spoke of thismorning."

  "After all," observed Becker, "this is another link in the chain ofevidence, and I congratulate Jack on his sagacity in tracing it."

  "But the affair is as much a mystery as ever."

  "True; and the solution may probably be awaiting us at Rockhouse."

  The united squadrons then started on their homeward voyage, Jackthrusting his nose into every bush, and carefully scanning all thestray objects that seemed to be out of their normal position.

  "If these plants and bushes had tongues," said Jack, "they couldprobably give us the information we require."

  "Do you think," inquired Ernest, "that plants and bushes are utterlywithout sensation?"

  "Faith, I can't say," replied Jack; "perhaps they can speak if theyliked--probably they have an idiom of their own. You, that know alllanguages, and a great many more besides, possibly can converse withthem."

  "I should like to know," said Becker, "why you two gentlemen arealways snarling at each other; it is neither amusing nor amiable."

  "Ernest is continually showing me up, father, and it is but fair thatI should be allowed to retort now and then. But to return to plants,Ernest; you say they have nerves?"

  "If they have," said Willis, "they do not seem to possess the bottleof salts that most nervous ladies usually have."

  "No," replied Ernest, "they have no nerves, properly so called; butthere are plants, and I may add many plants, which, by theirqualities--I may almost say by their intelligence--seem to be placedmuch higher in the scale of creation than they really are. Thesensitive plant, for example, shrinks when it is touched; tulips opentheir petals when the weather is fine, and shut them again at sunsetor when it rains; wild barley, when placed on a table, often moves byitself, especially when it has been first warmed by the hand; theheliotrope always turns the face of its flowers to the sun."

  "A still more singular instance of this kind was recently discoveredin Carolina," remarked Becker; "it is called the _fly-trap_. Its roundleaves secrete a sugary fluid, and are covered with a number of ridgeswhich are extremely irritable: whenever a fly touches the surface theleaf immediately folds inwards, contracts, and continues this processtill its victim is either pierced with its spines or stifled by thepressure."

  "It is probably a Corsican plant," observed Jack, "whose ancestorshave had a misunderstanding with the brotherhood of flies, and haveleft the _Vendetta_ as a legacy to their descendants."

  "There is nothing in Nature," continued Ernest, "so obstinate as aplant. Let us take one, for example, at its birth, that is, to-day, atthe age when animals modify or acquire their instincts, and you willfind that your own will must yield to that of the plant."

  "If you mean to say that the plant will refuse to play on the flute orlearn to dance, were I to wish it to do so, I am entirely of youropinion."

  "No, but suppose you were to plant it upside down, with the plantuleabove and the radicle below; do you think it would grow that way?"

  "Plantule and radicle are ambitious words, my dear brother; recollectthat you are speaking to simple mortals."

  "Well, I mean root uppermost."

  "Right; I prefer that, don't you, Willis?"

  "Yes, Master Jack."

  "At first the radicle or root would begin by growing upwards, and theplantule or germ would descend."

  "That is quite in accordance with my revolutionary idiosyncracies."

  "You accused me just now of using ambitious words."

  "Well, I understand a revolution to mean, placing those above whoshould be below."

  "Nature then," continued Ernest, "very soon begins to assert herrights; the bud gradually twists itself round and ascends, whilst theroot obeys a similar impulse and descends--is not this a proof ofdiscernment?"

  "I see nothing more in it than a proof of the wonderful mechanism Godhas allotted to the plant, and is analogous to the movements of awatch, the hands of which point out the hours, minutes, and seconds oftime, and are yet not endowed with intelligence."

  "Very good, Jack," said Becker.

  "Suppose," continued Ernest, "that the ground in the neighborhood ofyour plant was of two very opposite qualities, that on the right, forexample, damp, rich, and spongy; that on the left, dry, poor, androcky; you would find that the roots, after growing for a time up ordown, as the case might be, will very soon change their route, andtake their course towards the rich and humid soil."

  "And quite right too," said Willis; "they prefer to go where they willbe best fed."

  "If, then, these roots stretched out to points where they wouldwithdraw the nourishment from other plants in the neighborhood--howcould you prevent it?"

  "By digging a ditch between them and the plants they threaten toimpoverish."

  "And do you suppose that would be sufficient?"

  "Yes, unless the plant you refer to was an engineer."

  "Therein lies the difficulty. Plants are engineers; they would sendtheir roots along the bottom of the ditch, or they would creep underit--at all events, the roots would find their way to the coveted soilin spite of you; if you dug a mine, they would countermine it, andobtain supplies from the opposite territory, and revenge themselvesthere for the scurvy treatment to which they had been subjected. Whatcould you do then?"

  "In that case, I should admit myself defeated."

  "If," continued Ernest, "we present a sponge saturated with water tothe naked roots of a plant, they will slowly, but steadily, directthemselves towards it; and, turn the sponge whichever way you will,they will take the same direction."

  "It has been concluded," remarked Becker, "from these incontestablefacts, that plants are not devoid of sensibility; and, in fact, whenwe behold them lying down at sunset as if dead, and come to life againnext morning, we are forced to recognise a degree of irritability inthe vegetable organs which very closely resemble those of the animaleconomy."

  "In future," said Jack, "I shall take care not to tread upon a weed,lost, being hurt, it should scream."

  "On the other hand, they have not been found to possess any other signof this supposed sensibility. All their other functions seem perfectlymechanical."

  "Ah then, father," exclaimed Jack, "you are a believer in my system!"

  "We make them grow and destroy them, without observing anythinganalogous to the sensation we feel in rearing, wounding, or killing ananimal."

  "But the fly-trap, father, what of that?"

  "It is no exception. The fly-trap seizes any small body that touchesit, as well as an insect, and with the same tenacity; hence, we mayreadily conclude that these actions, so apparently spontaneous, are inre
ality nothing more than remarkable developments of the laws ofirritability peculiar to plants."

  "It does not, then, spring from a family feud, as Jack supposed?"remarked Willis.

  "Besides," continued Becker, "if plants really existed, possessingwhat is understood by the term sensation, they would be animals."

  "For a like reason, animals without sensation would be plants."

  "Evidently. Moreover, the transition from vegetable to animal life isalmost imperceptible, so much so, that polypi, such as corals andsponges, were for a long time supposed to be marine plants."

  "And what are they?" inquired Willis.

  "Insects that live in communities that form a multitude of contiguouscells; some of these are begun at the bottom of the sea andaccumulated perpendicularly, one layer being continually depositedover another till the surface is reached."

  "Then the coral reefs, that render navigation so perilous in unknownseas, are the work of insects?"

  "Exactly so, Willis."

  "Might they not as well consist of multitudes of insects piled heapsupon heaps?"

  "It is in a great measure as you say, Willis."

  "Not I--I do not say it--quite the contrary."

  "Well, Willis, you are at liberty to believe it or not, as you thinkproper."

  "I hope so; we shall, therefore, put the polypi with Ernest's starsand Jack's admirals."

  "So be it, Willis; but to resume the subject. There is a remarkableanalogy in many respects between the lower orders of animals andplants, the bulb is to the latter what the egg is to the former. Thegerm does not pierce the bulb till it attains a certain organization,and it remains attached by fibres to the parent substance, from which,for a time, it receives nourishment."

  "Not unlike the young of animals," remarked Willis.

  "When the germ has shot out roots and a leaf or two, it then, but nottill then, relinquishes the parent bulb. The plant then grows by anextension and multiplication of its parts, and this extension isaccompanied by an increasing induration of the fibres. The samephenomena are observed as regards animals."

  "Curious!" said Willis.

  "Animals, however, are sometimes oviparous."

  "Oviparous?" inquired Willis.

  "Yes, that is, they lay eggs; others are viviparous, producing theiryoung alive. A few are multiplied like plants by cuttings, as in thecase of the polypi."

  "Bother the polypi," said Willis, laughing, "since we have to thankthem for destroying some of his Majesty's ships."

  "Then again," continued Becker, "both plants and animals are subjectto disease, decay, and death."

  "But, father, if the analogies are remarkable, the differences are notless marked."

  "Well, Ernest, I shall leave you to point them out."

  "Without reckoning the faculty of feeling, that cannot be denied tothe one nor granted to the other, the most striking of thesedistinctions consists in the circumstance that animals can changeplace, whilst this faculty is absolutely refused to plants."

  "If we except those," remarked Jack, "that insist upon travelling tothe succulent parts of the earth, and are as indefatigable in diggingtunnels as the renowned Brunel."

  "Then plants are obliged to accept the nourishment that their fixedposition furnishes to them; whilst animals, on the contrary, by meansof their external organs, can range far and near in search of thealiments most congenial to their appetites."

  "Which is often very capricious," remarked Willis.

  "Then, considered with regard to magnitude, the two kingdoms presentremarkable distinctions; the interval between a whale and a mite isgreater than between the moss and the oak."

  "Ho!" cried Jack, "there is Miss Sophia coming to meet us, Willis."

  "Perhaps they have news at the grotto."

  "Well," inquired the child, "have you seen them?"

  "Good," thought Becker, "our chatterers have not been able to holdtheir tongues; I am surprised at that as regards Frank."

  "We expected to have found them at Rockhouse."

  "To have found whom?"

  "The sailors from the wreck."

  "What wreck?"

  "The _Nelson_."

  "I sincerely hope that the _Nelson_ has not been wrecked."

  "In that case, whom do you refer to yourself, Miss Sophia?"

  "To your go-cart and my doll, Master Jack."