The Rigging of the Vessel -- An Attack from Foxes -- Jup
wounded -- Jup cured -- Completion of the Boat -- Pencroft's
Triumph -- The _Bonadventure's_ trial Trip to the South of
the Island -- An unexpected Document.
In the evening the hunters returned, having enjoyed good sport, and
being literally loaded with game; indeed, they had as much as four men
could possibly carry. Top wore a necklace of teal and Jup wreaths of
snipe round his body.
"Here, master," cried Neb; "here's something to employ our time!
Preserved and made into pies we shall have a welcome store! But I must
have some one to help me. I count on you, Pencroft."
"No, Neb," replied the sailor; "I have the rigging of the vessel to
finish and to look after, and you will have to do without me."
"And you, Mr. Herbert?"
"I must go to the corral to-morrow, Neb," replied the lad.
"It will be you then, Mr. Spilett, who will help me?"
"To oblige you, Neb, I will," replied the reporter; "but I warn you
that if you disclose your receipts to me, I shall publish them."
"Whenever you like, Mr. Spilett," replied Neb; "whenever you like."
And so the next day Gideon Spilett became Neb's assistant and was
installed in his culinary laboratory. The engineer had previously made
known to him the result of the exploration which he had made the day
before, and on this point the reporter shared Harding's opinion, that
although he had found nothing, a secret still remained to be
discovered!
The frost continued for another week, and the settlers did not leave
Granite House unless to look after the poultry-yard. The dwelling was
filled with appetising odours, which were emitted from the learned
manipulation of Neb and the reporter. But all the results of the chase
were not made into preserved provisions; and as the game kept
perfectly in the intense cold, wild duck and other fowl were eaten
fresh, and declared superior to all other aquatic birds in the known
world.
During this week Pencroft, aided by Herbert, who handled the
sail-maker's needle with much skill, worked with such energy that the
sails of that vessel were finished. There was no want of cordage.
Thanks to the rigging which had been recovered with the case of the
balloon, the ropes and cables from the net were all of good quality,
and the sailor turned them all to account. To the sails were attached
strong bolt ropes, and there still remained enough from which to make
the halliards, shrouds, and sheets, etc. The blocks were manufactured
by Cyrus Harding under Pencroft's directions by means of the
turning-lathe. It therefore happened that the rigging was entirely
prepared before the vessel was finished. Pencroft also manufactured a
flag, that flag so dear to every true American, containing the stars
and stripes of their glorious Union. The colours for it were supplied
from certain plants used in dyeing, and which were very abundant in
the island; only to the thirty-seven stars, representing the
thirty-seven States of the Union, which shine on the American flag,
the sailor added a thirty-eighth, the star of "the State of Lincoln,"
for he considered his island as already united to the great republic.
"And," said he, "it is so already in heart, if not in deed!"
In the meantime, the flag was hoisted at the central window of Granite
House, and the settlers saluted it with three cheers.
The cold season was now almost at an end, and it appeared as if this
second winter was to pass without any unusual occurrence, when, on the
night of the 11th August, the plateau of Prospect Heights was menaced
with complete destruction.
After a busy day the colonists were sleeping soundly, when towards
four o'clock in the morning they were suddenly awakened by Top's
barking.
The dog was not this time barking near the mouth of the well, but at
the threshold of the door, at which he was scratching as if he wished
to burst it open. Jup was also uttering piercing cries.
"Hallo, Top!" cried Neb, who was the first awake. But the dog
continued to bark more furiously than ever.
"What's the matter now?" asked Harding.
And all dressing in haste rushed to the windows, which they opened.
Beneath their eyes was spread a sheet of snow which looked grey in the
dim light. The settlers could see nothing, but they heard a singular
yelping noise away in the darkness. It was evident that the beach had
been invaded by a number of animals which could not be seen.
"What are they?" cried Pencroft.
"Wolves, jaguars, or apes?" replied Neb.
"They have nearly reached the plateau," said the reporter.
"And our poultry-yard," exclaimed Herbert, "and our garden!"
"Where can they have crossed?" asked Pencroft.
"They must have crossed the bridge on the shore," replied the
engineer, "which one of us must have forgotten to close."
"True," said Spilett, "I remember to have left it open."
"A fine job you have made of it, Mr. Spilett," cried the sailor.
"What is done cannot be undone," replied Cyrus Harding. "We must
consult what it will now be best to do."
Such were the questions and answers which were rapidly exchanged
between Harding and his companions. It was certain that the bridge had
been crossed, that the shore had been invaded by animals, and that
whatever they might be they could by ascending the left bank of the
Mercy reach Prospect Heights. They must therefore be advanced against
quickly and fought with if necessary.
"But what are these beasts?" was asked a second time, as the yelpings
were again heard more loudly than before. These yelps made Herbert
start, and he remembered to have already heard them during his first
visit to the sources of the Red Creek.
"They are culpeux foxes!" he exclaimed.
"Forward!" shouted the sailor.
And all arming themselves with hatchets, carbines, and revolvers,
threw themselves into the lift and soon set foot on the shore.
Culpeux are dangerous animals when in great numbers and irritated by
hunger, nevertheless the colonists did not hesitate to throw
themselves into the midst of the troop, and their first shots vividly
lighting up the darkness made their assailants draw back.
The chief thing was to hinder these plunderers from reaching the
plateau, for the garden and the poultry-yard would then have been at
their mercy, and immense, perhaps irreparable mischief, would
inevitably be the result, especially with regard to the cornfield. But
as the invasion of the plateau could only be made by the left bank of
the Mercy, it was sufficient to oppose the culpeux on the narrow bank
between the river and the cliff of granite.
This was plain to all, and, by Cyrus Harding's orders, they reached
the spot indicated by him, while the culpeux rushed fiercely through
the gloom. Harding, Gideon, Spilett, Herbert, Pencroft, and Neb posted
themselves in impregnable line. Top, his formidable jaws open,
preceded the colonists, and he was followed by Jup, armed with knotty
cudgel, which he brandished like a club.
The night was extremely dark, it was only by the flashes from the
revolvers as each person fired that they could see their assailants,
who were at least a hundred in number, and whose eyes were glowing
like hot coals.
"They must not pass!" shouted Pencroft.
"They shall not pass!" returned the engineer.
But if they did not pass it was not for want of having attempted it.
Those in the rear pushed on the foremost assailants, and it was an
incessant struggle with revolvers and hatchets. Several culpeux
already lay dead on the ground, but their number did not appear to
diminish, and it might have been supposed that reinforcements were
continually arriving over the bridge.
The colonists were soon obliged to fight at close quarters, not
without receiving some wounds, though happily very slight ones.
Herbert had, with a shot from his revolver, rescued Neb, on whose
back a culpeux had sprung like a tiger cat. Top fought with actual
fury, flying at the throats of the foxes and strangling them
instantaneously. Jup wielded his weapon valiantly, and it was in vain
that they endeavoured to keep him in the rear. Endowed doubtless with
sight which enabled him to pierce the obscurity, he was always in the
thick of the fight, uttering from time to time a sharp hissing sound,
which was with him the sign of great rejoicing.
At one moment he advanced so far, that by the light from a revolver he
was seen surrounded by five or six large culpeux, with whom he was
coping with great coolness.
However the struggle was ended at last, and victory was on the side of
the settlers, but not until they had fought for two long hours! The
first signs of the approach of day doubtless determined the retreat of
their assailants, who scampered away towards the North, passing over
the bridge, which Neb ran immediately to raise. When day had
sufficiently lighted up the field of battle, the settlers counted as
many as fifty dead bodies scattered about on the shore.
"And Jup!" cried Pencroft, "where is Jup?" Jup had disappeared. His
friend Neb called him, and for the first time Jup did not reply to his
friend's call.
Every one set out in search of Jup, trembling lest he should be found
amongst the slain; they cleared the place of the bodies which stained
the snow with their blood, Jup was found in the midst of a heap of
culpeux, whose broken jaws and crushed bodies showed that they had to
do with the terrible club of the intrepid animal.
Poor Jup still held in his hand the stump of his broken cudgel, but
deprived of his weapon he had been overpowered by numbers, and his
chest was covered with severe wounds.
"He is living," cried Neb, who was bending over him.
"And we will save him," replied the sailor. "We will nurse him as if
he was one of ourselves."
It appeared as if Jup understood, for he leant his head on Pencroft's
shoulder as if to thank him. The sailor was wounded himself, but his
wound was insignificant, as were those of his companions; for thanks
to their firearms they had been almost always able to keep their
assailants at a distance. It was therefore only the orang whose
condition was serious.
Jup, carried by Neb and Pencroft, was placed in the lift, and only a
slight moan now and then escaped his lips. He was gently drawn up to
Granite House. There he was laid on a mattress taken from one of the
beds, and his wounds were bathed with the greatest care. It did not
appear that any vital part had been reached, but Jup was very weak
from loss of blood, and a high fever soon set in after his wounds had
been dressed. He was laid down, strict diet was imposed, "just like a
real person," as Neb said, and they made him swallow several cups of a
cooling drink, for which the ingredients were supplied from the
vegetable medicine chest of Granite House. Jup was at first restless,
but his breathing gradually became more regular, and he was left
sleeping quietly. From time to time Top, walking on tip-toe, as one
might say, came to visit his friend, and seemed to approve of all the
care that had been taken of him. One of Jup's hands hung over the side
of his bed, and Top licked it with a sympathising air.
They employed the day in interring the dead, who were dragged to the
forest of the Far West, and there buried deep.
This attack, which might have had such serious consequences, was a
lesson to the settlers, who from this time never went to bed until one
of their number had made sure that all the bridges were raised, and
that no invasion was possible.
However Jup, after having given them serious anxiety for several days,
began to recover. His constitution brought him through, the fever
gradually subsided, and Gideon Spilett, who was a bit of a doctor,
pronounced him quite out of danger. On the 16th of August, Jup began
to eat. Neb made him nice little sweet dishes, which the invalid
discussed with great relish, for if he had a pet failing it was that
of being somewhat of a gourmand, and Neb had never done anything to
cure him of this fault.
"What would you have?" said he to Gideon Spilett, who sometimes
expostulated with him for spoiling the ape. "Poor Jup has no other
pleasure than that of the palate, and I am only too glad to be able to
reward his services in this way!"
[Illustration: TOP VISITING THE INVALID]
Ten days after having taken to his bed, on the 21st of August, Master
Jup arose. His wounds were healed, and it was evident that he would
not be long in regaining his usual strength and agility. Like all
convalescents, he was tremendously hungry, and the reporter allowed
him to eat as much as he liked, for he trusted to that instinct, which
is too often wanting in reasoning beings, to keep the orang from any
excess. Neb was delighted to see his pupil's appetite returning.
"Eat away, my Jup," said he, "and don't spare anything; you have shed
your blood for us, and it is the least I can do to make you strong
again!"
On the 25th of August Neb's voice was heard calling to his companions.
"Captain, Mr. Spilett, Mr. Herbert, Pencroft, come! come!"
The colonists, who were together in the dining-room, rose at Neb's
call, who was then in Jup's room.
"What's the matter?" asked the reporter.
"Look," replied Neb, with a shout of laughter. And what did they see?
Master Jup smoking calmly and seriously, sitting cross-legged like a
Turk at the entrance to Granite House!
"My pipe," cried Pencroft. "He has taken my pipe! Hallo, my honest
Jup, I make you a present of it! Smoke away, old boy, smoke away!"
And Jup gravely puffed out clouds of smoke which seemed to give him
great satisfaction. Harding did not appear to be much astonished at
this incident, and he cited several examples of tame apes, to whom the
use of tobacco had become quite familiar.
But from this day Master Jup had a pipe of his own, the sailor's
ex-pipe, which was hung in his room near his store of tobacco. He
filled it himself, lighted it with a glowing coal, and appeared to be
the happiest of quadrumana. It may readily be understood that this
similarity of tastes of Jup and Pencroft served to tighten the bonds
of friendship which already existed between the honest ape and the
worthy sailor.
"Perhaps he is really a man," said Pencroft sometimes to Neb. "Should
you be surprised to hear him beginning to speak to us some day?"
"My word, no," replied Neb. "What astonishes me is that he hasn't
spoken to us before, for now he wants nothing but speech!"
"It would amuse me all the same," resumed the sailor, "if some fine
day he said to me, 'Suppose we change pipes, Pencroft.'"
"Yes," replied Neb, "what a pity he was born dumb!"
With the month of September the winter ended, and the works were again
eagerly commenced. The building of the vessel advanced rapidly, she
was already completely decked over, and all the inside parts of the
hull were firmly united with ribs bent by means of steam, which
answered all the purposes of a mould.
As there was no want of wood, Pencroft proposed to the engineer to
give a double lining to the hull, so as to completely insure the
strength of the vessel.
Harding, not knowing what the future might have in store for them,
approved the sailor's idea of making the craft as strong as possible.
The interior and deck of the vessel was entirely finished towards the
15th of September. For calking the seams they made oakum of dry
seaweed, which was hammered in between the planks; then these seams
were covered with boiling tar, which was obtained in great abundance
from the pines in the forest.
The management of the vessel was very simple. She had from the first
been ballasted with heavy blocks of granite walled up, in a bed of
lime, twelve thousand pounds of which they stowed away.
A deck was placed over this ballast, and the interior was divided into
two cabins; two benches extended along them and served also as
lockers. The foot of the mast supported the partition which separated
the two cabins, which were reached by two hatchways let into the deck.
Pencroft had no trouble in finding a tree suitable for the mast. He
chose a straight young fir, with no knots, and which he had only to
square at the step, and round off at the top. The ironwork of the
mast, the rudder and the hull, had been roughly but strongly forged at
the Chimneys. Lastly, yards, masts, boom, spars, oars, etc., were all
finished by the first week in October, and it was agreed that a trial
trip should be taken round the island, so as to ascertain how the
vessel would behave at sea, and how far they might depend upon her.
During all this time the necessary works had not been neglected. The
corral was enlarged, for the flock of musmons and goats had been
increased by a number of young ones, who had to be housed and fed. The
colonists had paid visits also to the oyster bed, the warren, the coal
and iron mines, and to the till then unexplored districts of the Far
West forest, which abounded in game. Certain indigenous plants were
discovered, and those fit for immediate use, contributed to vary the
vegetable stores of Granite House.
They were a species of ficoide, some similar to those of the Cape,
with eatable fleshy leaves, others bearing seeds containing a sort of
flour.
On the 10th of October the vessel was launched. Pencroft was radiant
with joy, the operation was perfectly successful; the boat completely
rigged, having been pushed on rollers to the water's edge, was floated
by the rising tide, amidst the cheers of the colonists, particularly
of Pencroft, who showed no modesty on this occasion. Besides his
importance was to last beyond the finishing of the vessel, since,
after having built her, he was to command her. The grade of captain
was bestowed upon him with the approbation of all. To satisfy Captain
Pencroft, it was now necessary to give a name to the vessel, and,
after many propositions had been discussed, the votes were all in
favour of the _Bonadventure_. As soon as the _Bonadventure_ had been
lifted by the rising tide, it was seen that she lay evenly in the
water, and would be easily navigated. However the trial trip was to be
made that very day, by an excursion off the coast. The weather was
fine, the breeze fresh, and the sea smooth, especially towards the
south coast, for the wind was blowing from the north-west.
"All hands on board," shouted Pencroft, but breakfast was first
necessary, and it was thought best to take provisions on board, in the
event of their excursion being prolonged until the evening.
[Illustration: THE TRIAL TRIP]
Cyrus Harding was equally anxious to try the vessel, the model of
which had originated with him, although on the sailor's advice he had
altered some parts of it, but he did not share Pencroft's confidence
in her, and as the latter had not again spoken of the voyage to Tabor
Island, Harding hoped he had given it up. He would have indeed great
reluctance in letting two or three of his companions venture so far in
so small a boat, which was not of more than fifteen tons' burden.
At half-past ten everybody was on board, even Top and Jup, and Herbert
weighed the anchor, which was fast in the sand near the mouth of the
Mercy. The sail was hoisted, the Lincolnian flag floated from the
mast-head, and the _Bonadventure_, steered by Pencroft, stood out to
sea.
The wind blowing out of Union Bay she ran before it, and thus showed
her owners, much to their satisfaction, that she possessed a
remarkably fast pair of heels, according to Pencroft's mode of
speaking. After having doubled Flotsam Point and Claw Cape, the
captain kept her close hauled, so as to sail along the southern coast
of the island, when it was found she sailed admirably within five
points of the wind. All hands were enchanted, they had a good vessel,
which, in case of need, would be of great service to them, and with
fine weather and a fresh breeze the voyage promised to be charming.
Pencroft now stood off the shore, three or four miles across from Port
Balloon. The island then appeared in all its extent and under a new
aspect, with the varied panorama of its shore from Claw Cape to
Reptile End, the forests in which dark firs contrasted with the young
foliage of other trees and overlooked the whole, and Mount Franklin
whose lofty head was still whitened with snow.
"How beautiful it is!" cried Herbert.
"Yes, our island is beautiful and good," replied Pencroft. "I love it
as I loved my poor mother. It received us poor and destitute, and now
what is wanting to us five fellows who fell on it from the sky."
"Nothing," replied Neb; "nothing, captain."
And the two brave men gave three tremendous cheers in honour of their
island!
During all this time Gideon Spilett, leaning against the mast,
sketched the panorama which was developed before his eyes.
Cyrus Harding gazed on it in silence.
"Well, Captain Harding," asked Pencroft, "what do you think of our
vessel?"
"She appears to behave well," replied the engineer.
"Good! And do you think now that she could undertake a voyage of some
extent?"
"What voyage, Pencroft?"
"One to Tabor Island, for instance."
"My friend," replied Harding, "I think that in any pressing emergency
we need not hesitate to trust ourselves to the _Bonadventure_ even for
a longer voyage; but you know I should see you set off to Tabor Island
with great uneasiness, since nothing obliges you to go there."
"One likes to know one's neighbours," returned the sailor, who was
obstinate in his idea. "Tabor Island is our neighbour, and the only
one! Politeness requires us to go at least to pay a visit."
"By Jove," said Spilett; "our friend Pencroft has become very
particular about the proprieties all at once!"
"I am not particular about anything at all," retorted the sailor; who
was rather vexed by the engineer's opposition, but who did not wish to
cause him anxiety.
"Consider, Pencroft," resumed Harding, "you cannot go alone to Tabor
Island."
"One companion will be enough for me."
"Even so," replied the engineer, "you will risk depriving the colony
of Lincoln Island of two settlers out of five."
"Out of six," answered Pencroft; "you forget Jup."
"Out of seven," added Neb; "Top is quite worth another."
"There is no risk at all in it, captain," replied Pencroft.
"That is possible, Pencroft; but I repeat it is to expose ourselves
uselessly."
The obstinate sailor did not reply, and let the conversation drop,
quite determined to resume it again. But he did not suspect that an
incident would come to his aid and change into an act of humanity that
which was at first only a doubtful whim.
After standing off the shore the _Bonadventure_ again approached it in
the direction of Port Balloon. It was important to ascertain the
channels between the sandbanks and reefs, that buoys might be laid
down, since this little creek was to be the harbour.
They were not more than half a mile from the coast, and it was
necessary to tack to beat against the wind. The _Bonadventure_ was
then going at a very moderate rate, as the breeze, partly intercepted
by the high land, scarcely swelled her sails, and the sea, smooth as
glass, was only rippled now and then by passing gusts.
Herbert had stationed himself in the bows that he might indicate the
course to be followed among the channels, when all at once he
shouted,--
"Luff, Pencroft, luff!"
"What's the matter," replied the sailor, "a rock?"
"No--wait," said Herbert, "I don't quite see. Luff again--right--now."
So saying, Herbert leaning over the side, plunged his arm into the
water and pulled it out, exclaiming,--
"A bottle!"
He held in his hand a corked bottle which he had just seized a few
cables' length from the shore.
Cyrus Harding took the bottle Without uttering a single word he drew
the cork, and took from it a damp paper, on which were written these
words:--
"Castaway ... Tabor Island: 153 deg. W long, 37 deg. 11' S lat."
[Illustration: "LUFF, PENCROFT, LUFF!"]