L'île mystérieuse. English

by Jules Verne

  Chapter 20

  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 of fromforty to forty-five miles an hour, before which a ship in the open seawould have run under close-reefed topsails. Now, as it was nearly sixo'clock when the "Bonadventure" reached the gulf, and as at thatmoment the tide turned, it was impossible to enter. They were thereforecompelled to stand off, for even if he had wished to do so, Pencroftcould not have gained the mouth of the Mercy. Hoisting the jib to themainmast by way of a storm-sail, he hove to, putting the head of thevessel 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 fromthe waves, which always endanger small craft. The "Bonadventure" woulddoubtlessly not have capsized, for she was well ballasted, but enormousmasses of water falling on the deck might injure her if her timberscould not sustain them. Pencroft, as a good sailor, was preparedfor anything. Certainly, he had great confidence in his vessel, butnevertheless he awaited the return of day with some anxiety.

  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. GideonSpilett did not cease from pondering over this new and inexplicableincident, the appearance of a fire on the coast of the island. The firehad actually been seen! His companions, Herbert and Pencroft, had seenit with him! The fire had served to signalize the position of the islandduring that dark night, and they had not doubted that it was lighted bythe engineer's hand; and here was Cyrus Harding expressly declaring thathe had never done anything of the sort! Spilett resolved to recur tothis incident as soon as the "Bonadventure" returned, and to urge CyrusHarding to acquaint their companions with these strange facts. Perhapsit would be decided to make in common a complete investigation of everypart of Lincoln Island.

  However that might be, on this evening no fire was lighted on these yetunknown shores, which formed the entrance to the gulf, and the littlevessel 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 which awhole fleet could lie at their ease!"

  "What is especially curious," observed Harding, "is that the gulfhas been 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 of aharbor in the Pacific, I don't think they would ever find a better placethan this!"

  "We are in the shark's mouth," remarked Neb, alluding to the form of thegulf.

  "Right into its mouth, my honest Neb!" replied Herbert, "but you are notafraid that it will shut upon us, are you?"

  "No, Mr. Herbert," answered Neb, "and yet this gulf here doesn't pleaseme 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, "for adepth sufficient for the keel of the 'Bonadventure' would not be enoughfor 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 cord measurednearly fifty fathoms, and its entire length was unrolled without findingany 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 were perfectlyperpendicular; and I believe that at their foot, even with a line fiveor six times longer, Pencroft would not find bottom."

  "That is all very well," then said the reporter, "but I must point outto Pencroft that his harbor is wanting in one very important respect!"

  "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, infact, the steep lava cliffs did not afford a single place suitable forlanding. They formed an insuperable barrier, recalling, but with morewildness, the fiords of Norway. The "Bonadventure," coasting as closeas possible along the cliffs, did not discover even a projection whichwould 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 towards GraniteHouse, and a fair wind filling her sails, she ran rapidly along thecoast.

  To the enormous lava rocks succeeded soon those capricious sand dunes,among which the engineer had been so singularly recovered, and whichseabirds 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 at fiveo'clock the anchor of the "Bonadventure" was buried in the sand at themouth 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 mysterious beingresided on it, it could only be under cover of the impenetrable forestof the Serpentine Peninsula, to which the colonists had not yet directedtheir investigations.

  Gideon Spilett discussed these things with the engineer, and it wasagreed that they should direct the attention of their companions to thestrange character of certain incidents which had occurred on the island,and of which the last was the most unaccountable.

  However, Harding, returning to the fact of a fire having been kindled onthe shore by an unknown hand, could not refrain from repeating for thetwentieth time to the reporter,--

  "But are you quite sure of having seen it? Was it not a partial eruptionof the volcano, or perhaps some meteor?"

  "No, Cyrus," answered the reporter, "it was certainly a fire lighted bythe hand of man. Besides; question Pencroft and Herbert. They saw it asI 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 consciousness ofmy 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 miles fromthe 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 water of the lake, after hisstruggle with the dugong?"

  "No! I confess, not at all," replied Pencroft, "and the wound which thedugong had in its side, a wound which seemed to have been made with asharp instrument; that can't be understood, either."

  "Let us continue again," said Harding. "Have you understood, my friends,how that bullet got into the body of the young peccary; how that casehappened to be so fortunately stranded, without there being any traceof a wreck; how that bottle containing the document presented itselfso opportunely, during our first sea-excursion; how our canoe, havingbroken its moorings, floated down the current of the Mercy and rejoinedus at the very moment we needed it; how after the ape invasion theladder was so obligingly thrown down from Granite House; and lastly, howthe document, which Ayrton asserts was never written by him, fell intoour hands?"

  As Cyrus Harding thus enumerated, without forgetting one, the singularincidents which had occurred in the island, Herbert, Neb, and Pencroftstared at each other, not knowing what to reply, for this succession ofincidents, grouped thus for the first time, could not but excite theirsurprise 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 of thefirst magnitude!"

  "But was it not a star?" urged the engineer.

  "No," replied Pencroft, "for the sky was covered with thick clouds, andat any rate a star would not have been so low on the horizon. But Mr.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 on theheights of Granite House."

  "Well, my friends," replied Cyrus Harding, "during the night of the 19thof 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 a fireappeared on the coast, it was lighted by another hand than ours!"

  Pencroft, Herbert, and Neb were stupefied. No illusion could bepossible, and a fire had actually met their eyes during the night of the19th of October. Yes! they had to acknowledge it, a mystery existed! Aninexplicable influence, evidently favorable to the colonists, but veryirritating to their curiosity, was executed always in the nick of timeon Lincoln Island. Could there be some being hidden in its profoundestrecesses? It was necessary at any cost to ascertain this.

  Harding also reminded his companions of the singular behavior of Top andJup when they prowled round the mouth of the well, which placed GraniteHouse in communication with the sea, and he told them that he hadexplored the well, without discovering anything suspicious. The finalresolve taken, in consequence of this conversation, by all the membersof the colony, was that as soon as the fine season returned they wouldthoroughly 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, towhom, willing or not, he felt subject. Neb and he often talked of thoseunaccountable things, and both, their natures inclining them to themarvelous, were not far from believing that Lincoln Island was under thedominion 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 wouldbe severe and forward. The preparations for the winter season weretherefore commenced without delay.

  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 woolnecessary 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, as soonas the last work at the corral was finished. He did this towards themiddle of April. From that time Ayrton shared the common life, and madehimself useful on all occasions; but still humble and sad, he never tookpart in the pleasures of his companions.

  For the greater part of this, the third winter which the settlers passedin Lincoln Island, they were confined to Granite House. There were manyviolent storms and frightful tempests, which appeared to shake the rocksto their very foundations. Immense waves threatened to overwhelm theisland, and certainly any vessel anchored near the shore would havebeen dashed to pieces. Twice, during one of these hurricanes, the Mercyswelled to such a degree as to give reason to fear that the bridgeswould be swept away, and it was necessary to strengthen those on theshore, which disappeared under the foaming waters, when the sea beatagainst the beach.

  It may well be supposed that such storms, comparable to water-spouts inwhich were mingled rain and snow, would cause great havoc on theplateau of Prospect Heights. The mill and the poultry-yard particularlysuffered. The colonists were often obliged to make immediate repairs,without which the safety of the birds would have been seriouslythreatened.

  During the worst weather, several jaguars and troops of quadrumanaventured to the edge of the plateau, and it was always to be feared thatthe most active and audacious would, urged by hunger, manage to crossthe stream, which besides, when frozen, offered them an easy passage.Plantations and domestic animals would then have been infalliblydestroyed, without a constant watch, and it was often necessary tomake use of the guns to keep those dangerous visitors at a respectfuldistance. Occupation was not wanting to the colonists, for withoutreckoning their out-door cares, they had always a thousand plans for thefitting up of Granite House.

  They had also some fine sporting excursions, which were made during thefrost in the vast Tadorn Marsh. Gideon Spilett and Herbert, aided byJup and Top, did not miss a shot in the midst of myriads of wild-duck,snipe,
teal, and others. The access to these hunting-grounds was easy;besides, whether they reached them by the road to Port Balloon, afterhaving passed the Mercy Bridge, or by turning the rocks from FlotsamPoint, the hunters were never distant from Granite House more than twoor three miles.

  Thus passed the four winter months, which were really rigorous, that isto say, June, July, August, and September. But, in short, Granite Housedid not suffer much from the inclemency of the weather, and it wasthe same with the corral, which, less exposed than the plateau, andsheltered partly by Mount Franklin, only received the remains of thehurricanes, already broken by the forests and the high rocks of theshore. The damages there were consequently of small importance, and theactivity and skill of Ayrton promptly repaired them, when some time inOctober 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 remained thoroughlyresolved that the island should be searched, even in those parts themost difficult to explore. But an event of the highest importance, andof which the consequences might be terrible, momentarily diverted fromtheir projects Cyrus Harding and his companions.

  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, from CapeMandible to Claw Cape.

  The horizon was beautifully clear, and the sea, undulating under a softbreeze, was as calm as the waters of a lake, sparkling here and thereunder 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 negative obtained,he went away to fix it by means of the chemicals deposited in a darknook of Granite House.

  Returning to the bright light, and examining it well, Herbert perceivedon his negative an almost imperceptible little spot on the sea horizon.He endeavored to make it disappear by reiterated washing, but could notaccomplish 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 the window.

  The telescope, after having slowly swept the horizon, at last stopped onthe looked-for spot, and Cyrus Harding, lowering it, pronounced one wordonly,--

  "A vessel!"

  And in fact a vessel was in sight, off Lincoln Island!