If any of them showed particular satisfaction at this mode of procedure,
it was Tartlet.
On the 18th the first rafts were formed, and they arrived at the barrier
without accident. In less than three days on the evening of the 25th,
the palisade had been all sent down to its destination.
On the morrow, the first trunks, sunk two feet in the soil, began to
rise in such a manner as to connect the principal sequoias which
surrounded Will Tree. A capping of strong flexible branches, pointed by
the axe, assured the solidity of the wall.
Godfrey saw the work progress with extreme satisfaction, and delayed not
until it was finished.
"Once the palisade is done," he said to Tartlet, "we shall be really at
home."
"We shall not be really at home," replied the professor drily, "until we
are in Montgomery Street, with your Uncle Kolderup."
There was no disputing this opinion.
On the 26th of November the palisade was three parts done. It comprised
among the sequoias attached one to another that in which the poultry had
established themselves, and Godfrey's intention was to build a stable
inside it.
In three or four days the fence was finished. There only remained to fit
in a solid door, which would assure the closure of Will Tree.
But on the morning of the 27th of November the work was interrupted by
an event which we had better explain with some detail, for it was one
of those unaccountable things peculiar to Phina Island.
About eight o'clock, Carefinotu had climbed up to the fork of the
sequoia, so as to more carefully close the hole by which the cold and
rain penetrated, when he uttered a singular cry.
Godfrey, who was at work at the palisade, raised his head and saw the
black, with expressive gestures, motioning to him to join him without
delay.
Godfrey, thinking Carefinotu would not have disturbed him unless he had
serious reason, took his glasses with him and climbed up the interior
passage, and passing through the hole, seated himself astride of one of
the main branches.
Carefinotu, pointing with his arm towards the rounded angle which Phina
Island made to the north-east, showed a column of smoke rising in the
air like a long plume.
"Again!" exclaimed Godfrey.
And putting his glasses in the direction, he assured himself that this
time there was no possible error, that it must escape from some
important fire, which he could distinctly see must be about five miles
off.
Godfrey turned towards the black.
Carefinotu expressed his surprise, by his looks, his exclamations, in
fact by his whole attitude.
Assuredly he was no less astounded than Godfrey at this apparition.
Besides, in the offing, there was no ship, not a vessel native or other,
nothing which showed that a landing had recently been made on the shore.
"Ah! This time I will find out the fire which produces that smoke!"
exclaimed Godfrey.
And pointing to the north-east angle of the island, and then to the foot
of the tree, he gesticulated to Carefinotu that he wished to reach the
place without losing an instant.
Carefinotu understood him. He even gave him to understand that he
approved of the idea.
"Yes," said Godfrey to himself, "if there is a human being there, we
must know who he is and whence he comes! We must know why he hides
himself! It will be for the safety of all!"
A moment afterwards Carefinotu and he descended to the foot of Will
Tree. Then Godfrey, informing Tartlet of what had passed and what he was
going to do, proposed for him to accompany them to the north coast.
A dozen miles to traverse in one day was not a very tempting suggestion
to a man who regarded his legs as the most precious part of his body,
and only designed for noble exercises. And so he replied that he would
prefer to remain at Will Tree.
"Very well, we will go alone," answered Godfrey, "but do not expect us
until the evening."
So saying, and Carefinotu and he carrying some provisions for lunch on
the road, they set out, after taking leave of the professor, whose
private opinion it was that they would find nothing, and that all their
fatigue would be useless.
Godfrey took his musket and revolver; the black the axe and the
hunting-knife which had become his favourite weapon. They crossed the
plank bridge to the right bank of the river, and then struck off across
the prairie to the point on the shore where the smoke had been seen
rising amongst the rocks.
It was rather more easterly than the place which Godfrey had uselessly
visited on his second exploration.
They progressed rapidly, not without a sharp look-out that the wood was
clear and that the bushes and underwood did not hide some animal whose
attack might be formidable.
Nothing disquieting occurred.
At noon, after having had some food, without, however, stopping for an
instant, they reached the first line of rocks which bordered the beach.
The smoke, still visible, was rising about a quarter of a mile ahead.
They had only to keep straight on to reach their goal.
They hastened their steps, but took precautions so as to surprise, and
not be surprised.
Two minutes afterwards the smoke disappeared, as if the fire had been
suddenly extinguished.
But Godfrey had noted with exactness the spot whence it arose. It was at
the point of a strangely formed rock, a sort of truncated pyramid,
easily recognizable. Showing this to his companion, he kept straight on.
The quarter of a mile was soon traversed, then the last line was
climbed, and Godfrey and Carefinotu gained the beach about fifty paces
from the rock.
They ran up to it. Nobody! But this time half-smouldering embers and
half-burnt wood proved clearly that the fire had been alight on the
spot.
"There has been some one here!" exclaimed Godfrey. "Some one not a
moment ago! We must find out who!"
He shouted. No response! Carefinotu gave a terrible yell. No one
appeared!
Behold them then hunting amongst the neighbouring rocks, searching a
cavern, a grotto, which might serve as a refuge for a shipwrecked man,
an aboriginal, a savage--
It was in vain that they ransacked the slightest recesses of the shore.
There was neither ancient nor recent camp in existence, not even the
traces of the passage of a man.
"But," repeated Godfrey, "it was not smoke from a warm spring this
time! It was from a fire of wood and grass, and that fire could not
light itself."
Vain was their search. Then about two o'clock Godfrey and Carefinotu, as
weary as they were disconcerted at their fruitless endeavours, retook
their road to Will Tree.
There was nothing astonishing in Godfrey being deep in thought. It
seemed to him that the island was now under the empire of some occult
power. The reappearance of this fire, the presence of wild animals, did
not all this denote some extraordinary complication?
And was there not cause for his being confirmed in this idea when an
hour after he had regained the prairie, he heard a singular noise, a
sort of hard jingling.
Carefinotu pushed him aside at the same instant as a serpent glided
beneath the herbage, and was about to strike at him.
"Snakes, now. Snakes in the island, after the bears and the tigers!" he
exclaimed.
Yes! It was one of those reptiles well-known by the noise they make, a
rattlesnake of the most venomous species: a giant of the Crotalus
family!
Carefinotu threw himself between Godfrey and the reptile, which hurried
off under a thick bush.
But the negro pursued it and smashed in its head with a blow of the axe.
When Godfrey rejoined him, the two halves of the reptile were writhing
on the blood-stained soil.
Then other serpents, not less dangerous, appeared in great abundance on
this part of the prairie which was separated by the stream from Will
Tree.
Was it then a sudden invasion of reptiles? Was Phina Island going to
become the rival of ancient Tenos, whose formidable ophidians rendered
it famous in antiquity, and which gave its name to the viper?
"Come on! come on!" exclaimed Godfrey, motioning to Carefinotu to
quicken the pace.
He was uneasy. Strange presentiments agitated him without his being able
to control them.
Under their influence, fearing some approaching misfortune, he had
hastened his return to Will Tree.
But matters became serious when he reached the planks across the river.
Screams of terror resounded from beneath the sequoias--cries for help in
a tone of agony which it was impossible to mistake!
"It is Tartlet!" exclaimed Godfrey. "The unfortunate man has been
attacked! Quick! quick!"
Once over the bridge, about twenty paces further on, Tartlet was
perceived running as fast as his legs could carry him.
An enormous crocodile had come out of the river and was pursuing him
with its jaws wide open. The poor man, distracted, mad with fright,
instead of turning to the right or the left, was keeping in a straight
line, and so running the risk of being caught. Suddenly he stumbled. He
fell. He was lost.
Godfrey halted. In the presence of this imminent danger his coolness
never forsook him for an instant. He brought his gun to his shoulder,
and aimed at the crocodile. The well-aimed bullet struck the monster,
and it made a bound to one side and fell motionless on the ground.
Carefinotu rushed towards Tartlet and lifted him up. Tartlet had escaped
with a fright! But what a fright!
It was six o'clock in the evening.
A moment afterwards Godfrey and his two companions had reached Will
Tree.
How bitter were their reflections during their evening repast! What long
sleepless hours were in store for the inhabitants of Phina Island, on
whom misfortunes were now crowding.
As for the professor, in his anguish he could only repeat the words
which expressed the whole of his thoughts, "I had much rather be off!"
CHAPTER XXI.
WHICH ENDS WITH QUITE A SURPRISING REFLECTION BY THE NEGRO CAREFINOTU.
The winter season, so severe in these latitudes, had come at last. The
first frosts had already been felt, and there was every promise of
rigorous weather. Godfrey was to be congratulated on having established
his fireplace in the tree. It need scarcely be said that the work at the
palisade had been completed, and that a sufficiently solid door now
assured the closure of the fence.
During the six weeks which followed, that is to say, until the middle of
December, there had been a good many wretched days on which it was
impossible to venture forth. At the outset there came terrible squalls.
They shook the group of sequoias to their very roots. They strewed the
ground with broken branches, and so furnished an ample reserve for the
fire.
Then it was that the inhabitants of Will Tree clothed themselves as
warmly as they could. The woollen stuffs found in the box were used
during the few excursions necessary for revictualling, until the weather
became so bad that even these were forbidden. All hunting was at an end,
and the snow fell in such quantity that Godfrey could have believed
himself in the inhospitable latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.
It is well known that Northern America, swept by the Polar winds, with
no obstacle to check them, is one of the coldest countries on the globe.
The winter there lasts until the month of April. Exceptional precautions
have to be taken against it. It was the coming of the winter as it did
which gave rise to the thought that Phina Island was situated in a
higher latitude than Godfrey had supposed.
Hence the necessity of making the interior of Will Tree as comfortable
as possible. But the suffering from rain and cold was cruel. The
reserves of provisions were unfortunately insufficient, the preserved
turtle flesh gradually disappeared. Frequently there had to be
sacrificed some of the sheep or goats or agouties, whose numbers had but
slightly increased since their arrival in the island.
With these new trials, what sad thoughts haunted Godfrey!
It happened also that for a fortnight he fell into a violent fever.
Without the tiny medicine-chest which afforded the necessary drugs for
his treatment, he might never have recovered. Tartlet was ill-suited to
attend to the petty cares that were necessary during the continuance of
the malady. It was to Carefinotu that he mainly owed his return to
health.
But what remembrances and what regrets! Who but himself could he blame
for having got into a situation of which he could not even see the end?
How many times in his delirium did he call Phina, whom he never should
see again, and his Uncle Will, from whom he beheld himself separated for
ever! Ah! he had to alter his opinion of this Crusoe life which his
boyish imagination had made his ideal! Now he was contending with
reality! He could no longer even hope to return to the domestic hearth.
So passed this miserable December, at the end of which Godfrey began to
recover his strength.
As for Tartlet, by special grace, doubtless, he was always well. But
what incessant lamentations! What endless jeremiads! As the grotto of
Calypso after the departure of Ulysses, Will Tree "resounded no more to
his song"--that of his fiddle--for the cold had frozen the strings!
It should be said too that one of the gravest anxieties of Godfrey was
not only the re-appearance of dangerous animals, but the fear of the
savages returning in great numbers to Phina Island, the situation of
which was known to them. Against such an invasion the palisade was but
an insufficient barrier. All things considered, the refuge offered by
the high branches of the sequoia appeared much safer, and the rendering
the access less difficult was taken in hand. It would always be easy to
defend the narrow orifice by which the top of the trunk was reached.
With the aid of Carefinotu Godfrey began to cut regular ledges on each
side, like the steps of a staircase, and these, connected by a long cord
of vegetable fibre, permitted of rapid ascent up the interior.
"Well," said Godfrey, when the work was done, "that gives us a town
house below and a country house above!"
"I had rather have a cellar, if it was in Montgomery Street!" answered
Tartlet.
Christmas arrived. Christmas kept in such style throughout the United
States of America! The New Year's Day, full of memories of childhood,
rainy, snowy, cold, and gloomy, began the new year under the most
melancholy auspices.
It was six months since the survivors of the -Dream- had remained
without communication with the rest of the world.
The commencement of the year was not very cheering. It made Godfrey and
his companions anticipate that they would still have many trials to
encounter.
The snow never ceased falling until January 18th. The flocks had to be
let out to pasture to get what feed they could. At the close of the day,
a very cold damp night enveloped the island, and the space shaded by the
sequoias was plunged in profound obscurity.
Tartlet and Carefinotu, stretched on their beds inside Will Tree, were
trying in vain to sleep. Godfrey, by the struggling light of a torch,
was turning over the pages of his Bible.
About ten o'clock a distant noise, which came nearer and nearer, was
heard outside away towards the north. There could be no mistake. It was
the wild beasts prowling in the neighbourhood, and, alarming to relate,
the howling of the tiger and of the hyæna, and the roaring of the
panther and the lion were this time blended in one formidable concert.
Godfrey, Tartlet, and the negro sat up, each a prey to indescribable
anguish. If at this unaccountable invasion of ferocious animals
Carefinotu shared the alarm of his companions, his astonishment was
quite equal to his fright.
During two mortal hours all three kept on the alert. The howlings
sounded at times close by; then they suddenly ceased, as if the beasts,
not knowing the country, were roaming about all over it. Perhaps then
Will Tree would escape an attack!
"It doesn't matter if it does," thought Godfrey. "If we do not destroy
these animals to the very last one, there will be no safety for us in
the island!"
A little after midnight the roaring began again in full strength at a
moderate distance away. Impossible now to doubt but that the howling
army was approaching Will Tree!
Yes! It was only too certain! But whence came these wild animals? They
could not have recently landed on Phina Island! They must have been
there then before Godfrey's arrival! But how was it that all of them had
remained hidden during his walks and hunting excursions, as well across
the centre as in the most out-of-the-way parts to the south? For Godfrey
had never found a trace of them. Where was the mysterious den which
vomited forth lions, hyænas, panthers, tigers? Amongst all the
unaccountable things up to now this was indeed the most unaccountable.
Carefinotu could not believe what he heard. We have said that his
astonishment was extreme. By the light of the fire which illuminated the
interior of Will Tree there could be seen on his black face the
strangest of grimaces.
Tartlet in the corner, groaned and lamented, and moaned again. He would
have asked Godfrey all about it, but Godfrey was not in the humour to
reply. He had a presentiment of a very great danger, he was seeking for
a way to retreat from it.
Once or twice Carefinotu and he went out to the centre of the palisade.
They wished to see that the door was firmly and strongly shut.
Suddenly an avalanche of animals appeared with a huge tumult along the
front of Will Tree.
It was only the goats and sheep and agouties. Terrified at the howling
of the wild beasts, and scenting their approach, they had fled from
their pasturage to take shelter behind the palisade.
"We must open the door!" exclaimed Godfrey.
Carefinotu nodded his head. He did not want to know the language to
understand what Godfrey meant.
The door was opened, and the frightened flock rushed into the enclosure.
But at that instant there appeared through the opening a gleaming of
eyes in the depths of the darkness which the shadow of the sequoias
rendered still more profound.
There was no time to close the enclosure!
To jump at Godfrey, seize him in spite of himself, push him into the
dwelling and slam the door, was done by Carefinotu like a flash of
lightning.
New roarings indicated that three or four wild beasts had just cleared
the palisade.
Then these horrible roarings were mingled with quite a concert of
bleatings and groanings of terror. The domestic flock were taken as in a
trap and delivered over to the clutches of the assailants.
Godfrey and Carefinotu, who had climbed up to the two small windows in
the bark of the sequoia, endeavoured to see what was passing in the
gloom.
Evidently the wild animals--tigers or lions, panthers or hyænas, they
did not know which yet--had thrown themselves on the flock and begun
their slaughter.
At this moment, Tartlet, in a paroxysm of blind terror, seized one of
the muskets, and would have taken a chance shot out of one of the
windows.
Godfrey stopped him.
"No!" said he. "In this darkness our shots will be lost, and we must not
waste our ammunition! Wait for daylight!"
He was right. The bullets would just as likely have struck the domestic
as the wild animals--more likely in fact, for the former were the most
numerous. To save them was now impossible. Once they were sacrificed,
the wild beasts, thoroughly gorged, might quit the enclosure before
sunrise. They would then see how to act to guard against a fresh
invasion.
It was most important too, during the dark night, to avoid as much as
possible revealing to these animals the presence of human beings, whom
they might prefer to the flock. Perhaps they would thus avoid a direct
attack against Will Tree.
As Tartlet was incapable of understanding either this reasoning or any
other, Godfrey contented himself with depriving him of his weapon. The
professor then went and threw himself on his bed and freely
anathematized all travels and travellers and maniacs who could not
remain quietly at their own firesides.
Both his companions resumed their observations at the windows.
Thence they beheld, without the power of interference, the horrible
massacre which was taking place in the gloom. The cries of the sheep and
the goats gradually diminished as the slaughter of the animals was
consummated, although the greater part had escaped outside, where death,
none the less certain, awaited them. This loss was irreparable for the
little colony; but Godfrey was not then anxious about the future. The
present was disquieting enough to occupy all his thoughts.
There was nothing they could do, nothing they could try, to hinder this
work of destruction.
Godfrey and Carefinotu kept constant watch, and now they seemed to see
new shadows coming up and passing into the palisade, while a fresh
sound of footsteps struck on their ears.
Evidently certain belated beasts, attracted by the odour of the blood
which impregnated the air, had traced the scent up to Will Tree.
They ran to and fro, they rushed round and round the tree and gave forth
their hoarse and angry growls. Some of the shadows jumped on the ground
like enormous cats. The slaughtered flock had not been sufficient to
satisfy their rage.
Neither Godfrey nor his companions moved. In keeping completely
motionless they might avoid a direct attack.
An unlucky shot suddenly revealed their presence and exposed them to the
greatest danger.
Tartlet, a prey to a veritable hallucination, had risen. He had seized a
revolver; and this time, before Godfrey and Carefinotu could hinder him,
and not knowing himself what he did, but believing that he saw a tiger
standing before him, he had fired! The bullet passed through the door of
Will Tree.
"Fool!" exclaimed Godfrey, throwing himself on Tartlet, while the negro
seized the weapon.
It was too late. The alarm was given, and growlings still more violent
resounded without. Formidable talons were heard tearing the bark of the
sequoia. Terrible blows shook the door, which was too feeble to resist
such an assault.
"We must defend ourselves!" shouted Godfrey.
And, with his gun in his hand and his cartridge-pouch round his waist,
he took his post at one of the windows.
To his great surprise, Carefinotu had done the same! Yes! the black,
seizing the second musket--a weapon which he had never before
handled--had filled his pockets with cartridges and taken his place at
the second window.
Then the reports of the guns began to echo from the embrasures. By the
flashes, Godfrey on the one side, and Carefinotu on the other, beheld
the foes they had to deal with.
There, in the enclosure, roaring with rage, howling at the reports,
rolling beneath the bullets which struck many of them, leapt of lions
and tigers, and hyænas and panthers, at least a score. To their roarings
and growlings which reverberated from afar, there echoed back those of
other ferocious beasts running up to join them. Already the now distant
roaring could be heard as they approached the environs of Will Tree. It
was as though quite a menagerie of wild animals had been suddenly set
free on the island!
[Illustration: Of lions and tigers quite a score. -page 252-]
However, Godfrey and Carefinotu, without troubling themselves about
Tartlet, who could be of no use, were keeping as cool as they could, and
refraining from firing unless they were certain of their aim. Wishing to
waste not a shot, they waited till a shadow passed in front of them.
Then came the flash and the report, and then a growl of grief told them
that the animal had been hit.
A quarter of an hour elapsed, and then came a respite. Had the wild
beasts given up the attack which had cost the lives of so many amongst
them? Were they waiting for the day to recommence the attempt under more
favourable conditions?
Whatever might be the reason, neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu desired to
leave his post. The black had shown himself no less ready with the gun
than Godfrey. If that was due only to the instinct of imitation, it must
be admitted that it was indeed surprising.
About two o'clock in the morning there came a new alarm--more furious
than before. The danger was imminent, the position in the interior of
Will Tree was becoming untenable. New growlings resounded round the foot
of the sequoia. Neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu, on account of the
situation of the windows, which were cut straight through, could see the
assailants, nor, in consequence, could they fire with any chance of
success.
It was now the door which the beasts attacked, and it was only too
evident that it would be beaten in by their weight or torn down by their
claws.
Godfrey and the black had descended to the ground. The door was already
shaking beneath the blows from without. They could feel the heated
breath making its way in through the cracks in the bark.
Godfrey and Carefinotu attempted to prop back the door with the stakes
which kept up the beds, but these proved quite useless.
It was obvious that in a little while it would be driven in, for the
beasts were mad with rage--particularly as no shots could reach them.
Godfrey was powerless. If he and his companions were inside Will Tree
when the assailants broke in, their weapons would be useless to protect
them.
Godfrey had crossed his arms. He saw the boards of the door open little
by little. He could do nothing. In a moment of hesitation, he passed his
hand across his forehead, as if in despair. But soon recovering his
self-possession, he shouted,--
"Up we go! Up! All of us!"
And he pointed to the narrow passage which led up to the fork inside
Will Tree.
Carefinotu and he, taking their muskets and revolvers, supplied
themselves with cartridges.
And now he turned to make Tartlet follow them into these heights where
he had never ventured before.
Tartlet was no longer there. He had started up while his companions were
firing.
"Up!" repeated Godfrey.
It was a last retreat, where they would assuredly be sheltered from the
wild beasts. If any tiger or panther attempted to come up into the
branches of the sequoia, it would be easy to defend the hole through
which he would have to pass.
Godfrey and Carefinotu had scarcely ascended thirty feet, when the
roaring was heard in the interior of Will Tree. A few moments more and
they would have been surprised. The door had just fallen in. They both
hurried along, and at last reached the upper end of the hole.
A scream of terror welcomed them. It was Tartlet, who imagined he saw a
panther or tiger! The unfortunate professor was clasping a branch,
frightened almost out of his life lest he should fall.
Carefinotu went to him, and compelled him to lean against an upright
bough, to which he firmly secured him with his belt.
Then, while Godfrey selected a place whence he could command the
opening, Carefinotu went to another spot whence he could deliver a cross
fire.
And they waited.
Under these circumstances it certainly looked as though the besieged
were safe from attack.
Godfrey endeavoured to discover what was passing beneath them; but the
night was still too dark. Then he tried to hear; and the growlings,
which never ceased, showed that the assailants had no thought of
abandoning the place.
Suddenly, towards four o'clock in the morning, a great light appeared at
the foot of the tree. At once it shot out through the door and windows.
At the same time a thick smoke spread forth from the upper opening and
lost itself in the higher branches.
"What is that now?" exclaimed Godfrey.
It was easily explained. The wild beasts, in ravaging the interior of
Will Tree, had scattered the remains of the fire. The fire had spread to
the things in the room. The flame had caught the bark, which had dried
and become combustible. The gigantic sequoia was ablaze below.
The position was now more terrible than it had ever been. By the light
of the flames, which illuminated the space beneath the grove, they could
see the wild beasts leaping round the foot of Will Tree.
At the same instant, a fearful explosion occurred. The sequoia,
violently wrenched, trembled from its roots to its summit.
It was the reserve of gunpowder which had exploded inside Will Tree, and
the air, violently expelled from the opening, rushed forth like the gas
from a discharging cannon.
Godfrey and Carefinotu were almost torn from their resting-places. Had
Tartlet not been lashed to the branch, he would assuredly have been
hurled to the ground.
The wild beasts, terrified at the explosion, and more or less wounded,
had taken to flight.
But at the same time the conflagration, fed by the sudden combustion of
the powder, had considerably extended. It swiftly grew in dimensions as
it crept up the enormous stem.
Large tongues of flame lapped the interior, and the highest soon reached
the fork, and the dead wood snapped and crackled like shots from a
revolver. A huge glare lighted up, not only the group of giant trees,
but even the whole of the coast from Flag Point to the southern cape of
Dream Bay.
Soon the fire had reached the lower branches of the sequoia, and
threatened to invade the spot where Godfrey and his companions had taken
refuge. Were they then to be devoured by the flames, with which they
could not battle, or had they but the last resource of throwing
themselves to the ground to escape being burnt alive? In either case
they must die!
Godfrey sought about for some means of escape. He saw none!
Already the lower branches were ablaze and a dense smoke was struggling
with the first gleams of dawn which were rising in the east.
At this moment there was a horrible crash of rending and breaking. The
sequoia, burnt to the very roots, cracked violently--it toppled over--it
fell!
But as it fell the stem met the stems of the trees which environed it;
their powerful branches were mingled with its own, and so it remained
obliquely cradled at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the
ground.
At the moment that the sequoia fell, Godfrey and his companions believed
themselves lost!
"Nineteenth of January!" exclaimed a voice, which Godfrey, in spite of
his astonishment, immediately recognized.
It was Carefinotu! Yes, Carefinotu had just pronounced these words, and
in that English language which up to then he had seemed unable to speak
or to understand!
"What did you say?" asked Godfrey, as he followed him along the
branches.
"I said, Mr. Morgan," answered Carefinotu, "that to-day your Uncle Will
ought to reach us, and that if he doesn't turn up we are done for!"
CHAPTER XXII.
WHICH CONCLUDES BY EXPLAINING WHAT UP TO NOW HAD APPEARED INEXPLICABLE.
At that instant, and before Godfrey could reply, the report of fire-arms
was heard not far from Will Tree.
At the same time one of those rain storms, regular cataracts in their
fury, fell in a torrential shower just as the flames devouring the lower
branches were threatening to seize upon the trees against which Will
Tree was resting.
What was Godfrey to think after this series of inexplicable events?
Carefinotu speaking English like a cockney, calling him by his name,
announcing the early arrival of Uncle Will, and then the sudden report
of the fire-arms?
He asked himself if he had gone mad; but he had no time for insoluble
questions, for below him--hardly five minutes after the first sound of
the guns--a body of sailors appeared hurrying through the trees.
Godfrey and Carefinotu slipped down along the stem, the interior of
which was still burning.
But the moment that Godfrey touched the ground, he heard himself spoken
to, and by two voices which even in his trouble it was impossible for
him not to recognize.
"Nephew Godfrey, I have the honour to salute you!"
"Godfrey! Dear Godfrey!"
"Uncle Will! Phina! You!" exclaimed Godfrey, astounded.
Three seconds afterwards he was in somebody's arms, and was clasping
that somebody in his own.
At the same time two sailors, at the order of Captain Turcott who was in
command, climbed up along the sequoia to set Tartlet free, and, with all
due respect, pluck him from the branch as if he were a fruit.
And then the questions, the answers, the explanations which passed!
"Uncle Will! You?"
"Yes! me!"
"And how did you discover Phina Island?"
"Phina Island!" answered William W. Kolderup. "You should say Spencer
Island! Well, it wasn't very difficult. I bought it six months ago!"
"Spencer Island!"
"And you gave my name to it, you dear Godfrey!" said the young lady.
"The new name is a good one, and we will keep to it," answered the
uncle; "but for geographers this is Spencer Island, only three days'
journey from San Francisco, on which I thought it would be a good plan
for you to serve your apprenticeship to the Crusoe business!"
"Oh! Uncle! Uncle Will! What is it you say?" exclaimed Godfrey. "Well,
if you are in earnest, I can only answer that I deserved it! But then,
Uncle Will, the wreck of the -Dream-?"
"Sham!" replied William W. Kolderup, who had never seemed in such a good
humour before. "The -Dream- was quietly sunk by means of her water
ballast, according to the instructions I had given Turcott. You thought
she sank for good, but when the captain saw that you and Tartlet had got
safely to land he brought her up and steamed away. Three days later he
got back to San Francisco, and he it is who has brought us to Spencer
Island on the date we fixed!"
"Then none of the crew perished in the wreck?"
"None--unless it was the unhappy Chinaman who hid himself away on board
and could not be found!"
"But the canoe?"
"Sham! The canoe was of my own make."
"But the savages?"
"Sham! The savages whom luckily you did not shoot!"
"But Carefinotu?"
"Sham! Carefinotu was my faithful Jup Brass, who played his part of
Friday marvellously well, as I see."
"Yes," answered Godfrey. "He twice saved my life--once from a bear, once
from a tiger--"
"The bear was sham! the tiger was sham!" laughed William W. Kolderup.
"Both of them were stuffed with straw, and landed before you saw them
with Jup Brass and his companions!"
"But he moved his head and his paws!"
"By means of a spring which Jup Brass had fixed during the night a few
hours before the meetings which were prepared for you."
"What! all of them?" repeated Godfrey, a little ashamed at having been
taken in by these artifices.
"Yes! Things were going too smoothly in your island, and we had to get
up a little excitement!"
"Then," answered Godfrey, who had begun to laugh, "if you wished to make
matters unpleasant for us, why did you send us the box which contained
everything we wanted?"
"A box?" answered William W. Kolderup. "What box? I never sent you a
box! Perhaps by chance--"
And as he said so he looked towards Phina, who cast down her eyes and
turned away her head.
"Oh! indeed!--a box! but then Phina must have had an accomplice--"
And Uncle Will turned towards Captain Turcott, who laughingly
answered,--
"What could I do, Mr. Kolderup? I can sometimes resist you--but Miss
Phina--it was too difficult! And four months ago, when you sent me to
look round the island, I landed the box from my boat--"
"Dearest Phina!" said Godfrey, seizing the young lady's hand.
"Turcott, you promised to keep the secret!" said Phina with a blush.
And Uncle William W. Kolderup, shaking his big head, tried in vain to
hide that he was touched.
But if Godfrey could not restrain his smiles as he listened to the
explanations of Uncle Will, Professor Tartlet did not laugh in the
least! He was excessively mortified at what he heard! To have been the
object of such a mystification, he, a professor of dancing and
deportment! And so advancing with much dignity he observed,--
"Mr. William Kolderup will hardly assert, I imagine, that the enormous
crocodile, of which I was nearly the unhappy victim, was made of
pasteboard and wound up with a spring?"
"A crocodile?" replied the uncle.
"Yes, Mr. Kolderup," said Carefinotu, to whom we had better return his
proper name of Jup Brass. "Yes, a real live crocodile, which went for
Mr. Tartlet, and which I did not have in my collection!"
Godfrey then related what had happened, the sudden appearance of the
wild beasts in such numbers, real lions, real tigers, real panthers, and
then the invasion of the snakes, of which during four months they had
not seen a single specimen in the island!
William W. Kolderup at this was quite disconcerted. He knew nothing
about it. Spencer Island--it had been known for a long time--never had
any wild beasts, did not possess even a single noxious animal; it was so
stated in the deeds of sale.
Neither did he understand what Godfrey told him of the attempts he had
made to discover the origin of the smoke which had appeared at different
points on the island. And he seemed very much troubled to find that all
had not passed on the island according to his instructions, and that the
programme had been seriously interfered with.
As for Tartlet, he was not the sort of man to be humbugged. For his part
he would admit nothing, neither the sham shipwreck, nor the sham
savages, nor the sham animals, and above all he would never give up the
glory which he had gained in shooting with the first shot from his gun
the chief of the Polynesian tribe--one of the servants of the Kolderup
establishment, who turned out to be as well as he was.
All was described, all was explained, except the serious matter of the
real wild beasts and the unknown smoke. Uncle Will became very
thoughtful about this. But, like a practical man, he put off, by an
effort of the will, the solution of the problems, and addressing his
nephew,--
"Godfrey," said he, "you have always been so fond of islands, that I am
sure it will please you to hear that this is yours--wholly yours! I make
you a present of it! You can do what you like with it! I never dreamt of
bringing you away by force; and I would not take you away from it! Be
then a Crusoe for the rest of your life, if your heart tells you to--"
"I!" answered Godfrey. "I! All my life!"
Phina stepped forward.
"Godfrey," she asked, "would you like to remain on your island?"
"I would rather die!" he exclaimed.
But immediately he added, as he took the young lady's hand,--
"Well, yes, I will remain; but on three conditions. The first is, you
stay with me, dearest Phina; the second is, that Uncle Will lives with
us; and the third is, that the chaplain of the -Dream- marries us this
very day!"
"There is no chaplain on board the -Dream-, Godfrey!" replied Uncle
Will. "You know that very well. But I think there is still one left in
San Francisco, and that we can find some worthy minister to perform the
service! I believe I read your thoughts when I say that before to-morrow
we shall put to sea again!"
Then Phina and Uncle Will asked Godfrey to do the honours of his island.
Behold them then walking under the group of sequoias, along the stream
up to the little bridge.
Alas! of the habitation at Will Tree nothing remained. The fire had
completely devoured the dwelling in the base of the tree! Without the
arrival of William W. Kolderup, what with the approaching winter, the
destruction of their stores, and the genuine wild beasts in the island,
our Crusoes would have deserved to be pitied.
"Uncle Will!" said Godfrey. "If I gave the island the name of Phina, let
me add that I gave our dwelling the name of Will Tree!"
"Well," answered the uncle, "we will take away some of the seed, and
plant it in my garden at 'Frisco!"
During the walk they noticed some wild animals in the distance; but they
dared not attack so formidable a party as the sailors of the -Dream-.
But none the less was their presence absolutely incomprehensible.
Then they returned on board, not without Tartlet asking permission to
bring off "his crocodile"--a permission which was granted.
That evening the party were united in the saloon of the -Dream-, and
there was quite a cheerful dinner to celebrate the end of the adventures
of Godfrey Morgan and his marriage with Phina Hollaney.
On the morrow, the 20th of January, the -Dream- set sail under the
command of Captain Turcott. At eight o'clock in the morning Godfrey, not
without emotion, saw the horizon in the west wipe out, as if it were a
shadow, the island on which he had been to school for six months--a
school of which he never forgot the lessons.
The passage was rapid; the sea magnificent; the wind favourable. This
time the -Dream- went straight to her destination! There was no one to
be mystified! She made no tackings without number as on the first
voyage! She did not lose during the night what she had gained during the
day!
And so on the 23rd of January, after passing at noon through the Golden
Gate, she entered the vast bay of San Francisco, and came alongside the
wharf in Merchant Street.
And what did they then see?
They saw issue from the hold a man who, having swum to the -Dream-
during the night while she was anchored at Phina Island, had succeeded
in stowing himself away for the second time!
And who was this man?
It was the Chinaman, Seng Vou, who had made the passage back as he had
made the passage out!
Seng Vou advanced towards William W. Kolderup.
"I hope Mr. Kolderup will pardon me," said he very politely. "When I
took my passage in the -Dream-, I thought she was going direct to
Shanghai, and then I should have reached my country, but I leave her
now, and return to San Francisco."
Every one, astounded at the apparition, knew not what to answer, and
laughingly gazed at the intruder.
"But," said William W. Kolderup at last, "you have not remained six
months in the hold, I suppose?"
"No!" answered Seng Vou.
"Where have you been, then?"
"On the island!"
"You!" exclaimed Godfrey.
"Yes."
"Then the smoke?"
"A man must have a fire!"
"And you did not attempt to come to us, to share our living?"
"A Chinaman likes to live alone," quietly replied Seng Vou. "He is
sufficient for himself, and he wants no one!"
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