"Well," replied Cyrus Harding, "that will be exactly the most favourable
time for undertaking a voyage of any importance, either to Tabor Island
or to a more distant land."
"So it will, captain," answered the sailor. "Make out your plans then;
the workmen are ready, and I imagine that Ayrton can lend us a good
helping hand."
The colonists, having been consulted, approved the engineer's plan, and
it was, indeed, the best thing to be done. It is true that the
construction of a ship of from two to three hundred tons would be great
labour, but the colonists had confidence in themselves, justified by
their previous success.
Cyrus Harding then busied himself in drawing the plan of the vessel and
making the model. During this time his companions employed themselves
in felling and carting trees to furnish the ribs, timbers, and planks.
The forest of the Far West supplied the best oaks and elms. They took
advantage of the opening already made on their last excursion to form a
practicable road, which they named the Far West Road, and the trees were
carried to the Chimneys, where the dockyard was established. As to the
road in question, the choice of trees had rendered its direction
somewhat capricious, but that at the same time facilitated the access to
a large part of the Serpentine Peninsula.
It was important that the trees should be quickly felled and cut up, for
they could not be used while yet green, and some time was necessary to
allow them to get seasoned. The carpenters, therefore, worked
vigorously during the month of April, which was troubled only by a few
equinoctial gales of some violence. Master Jup aided them dexterously,
either by climbing to the top of a tree to fasten the ropes or by
lending his stout shoulders to carry the lopped trunks.
All this timber was piled up under a large shed, built near the
Chimneys, and there awaited the time for use.
The month of April was tolerably fine, as October often is in the
northern zone. At the same time other work was actively continued, and
soon all trace of devastation disappeared from the plateau of Prospect
Heights. The mill was rebuilt, and new buildings rose in the
poultry-yard. It had appeared necessary to enlarge their dimensions,
for the feathered population had increased considerably. The stable now
contained five onagas, four of which were well broken, and allowed
themselves to be either driven or ridden, and a little colt. The colony
now possessed a plough, to which the onagas were yoked like regular
Yorkshire or Kentucky oxen. The colonists divided their work, and their
arms never tired. Then who could have enjoyed better health than these
workers, and what good humour enlivened the evenings in Granite House as
they formed a thousand plans for the future!
As a matter of course Ayrton shared the common lot in every respect, and
there was no longer any talk of his going to live at the corral.
Nevertheless he was still sad and reserved, and joined more in the work
than in the pleasures of his companions. But he was a valuable workman
at need--strong, skilful, ingenious, intelligent. He was esteemed and
loved by all, and he could not be ignorant of it.
In the meanwhile the corral was not abandoned. Every other day one of
the settlers, driving the cart or mounted on an onaga, went to look
after the flock of musmons and goats and bring back the supply of milk
required by Neb. These excursions at the same time afforded
opportunities for hunting. Therefore Herbert and Gideon Spilett, with
Top in front, traversed more often than their companions the road to the
corral, and with the capital guns which they carried, capybaras,
agouties, kangaroos, and wild pigs for large game, ducks, tetras,
grouse, jacamars, and snipe for small, were never wanting in the house.
The produce of the warren, of the oyster-bed, several turtles which were
taken, excellent salmon which came up the Mercy, vegetables from the
plateau, wild fruit from the forest, were riches upon riches, and Neb,
the head cook, could scarcely by himself store them away.
The telegraphic wire between the corral and Granite House had of course
been repaired, and it was worked whenever one or other of the settlers
was at the corral and found it necessary to spend the night there.
Besides, the island was safe now and no attacks were to be feared, at
any rate from men.
However, that which had happened might happen again. A descent of
pirates, or even of escaped convicts, was always to be feared. It was
possible that companions or accomplices of Bob Harvey had been in the
secret of his plans, and might be tempted to imitate him. The
colonists, therefore, were careful to observe the sea around the island,
and every day their telescope swept the horizon enclosed by the Union
and Washington Bays. When they went to the corral they examined the sea
to the west with no less attention, and by climbing the spur their gaze
extended over a large section of the western horizon.
Nothing suspicious was discerned, but still it was necessary for them to
be on their guard.
The engineer one evening imparted to his friends a plan which he had
conceived for fortifying the corral. It appeared prudent to him to
heighten the palisade and to flank it with a sort of block-house, which,
if necessary, the settlers could hold against the enemy. Granite House
might, by its very position, be considered impregnable; therefore the
corral with its buildings, its stores, and the animals it contained,
would always be the object of pirates, whoever they were, who might land
on the island, and should the colonists be obliged to shut themselves up
there they ought also to be able to defend themselves without any
disadvantage. This was a project which might be left for consideration,
and they were, besides, obliged to put off its execution until the next
spring.
About the 15th of May the keel of the new vessel lay along the dockyard,
and soon the stem and stern-post, mortised at each of its extremities,
rose almost perpendicularly. The keel, of good oak, measured 110 feet
in length, this allowing a width of five-and-twenty feet to the midship
beam. But this was all the carpenters could do before the arrival of
the frosts and bad weather. During the following week they fixed the
first of the stern timbers, but were then obliged to suspend work.
During the last days of the month the weather was extremely bad. The
wind blew from the east, sometimes with the violence of a tempest. The
engineer was somewhat uneasy on account of the dockyard sheds--which,
besides, he could not have established in any other place near to
Granite House--for the islet only imperfectly sheltered the shore from
the fury of the open sea, and in great storms the waves beat against the
very foot of the granite cliff.
But, very fortunately, these fears were not realised. The wind shifted
to the south-east, and there the beach of Granite House was completely
covered by Flotsam Point.
Pencroft and Ayrton, the most zealous workmen at the new vessel, pursued
their labour as long as they could. They were not men to mind the wind
tearing at their hair, nor the rain wetting them to the skin, and a blow
from a hammer is worth just as much in bad as in fine weather. But when
a severe frost succeeded this wet period, the wood, its fibres acquiring
the hardness of iron, became extremely difficult to work, and about the
10th of June ship-building was obliged to be entirely discontinued.
Cyrus Harding and his companions had not omitted to observe how severe
was the temperature during the winters of Lincoln Island. The cold was
comparable to that experienced in the States of New England, situated at
almost the same distance from the equator. In the northern hemisphere,
or at any rate in the part occupied by British America and the north of
the United States, this phenomenon is explained by the flat conformation
of the territories bordering on the pole, and on which there is no
intumescence of the soil to oppose any obstacle to the north winds;
here, in Lincoln Island, this explanation would not suffice.
"It has even been observed," remarked Harding one day to his companions,
"that in equal latitudes the islands and coast regions are less tried by
the cold than inland countries. I have often heard it asserted that the
winters of Lombardy, for example, are not less rigorous than those of
Scotland, which results from the sea restoring during the winter the
heat which it received during the summer. Islands are, therefore, in a
better situation for benefiting by this restitution."
"But then, Captain Harding," asked Herbert, "why does Lincoln Island
appear to escape the common law?"
"That is difficult to explain," answered the engineer. "However, I
should be disposed to conjecture that this peculiarity results from the
situation of the island in the southern hemisphere, which, as you know,
my boy, is colder than the northern hemisphere."
"Yes," said Herbert, "and icebergs are met with in lower latitudes in
the south than in the north of the Pacific."
"That is true," remarked Pencroft, "and when I have been serving on
board whalers I have seen icebergs off Cape Horn."
"The severe cold experienced in Lincoln Island," said Gideon Spilett,
"may then perhaps be explained by the presence of floes or icebergs
comparatively near to Lincoln Island."
"Your opinion is very admissible indeed, my dear Spilett," answered
Cyrus Harding, "and it is evidently to the proximity of icebergs that we
owe our rigorous winters. I would draw your attention also to an
entirely physical cause, which renders the southern colder than the
northern hemisphere. In fact, since the sun is nearer to this
hemisphere during the summer, it is necessarily more distant during the
winter. This explains then the excess of temperature in the two
seasons, for, if we find the winters very cold in Lincoln Island, we
must not forget that the summers here, on the contrary, are very hot."
"But why, if you please, captain," asked Pencroft, knitting his brows,
"why should our hemisphere, as you say, be so badly divided? It isn't
just, that!"
"Friend Pencroft," answered the engineer, laughing, "whether just or
not, we must submit to it, and here lies the reason for this
peculiarity. The earth does not describe a circle round the sun, but an
ellipse, as it must by the laws of rational mechanics. Now, the earth
occupies one of the centres of the ellipse, and consequently, at the
time of its transfer, it is further from the sun, that is to say, at its
apogee, and at another time nearer, that is to say, at its perigee. Now
it happens that it is during the winter of the southern countries that
it is at its most distant point from the sun, and consequently, in a
situation for those regions to feel the greatest cold. Nothing can be
done to prevent that, and men, Pencroft, however learned they may be,
can never change anything of the cosmographical order established by God
Himself."
"And yet," added Pencroft, persisting, "the world is very learned. What
a big book, captain, might be made with all that is known!"
"And what a much bigger book still with all that is not known!" answered
Harding.
At last, for one reason or another, the month of June brought the cold
with its accustomed intensity, and the settlers were often confined to
Granite House. Ah! how wearisome this imprisonment was to them, and
more particularly to Gideon Spilett.
"Look here," said he to Neb one day, "I would give you by notarial deed
all the estates which will come to me some day, if you were a
good-enough fellow to go, no matter where, and subscribe to some
newspaper for me! Decidedly the thing that is most essential to my
happiness is the knowing every morning what has happened the day before
in other places than this!"
Neb began to laugh.
"'Pon my word," he replied, "the only thing I think about is my daily
work!"
The truth was that indoors as well as out there was no want of work.
The colony of Lincoln Island was now at its highest point of prosperity,
achieved by three years of continued hard work. The destruction of the
brig had been a new source of riches. Without speaking of the complete
rig which would serve for the vessel now on the stocks, utensils and
tools of all sorts, weapons and ammunition, clothes and instruments,
were now piled in the store-rooms of Granite House. It had not even
been necessary to resort again to the manufacture of the coarse felt
materials. Though the colonists had suffered from cold during their
first winter, the bad season might now come without their having any
reason to dread its severity. Linen was plentiful also, and besides,
they kept it with extreme care. From chloride of sodium, which is
nothing else than sea salt, Cyrus Harding easily extracted the soda and
chlorine. The soda, which it was easy to change into carbonate of soda,
and the chlorine, of which he made chloride of lime, were employed for
various domestic purposes, and especially in bleaching linen. Besides,
they did not wash more than four times a year, as was done by families
in the olden time, and it may be added, that Pencroft and Gideon
Spilett, whilst waiting for the postman to bring him his newspaper,
distinguished themselves as washermen.
So passed the winter months, June, July, and August. They were very
severe, and the average observations of the thermometer did not give
more than eight degrees of Fahrenheit. It was therefore lower in
temperature than the preceding winter. But then, what splendid fires
blazed continually on the hearths of Granite House, the smoke marking
the granite wall with long, zebra-like streaks! Fuel was not spared, as
it grew naturally a few steps from them. Besides, the chips of the wood
destined for the construction of the ship enabled them to economise the
coal, which required more trouble to transport.
Men and animals were all well. Master Jup was a little chilly, it must
be confessed. This was perhaps his only weakness, and it was necessary
to make him a well-wadded dressing-gown. But what a servant he was,
clever, zealous, indefatigable, not indiscreet, not talkative, and he
might have been with reason proposed as a model for all his biped
brothers in the Old and the New World!
"As for that," said Pencroft, "when one has four hands at one's service,
of course one's work ought to be done so much the better!"
And indeed the intelligent creature did it well.
During the seven months which had passed since the last researches made
round the mountain, and during the month of September, which brought
back fine weather, nothing was heard of the genius of the island. His
power was not manifested in any way. It is true that it would have been
inutile, for no incident occurred to put the colonists to any painful
trial.
Cyrus Harding even observed that if by chance the communication between
the unknown and the tenants of Granite House had ever been established
through the granite, and if Top's instinct had as it were felt it, there
was no further sign of it during this period. The dog's growling had
entirely ceased, as well as the uneasiness of the orang. The two
friends--for they were so--no longer prowled round the opening of the
inner well, nor did they bark or whine in that singular way which from
the first the engineer had noticed. But could he be sure that this was
all that was to be said about this enigma, and that he should never
arrive at a solution? Could he be certain that some conjuncture would
not occur which would bring the mysterious personage on the scene? Who
could tell what the future might have in reserve?
At last the winter was ended, but an event, the consequences of which
might be serious, occurred in the first days of the returning spring.
On the 7th of September, Cyrus Harding, having observed the crater, saw
smoke curling round the summit of the mountain, its first vapours rising
in the air.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
THE AWAKENING OF THE VOLCANO--THE FINE SEASON--CONTINUATION OF WORK--THE
EVENING OF THE 15TH OF OCTOBER--A TELEGRAM--A QUESTION--AN ANSWER--
DEPARTURE FOR THE CORRAL--THE NOTICE--THE ADDITIONAL WIRE--THE BASALT
COAST--AT HIGH TIDE--AT LOW TIDE--THE CAVERN--A DAZZLING LIGHT.
The colonists, warned by the engineer, left their work and gazed in
silence at the summit of Mount Franklin.
The volcano had awoke, and the vapour had penetrated the mineral layer
heaped up at the bottom of the crater. But would the subterranean fires
provoke any violent eruption? This was an event which could not be
foreseen. However, even while admitting the possibility of an eruption,
it was not probable that the whole of Lincoln Island would suffer from
it. The flow of volcanic matter is not always disastrous, and the
island had already undergone this trial, as was shown by the streams of
lava hardened on the northern slopes of the mountain. Besides, from the
shape of the crater--the opening broken in the upper edge--the matter
would be thrown to the side opposite the fertile regions of the island.
However, the past did not necessarily answer for the future. Often, at
the summit of volcanoes, the old craters close and new ones open. This
has occurred in the two hemispheres--at Etna, Popocatepetl, at Orizaba--
and on the eve of an eruption there is everything to be feared. In
fact, an earthquake--a phenomenon which often accompanies volcanic
eruptions--is enough to change the interior arrangement of a mountain,
and to open new outlets for the burning lava.
Cyrus Harding explained these things to his companions, and, without
exaggerating the state of things, he told them all the pros and cons.
After all they could not prevent it. It did not appear likely that
Granite House would be threatened unless the ground was shaken by an
earthquake. But the corral would be in great danger should a new crater
open in the southern side of Mount Franklin.
From that day the smoke never disappeared from the top of the mountain,
and it could even be perceived that it increased in height and
thickness, without any flame mingling in its heavy volumes. The
phenomenon was still concentrated in the lower part of the central
crater.
However, with the fine days work had been continued. The building of
the vessel was hastened as much as possible, and, by means of the
waterfall on the shore, Cyrus Harding managed to establish an hydraulic
saw-mill, which rapidly cut up the trunks of trees into planks and
joists. The mechanism of this apparatus was as simple as those used in
the rustic saw-mills of Norway. A first horizontal movement to move the
piece of wood, a second vertical movement to move the saw--this was all
that was wanted; and the engineer succeeded by means of a wheel, two
cylinders, and pulleys properly arranged. Towards the end of the month
of September the skeleton of the vessel, which was to be rigged as a
schooner, lay in the dockyard. The ribs were almost entirely completed,
and, all the timbers having been sustained by a provisional band, the
shape of the vessel could already be seen. This schooner, sharp in the
bows, very slender in the after-part, would evidently be suitable for a
long voyage, if wanted; but laying the planking would still take a
considerable time. Very fortunately, the iron-work of the pirate brig
had been saved after the explosion. From the planks and injured ribs
Pencroft and Ayrton had extracted the bolts and a large quantity of
copper nails. It was so much work saved for the smiths, but the
carpenters had much to do.
Ship-building was interrupted for a week for the harvest, the haymaking,
and the gathering in of the different crops on the plateau. This work
finished, every moment was devoted to finishing the schooner. When
night came the workmen were really quite exhausted. So as not to lose
any time they had changed the hours for their meals; they dined at
twelve o'clock, and only had their supper when daylight failed them.
They then ascended to Granite House, when they were always ready to go
to bed.
Sometimes, however, when the conversation bore on some interesting
subject the hour for sleep was delayed for a time. The colonists then
spoke of the future, and talked willingly of the changes which a voyage
in the schooner to inhabited lands would make in their situation. But
always, in the midst of these plans, prevailed the thought of a
subsequent return to Lincoln Island. Never would they abandon this
colony, founded with so much labour and with such success, and to which
a communication with America would afford a fresh impetus. Pencroft and
Neb especially hoped to end their days there.
"Herbert," said the sailor, "you will never abandon Lincoln Island?"
"Never, Pencroft, and especially if you make up your mind to stay
there."
"That was made up long ago, my boy," answered Pencroft. "I shall expect
you. You will bring me your wife and children, and I shall make jolly
little chaps of your youngsters!"
"That's agreed," replied Herbert, laughing and blushing at the same
time.
"And you, Captain Harding," resumed Pencroft enthusiastically, "you will
be still the governor of the island! Ah! how many inhabitants could it
support? Ten thousand at least!"
They talked in this way, allowing Pencroft to run on, and at last the
reporter actually started a newspaper--the -New Lincoln Herald-!
So is man's heart. The desire to perform a work which will endure,
which will survive him, is the origin of his superiority over all other
living creatures here below. It is this which has established his
dominion, and this it is which justifies it, over all the world.
After that, who knows if Jup and Top had not themselves their little
dream of the future.
Ayrton silently said to himself that he would like to see Lord Glenarvan
again and show himself to all restored.
One evening, on the 15th of October, the conversation was prolonged
later than usual. It was nine o'clock. Already, long badly-concealed
yawns gave warning of the hour of rest, and Pencroft was proceeding
towards his bed, when the electric bell, placed in the dining-room,
suddenly rang.
All were there, Cyrus Harding, Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Ayrton,
Pencroft, Neb. Therefore none of the colonists were at the corral.
Cyrus Harding rose. His companions stared at each other, scarcely
believing their ears.
"What does that mean?" cried Neb. "Was it the devil who rang it?"
No one answered.
"The weather is stormy," observed Herbert. "Might not its influence of
electricity--"
Herbert did not finish his phrase. The engineer, towards whom all eyes
were turned, shook his head negatively.
"We must wait," said Gideon Spilett. "If it is a signal, whoever it may
be who has made it, he will renew it."
"But who do you think it is?" cried Neb. "Who?" answered Pencroft, "but
he--"
The sailor's sentence was cut short by a new tinkle of the bell.
Harding went to the apparatus, and sent this question to the corral:--
"What do you want?"
A few moments later the needle, moving on the alphabetic dial, gave this
reply to the tenants of Granite House:--
"Come to the corral immediately."
"At last!" exclaimed Harding.
Yes! At last! The mystery was about to be unveiled. The colonists'
fatigue had disappeared before the tremendous interest which was about
to urge them to the corral, and all wish for rest had ceased. Without
having uttered a word, in a few moments they had left Granite House, and
were standing on the beach. Jup and Top alone were left behind. They
could do without them.
The night was black. The new moon had disappeared at the same time as
the sun. As Herbert had observed great stormy clouds formed a lowering
and heavy vault, preventing any star rays. A few lightning-flashes,
reflections from a distant storm, illuminated the horizon.
It was possible that a few hours later the thunder would roll over the
island itself. The night was very threatening. But however deep the
darkness was, it would not prevent them from finding the familiar road
to the corral.
They ascended the left bank of the Mercy, reached the plateau, passed
the bridge over Creek Glycerine, and advanced through the forest.
They walked at a good pace, a prey to the liveliest emotions. There was
no doubt but that they were now going to learn the long-searched-for
answer to the enigma, the name of that mysterious being, so deeply
concerned in their life, so generous in his influence, so powerful in
his action! Must not this stranger have indeed mingled with their
existence, have known the smallest details, have heard all that was said
in Granite House, to have been able always to act in the very nick of
time?
Every one, wrapped up in his own reflections, pressed forward. Under
the arch of trees the darkness was such that the edge of the road even
could not be seen. Not a sound in the forest. Both animals and birds,
influenced by the heaviness of the atmosphere, remained motionless and
silent. Not a breath disturbed the leaves. The footsteps of the
colonists alone resounded on the hardened ground.
During the first quarter of an hour the silence was only interrupted by
this remark from Pencroft:--
"We ought to have brought a torch."
And by this reply from the engineer:--
"We shall find one at the corral."
Harding and his companions had left Granite House at twelve minutes past
nine. At forty-seven minutes past nine they had traversed three out of
the five miles which separated the mouth of the Mercy from the corral.
At that moment sheets of lightning spread over the island and illumined
the dark trees. The flashes dazzled and almost blinded them. Evidently
the storm would not be long in bursting forth.
The flashes gradually became brighter and more rapid. Distant thunder
growled in the sky. The atmosphere was stifling.
The colonists proceeded as if they were urged onwards by some
irresistible force.
At ten o'clock a vivid flash showed them the palisade, and as they
reached the gate the storm burst forth with tremendous fury.
In a minute the corral was crossed, and Harding stood before the hut.
Probably the house was occupied by the stranger, since it was from
thence that the telegram had been sent. However, no light shone through
the window.
The engineer knocked at the door.
No answer.
Cyrus Harding opened the door, and the settlers entered the room, which
was perfectly dark. A light was struck by Neb, and in a few moments the
lantern was lighted and the light thrown into every corner of the room.
There was no one there. Everything was in the state in which it had
been left.
"Have we been deceived by an illusion?" murmured Cyrus Harding.
No! that was not possible! The telegram had clearly said--
"Come to the corral immediately."
They approached the table specially devoted to the use of the wire.
Everything was in order--the pile and the box containing it, as well as
all the apparatus.
"Who came here the last time?" asked the engineer.
"I did, captain," answered Ayrton.
"And that was--"
"Four days ago."
"Ah! a note!" cried Herbert, pointing to a paper lying on the table.
On this paper were written these words in English:--
"Follow the new wire."
"Forward!" cried Harding, who understood that the despatch had not been
sent from the corral, but from the mysterious retreat, communicating
directly with Granite House by means of a supplementary wire joined to
the old one.
Neb took the lighted lantern, and all left the corral. The storm then
burst forth with tremendous violence. The interval between each
lightning-flash and each thunder-clap diminished rapidly. The summit of
the volcano, with its plume of vapour, could be seen by occasional
flashes.
There was no telegraphic communication in any part of the corral between
the house and the palisade; but the engineer, running straight to the
first post, saw by the light of a flash a new wire hanging from the
isolater to the ground.
"There it is!" said he.
This wire lay along the ground, and was surrounded with an isolating
substance like a submarine cable, so as to assure the free transmission
of the current. It appeared to pass through the wood and the southern
spurs of the mountain, and consequently it ran towards the west.
"Follow it!" said Cyrus Harding.
And the settlers immediately pressed forward, guided by the wire.
The thunder continued to roar with such violence that not a word could
be heard. However, there was no occasion for speaking, but to get
forward as fast as possible.
Cyrus Harding and his companions then climbed the spur rising between
the corral valley and that of Falls River, which they crossed at its
narrowest part. The wire, sometimes stretched over the lower branches
of the trees, sometimes lying on the ground, guided them surely. The
engineer had supposed that the wire would perhaps stop at the bottom of
the valley, and that the stranger's retreat would be there.
Nothing of the sort. They were obliged to ascend the south-western
spur, and re-descend on that arid plateau terminated by the
strangely-wild basalt cliff. From time to time one of the colonists
stooped down and felt for the wire with his hands; but there was now no
doubt that the wire was running directly towards the sea. There, to a
certainty, in the depths of those rocks, was the dwelling so long sought
for in vain.
The sky was literally on fire. Flash succeeded flash. Several struck
the summit of the volcano in the midst of the thick smoke. It appeared
there as if the mountain was vomiting flame. At a few minutes to eleven
the colonists arrived on the high cliff overlooking the ocean to the
west. The wind had risen. The surf roared 500 feet below.
Harding calculated that they had gone a mile and a half from the coral.
At this point the wire entered among the rocks, following the steep side
of a narrow ravine. The settlers followed it at the risk of occasioning
a fall of the slightly-balanced rocks, and being dashed into the sea.
The descent was extremely perilous, but they did not think of the
danger; they were no longer masters of themselves, and an irresistible
attraction drew them towards this mysterious place as the magnet draws
iron.
Thus they almost unconsciously descended this ravine, which even in
broad daylight would have been considered impracticable.
The stones rolled and sparkled like fiery balls when they crossed
through the gleams of light. Harding was first--Ayrton last. On they
went, step by step. Now they slid over the slippery rock; then they
struggled to their feet and scrambled on.
At last the wire touched the rocks on the beach. The colonists had
reached the bottom of the basalt cliff.
There appeared a narrow ridge, running horizontally and parallel with
the sea. The settlers followed the wire along it. They had not gone a
hundred paces when the ridge by a moderate incline sloped down to the
level of the sea.
The engineer seized the wire and found that it disappeared beneath the
waves.
His companions were stupefied.
A cry of disappointment, almost a cry of despair, escaped them! Must
they then plunge beneath the water and seek there for some submarine
cavern? In their excited state they would not have hesitated to do it.
The engineer stopped them.
He led his companions to a hollow in the rocks, and there--
"We must wait," said he. "The tide is high. At low-water the way will
be open."
"But what can make you think--" asked Pencroft.
"He would not have called us if the means had been wanting to enable us
to reach him!"
Cyrus Harding spoke in a tone of such thorough conviction that no
objection was raised. His remark, besides, was logical. It was quite
possible that an opening, practicable at low-water, though hidden now by
the high tide, opened at the foot of the cliff.
There was some time to wait. The colonists remained silently crouching
in a deep hollow. Rain now began to fall in torrents. The thunder was
re-echoed among the rocks with a grand sonorousness.
The colonists' emotion was great. A thousand strange and extraordinary
ideas crossed their brains, and they expected some grand and superhuman
apparition, which alone could come up to the notion they had formed of
the mysterious genius of the island.
At midnight, Harding, carrying the lantern, descended to the beach to
reconnoitre.
The engineer was not mistaken. The beginning of an immense excavation
could be seen under the water. There the wire, bending at a right
angle, entered the yawning gulf.
Cyrus Harding returned to his companions, and said simply--
"In an hour the opening will be practicable."
"It is there, then?" said Pencroft.
"Did you doubt it?" returned Harding.
"But this cavern must be filled with water to a certain height,"
observed Herbert.
"Either the cavern will be completely dry," replied Harding, "and in
that case we can traverse it on foot, or it will not be dry, and some
means of transport will be put at our disposal."
An hour passed. All climbed down through the rain to the level of the
sea. There was now eight feet of the opening above the water. It was
like the arch of a bridge, under which rushed the foaming water.
Leaning forward, the engineer saw a black object floating on the water.
He drew it towards him. It was a boat, moored to some interior
projection of the cave. This boat was iron-plated. Two oars lay at the
bottom.
"Jump in!" said Harding.
In a moment the settlers were in the boat. Neb and Ayrton took the
oars, Pencroft the rudder. Cyrus Harding in the bows, with the lantern,
lighted the way.
The elliptical roof, under which the boat at first passed, suddenly
rose; but the darkness was too deep, and the light of the lantern too
slight, for either the extent, length, height, or depth of the cave to
be ascertained. Solemn silence reigned in this basaltic cavern. Not a
sound could penetrate into it, even the thunder peals could not pierce
its thick sides.
Such immense caves exist in various parts of the world, natural crypts
dating from the geological epoch of the globe. Some are filled by the
sea; others contain entire lakes in their sides. Such is Fingal's Cave,
in the island of Staffa, one of the Hebrides; such are the caves of
Morgat, in the bay of Douarucuez, in Brittany, the caves of Bonifacier,
in Corsica, those of Lyse-Fjord, in Norway; such are the immense Mammoth
caverns in Kentucky, 500 feet in height, and more than twenty miles in
length! In many parts of the globe, nature has excavated these caverns,
and preserved them for the admiration of man.
Did the cavern which the settlers were now exploring extend to the
centre of the island? For a quarter of an hour the boat had been
advancing, making -detours-, indicated to Pencroft by the engineer in
short sentences, when all at once--
"More to the right!" he commanded. The boat, altering its course, came
up alongside the right wall. The engineer wished to see if the wire
still ran along the side. The wire was there fastened to the rock.
"Forward!" said Harding.
And the two oars, plunging into the dark waters, urged the boat onwards.
On they went for another quarter of an hour, and a distance of
half-a-mile must have been cleared from the mouth of the cave, when
Harding's voice was again heard. "Stop!" said he.
The boat stopped, and the colonists perceived a bright light
illuminating the vast cavern, so deeply excavated in the bowels of the
island, of which nothing had ever led them to suspect the existence.
At a height of a hundred feet rose the vaulted roof, supported on basalt
shafts. Irregular arches, strange mouldings, appeared on the columns
erected by nature in thousands from the first epochs of the formation of
the globe. The basalt pillars, fitted one into the other, measured from
forty to fifty feet in height, and the water, calm in spite of the
tumult outside, washing their base. The brilliant focus of light,
pointed out by the engineer, touched every point of rock, and flooded
the walls with light. By reflection the water reproduced the brilliant
sparkles, so that the boat appeared to be floating between two
glittering zones.
They could not be mistaken in the nature of the irradiation thrown from
the centre light, whose clear rays broke all the angles, all the
projections of the cavern. This light proceeded from an electric
source, and its white colour betrayed its origin. It was the sun of
this cave, and it filled it entirely.
At a sign from Cyrus Harding the oars again plunged into the water,
causing a regular shower of gems, and the boat was urged forward towards
the light, which was now not more than half a cable's length distant.
At this place the breadth of the sheet of water measured nearly 350
feet, and beyond the dazzling centre could be seen an enormous basaltic
wall, blocking up any issue on that side. The cavern widened here
considerably, the sea forming a little lake. But the roof, the side
walls, the end cliff, all the prisms, all the peaks, were flooded with
the electric fluid, so that the brilliancy belonged to them, and as if
the light issued from them.
In the centre of the lake a long cigar-shaped object floated on the
surface of the water, silent, motionless. The brilliancy which issued
from it escaped from its sides as from two kilns heated to a white heat.
This apparatus, similar in shape to an enormous whale, was about 250
feet long, and rose about ten or twelve above the water.
The boat slowly approached it. Cyrus Harding stood up in the bows. He
gazed, a prey to violent excitement. Then, all at once, seizing the
reporter's arm--
"It is he! It can only be he!" he cried, "he!--"
Then, falling back on the seat, he murmured a name which Gideon Spilett
alone could hear.
The reporter evidently knew this name, for it had a wonderful effect
upon him, and he answered in a hoarse voice--
"He! an outlawed man!"
"He!" said Harding.
At the engineer's command the boat approached this singular floating
apparatus. The boat touched the left side, from which escaped a ray of
light through a thick glass.
Harding and his companions mounted on the platform. An open hatchway
was there. All darted down the opening.
At the bottom of the ladder was a deck, lighted by electricity. At the
end of this deck was a door, which Harding opened.
A richly-ornamented room, quickly traversed by the colonists, was joined
to a library, over which a luminous ceiling shed a flood of light.
At the end of the library a large door, also shut, was opened by the
engineer.
An immense saloon--a sort of museum, in which were heaped up, with all
the treasures of the mineral world, works of art, marvels of industry--
appeared before the eyes of the colonists, who almost thought themselves
suddenly transported into a land of enchantment.
Stretched on a rich sofa they saw a man, who did not appear to notice
their presence.
Then Harding raised his voice, and to the extreme surprise of his
companions, he uttered these words--
"Captain Nemo, you asked for us! We are here."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
CAPTAIN NEMO--HIS FIRST WORDS--THE HISTORY OF THE RECLUSE--HIS
ADVENTURES--HIS SENTIMENTS--HIS COMRADES--SUBMARINE LIFE--ALONE--THE
LAST REFUGE OF THE NAUTILUS IN LINCOLN ISLAND--THE MYSTERIOUS GENIUS OF
THE ISLAND.
At these words the reclining figure rose, and the electric light fell
upon his countenance; a magnificent head, the forehead high, the glance
commanding, beard white, hair abundant and falling over the shoulders.
His hand rested upon the cushion of the divan from which he had just
risen. He appeared perfectly calm. It was evident that his strength
had been gradually undermined by illness, but his voice seemed yet
powerful, as he said in English, and in a tone which evinced extreme
surprise--
"Sir, I have no name."
"Nevertheless, I know you!" replied Cyrus Harding.
Captain Nemo fixed his penetrating gaze upon the engineer as though he
were about to annihilate him.
Then, falling back amid the pillows of the divan--
"After all, what matters now?" he murmured; "I am dying!"
Cyrus Harding drew near the captain, and Gideon Spilett took his hand--
it was of a feverish heat. Ayrton, Pencroft, Herbert, and Neb, stood
respectfully apart in an angle of the magnificent saloon, whose
atmosphere was saturated with the electric fluid.
Meanwhile Captain Nemo withdrew his hand, and motioned the engineer and
the reporter to be seated.
All regarded him with profound emotion. Before them they beheld that
being whom they had styled the "genius of the island," the powerful
protector whose intervention, in so many circumstances, had been so
efficacious, the benefactor to whom they owed such a debt of gratitude!
Their eyes beheld a man only, and a man at the point of death, where
Pencroft and Neb had expected to find an almost supernatural being!
But how happened it that Cyrus Harding had recognised Captain Nemo? Why
had the latter so suddenly risen on hearing this name uttered, a name
which he had believed known to none?
The captain had resumed his position on the divan, and leaning on his
arm, he regarded the engineer, seated near him.
"You know the name I formerly bore, sir?" he asked.
"I do," answered Cyrus Harding, "and also that of this wonderful
submarine vessel--"
"The -Nautilus-?" said the captain, with a faint smile.
"The -Nautilus-!"
"But do you--do you know who I am?"
"I do."
"It is nevertheless many years since I have held any communication with
the inhabited world; three long years have I passed in the depths of the
sea, the only place where I have found liberty! Who then can have
betrayed my secret?"
"A man who was bound to you by no tie, Captain Nemo, and who,
consequently, cannot be accused of treachery."
"The Frenchman who was cast on board my vessel by chance sixteen years
since?"
"The same."
"He and his two companions did not then perish in the Maelstrom, in the
midst of which the -Nautilus- was struggling."
"They escaped, and a book has appeared under the title of -Twenty
Thousand Leagues under the Sea-, which contains your history."
"The history of a few months only of my life!" interrupted the captain
impetuously.
"It is true," answered Cyrus Harding, "but a few months of that strange
life have sufficed to make you known--"
"As a great criminal, doubtless!" said Captain Nemo, a haughty smile
curling his lips. "Yes, a rebel, perhaps an outlaw against humanity!"
The engineer was silent.
"Well, sir?"
"It is not for me to judge you, Captain Nemo," answered Cyrus Harding,
"at any rate as regards your past life. I am, with the rest of the
world, ignorant of the motives which induced you to adopt this strange
mode of existence, and I cannot judge of effects without knowing their
causes; but what I -do- know is, that a beneficent hand has constantly
protected us since our arrival on Lincoln Island, that we all owe our
lives to a good, generous, and powerful being, and that this being so
powerful, good and generous, Captain Nemo, is yourself!"
"It is I," answered the captain simply.
The engineer and reporter rose. Their companions had drawn near, and
the gratitude with which their hearts were charged was about to express
itself in their gestures and words.
Captain Nemo stopped them by a sign, and in a voice which betrayed more
emotion than he doubtless intended to show.
"Wait till you have heard all," he said. [See Note 1.]
And the captain, in a few concise sentences, ran over the events of his
life.
His narrative was short, yet he was obliged to summon up his whole
remaining energy to arrive at the end. He was evidently contending
against extreme weakness. Several times Cyrus Harding entreated him to
repose for a while, but he shook his head as a man to whom the morrow
may never come, and when the reporter offered his assistance--
"It is useless," he said; "my hours are numbered."
Captain Nemo was an Indian, the Prince Dakkar, son of a rajah of the
then independent territory of Bundelkund. His father sent him, when ten
years of age, to Europe, in order that he might receive an education in
all respects complete, and in the hopes that by his talents and
knowledge he might one day take a leading part in raising his long
degraded and heathen country to a level with the nations of Europe.
From the age of ten years to that of thirty Prince Dakkar, endowed by
Nature with her richest gifts of intellect, accumulated knowledge of
every kind, and in science, literature, and art his researches were
extensive and profound.
He travelled over the whole of Europe. His rank and fortune caused him
to be everywhere sought after; but the pleasures of the world had for
him no attractions. Though young and possessed of every personal
advantage, he was ever grave--sombre even--devoured by an unquenchable
thirst for knowledge, and cherishing in the recesses of his heart the
hope that he might become a great and powerful ruler of a free and
enlightened people.
Still, for long the love of science triumphed over all other feelings.
He became an artist deeply impressed by the marvels of art, a
philosopher to whom no one of the higher sciences was unknown, a
statesman versed in the policy of European courts. To the eyes of those
who observed him superficially he might have passed for one of those
cosmopolitans, curious of knowledge, but disdaining action; one of those
opulent travellers, haughty and cynical, who move incessantly from place
to place, and are of no country.
This artist, this philosopher, this man was, however, still cherishing
the hope instilled into him from his earliest days.
Prince Dakkar returned to Bundelkund in the year 1849. He married a
noble Indian lady, who was imbued with an ambition not less ardent than
that by which he was inspired. Two children were born to them, whom
they tenderly loved. But domestic happiness did not prevent him from
seeking to carry out the object at which he aimed. He waited an
opportunity. At length, as he vainly fancied, it presented itself.
Instigated by princes equally ambitious and less sagacious and more
unscrupulous than he was, the people of India were persuaded that they
might successfully rise against their English rulers, who had brought
them out of a state of anarchy and constant warfare and misery, and had
established peace and prosperity in their country. Their ignorance and
gross superstition made them the facile tools of their designing chiefs.
In 1857 the great sepoy revolt broke out. Prince Dakkar, under the
belief that he should thereby have the opportunity of attaining the
object of his long-cherished ambition, was easily drawn into it. He
forthwith devoted his talents and wealth to the service of this cause.
He aided it in person; he fought in the front ranks; he risked his life
equally with the humblest of the wretched and misguided fanatics; he was
ten times wounded in twenty engagements, seeking death but finding it
not, when at length the sanguinary rebels were utterly defeated, and the
atrocious mutiny was brought to an end.
Never before had the British power in India been exposed to such danger,
and if, as they had hoped, the sepoys had received assistance from
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