Part 5 (1/2)
”Ah, Mr Jeorling,” cried Glass, ”if soht be saved! They seemed to me to be such fine fellows”
”That is just what the Halbrane is certainly going to attempt, so soon as she is ready, for her captain, Len Guy, is Williah I do not know Captain Len Guy, I venture to assert that the brothers do not resemble each other--at least in their behaviour to the Governor of Tristan d'Acunha!”
It was plain that the Governor was profoundly mortified, but no doubt he consoled hioods at twenty-five per cent above their value
One thing was certain: Captain Len Guy had no intention of coular, inasmuch as he could not be unaware that the Jane had put in at Tristan d'Acunha before proceeding to the southern seas Surely he ht be expected to put himself in communication with the last European who had shaken hands with his brother!
Nevertheless, Captain Len Guy re on deck; and, looking through the glass skylight of his cabin, I saw hi over the table, which was covered with open books and out-spread charts No doubt the charts were those of the austral latitudes, and the books were narratives of the precursors of the Jane in those ions of the south
On the table lay also a volume which had been read and re-read a hundred tiins were filled with pencilled notes And on the cover shone the title in brightly gilded letters: The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym
Chapter VIII
Bound for the Falklands
On the 8th of Septe, I had taken leave of His Excellency the Governor-General of the Archipelago of Tristan d'Acunha--for such is the official title bestowed upon himself by that excellent fellow, Glass, ex-corporal of artillery in the British Ar day, before dawn, the Halbrane sailed
After we had rounded Herald Point, the few houses of Ansiedlung disappeared behind the extremity of Falaily
During thewe left behind us in succession Elephant Bay, Hardy Rock, West Point, Cotton Bay, and Daly's Proht of the volcano of Tristan d'Acunha, which is eight thousand feet high; its snow-clad bulk was at last veiled by the shades of evening
During that week our voyage proceeded under the most favourable conditions; if these wereus within sight of the first peaks of the Falkland Group; and so, very sensibly towards the south; the schooner having descended froree of latitude
The ht to say, the most lucky of those discoverers who had preceded the Halbrane, under the coone beyond--Kemp, the sixty-sixth parallel; Ballerry, the sixty-seventh; Biscoe, the sixty-eighth; Bellinghausen and Morrell, the seventieth; Cook, the seventy-first; Weddell, the seventy-fourth And it was beyond the eighty-third, nearly five hundred and fifty o to the succour of the survivors of the Jane!
I confess that for a practical ely excited; a nervous restlessness had taken possession of ures of Arthur Pyan to feel a desire to take part in the proposed undertaking of Captain Len Guy I thought about it incessantly As a fact there was nothing to recall et the consent of the commander of the Halbrane remained to be seen; but, after all, why should he refuse to keep er? Would it not be a very ”huivearded as fictitious, showingme on that selfsame island which I had declared to be a myth?
Nevertheless, I resolved to wait, before I came to any definite deter to the captain should arise
After an interval of unfavourable weather, during which the Halbrane , the aspect of the sky and the sea underwent a e The wind became calm, the waves abated, and the next day the breeze veered to the north-west This was very favourable to us, and in ten days, with a continuance of such fortunate conditions, we ht hope to reach the Falklands
It was on the 11th that the opportunity of an explanation with Captain Len Guy was presented to me, and by himself, for he came out of his cabin, advanced to the side of the shi+p where I was seated, and took his place at my side
Evidently he wished to talk to me, and of what, if not the subject which entirely absorbed hi: ”I have not yet had the pleasure of a chat with you, Mr Jeorling, sillce our departure froret, captain,” I replied, but with reserve, for I wanted hi you to excuse s to occupy anize, in which nothingyou not to be displeased with ht, Mr Jeorling; and now that I know you, that I a you for a passenger until our arrival at the Falklands”
”I arateful, captain, for what you have done for ed to--”
Themy proposal, when Captain Len Guy interrupted ,” he asked, ”are you now convinced of the reality of the voyage of the Jane, or do you still regard Edgar Poe's book as a work of pure iard it, captain”
”You no longer doubt that Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters have really existed, or that ?”
”I should be the most incredulous of men, captain, to doubt either fact, and my earnest desire is that the favour of Heaven may attend you and secure the safety of the shi+pwrecked mariners of the Jane”
”I will do all inof God I shall succeed”
”I hope so, captain Indeed, I am certain it will be so, and if you consent--”
”Is it not the case that you talked of this lish ex-corporal, who sets up to be Governor of Tristan d'Acunha?” inquired the captain, without allowing me to finish my sentence
”That is so,” I replied, ”and what I learned froe my doubts into certainty”
”Ah I he has satisfied you?”
”Yes He perfectly reo, when she had put in at Tristan d'Acunha”
”The Jane--and s with Captain William Guy”
”And he traded with the Jane?”
”Yes, as he has just been trading with the Halbrane”
”She was moored in this bay?”
”In the same place as your schooner”
”And--Arthur Pym--Dirk Peters?”
”He ith them frequently”
”Did he ask what had become of them?”
”Oh yes, and I inforarded as a foolhardy adventurer, capable of any daring folly”
”Say aWas it not he who led my unfortunate brother into that fatal enterprise?”
”There is, indeed, reason to believe so froet it!” added the captain in a tone of agitation
”This man, Glass,” I resumed, ”also knew Patterson, the mate of the Jane”