Part 14 (1/2)
”Sir--understandfarther--they wanted to turn back This was decided, and then I thought that by telling who I was--Dirk Peters--of the Grampus--poor Pym's companion--I should be heard; they would belieye with o in search of hie that I was Dirk Peters, he who had killed Parker! But hunger, devouring hunger!”
”Coerate! If the lot had fallen to you, you would have incurred the fate of Parker You cannot be charged with a crime”
”Sir, would Parker's family speak of it as you do?”
”His family! Had he then relations?”
”Yes--and that is why Pyed his name in the narrative Parker's naht,” I said, interrupting him quickly, ”and as for me, I do not wish to know Parker's real name Keep this secret”
”No, I will tell it to you It weighs too heavily on me, and I shall be relieved, perhaps, when I have told you, Mr Jeorling”
”No, Dirk Peters, no!”
”His name was Holt--Ned Holt”
”Holt!” I exclai-master's”
”Who is his own brother, sir”
”Martin Holt?”
”Yes--understand me--his brother”
”But he believes that Ned Holt perished in the wreck of the Grampus with the rest”
”It was not so, and if he learned that I--”
Just at that instant a violent shock flung me out of my bunk
The schooner had made such a lurch to the port side that she was near foundering
I heard an angry voice cry out: ”What dog is that at the helm?”
It was the voice of West, and the person he was Hearne
I rushed out of o?” repeated West, who had seized Hearne by the collar of his jersey
”Lieutenant--I don't know--”
”Yes, I tell you, you have let it go A little more and ; the schooner would have capsized under full sail”
”Gratian,” cried West, calling one of the sailors, ”take the helo down into the hold”
On a sudden the cry of ”Land!” resounded, and every eye was turned southwards
Chapter XIX
Land?
”Land” is the only word to be found at the beginning of the nineteenth chapter of Edgar Poe's book I thought it would be a good idea--placing after it a note of interrogation--to put it as a heading to this portion of our narrative
Did that word, dropped from our fore-masthead, indicate an island or a continent? And, whether a continent or an island, did not a disappointment await us? Could they be there e had come to seek? And Arthur Pym, as dead, unquestionably dead, in spite of Dirk Peters' assertions, had he ever set foot on this land?
When the welcome word resounded on board the Jane on the 17th January, 1828--(a day full of incidents according to Arthur Pym's diary)--it was succeeded by ”Land on the starboard bow!” Such nal frohtly drawn above the sky line were visible on this side
The land announced to the sailors of the fane was the wild and barren Bennet Islet Less than one degree south of it lay Tsalal Island, then fertile, habitable and inhabited, and on which Captain Len Guy had hoped to meet his fellow-countryrees farther off in the depths of the southern sea, be for our schooner? Was it the goal so ardently desired and so earnestly sought for? Were the two brothers, William and Len Guy, to meet at this place Would the Halbrane coe whose success would be definitely secured by the restoration of the survivors of the fane to their country?
I repeat that I was just like the half-breed Our aim was not merely to discover the survivors, nor was success in this matter the only success we looked for However, since land was before our eyes, we et nearer to it first
That cry of ”Land” caused an ier dwelt upon the secret Dirk Peters had just told ot it also, for he rushed to the bow and fixed his eyes i could divert from his duty, he repeated his commands Gratian came to take the helm, and Hearne was shut up in the hold
On the whole this was a just punishainst it, for Hearne's inattention aardness had really endangered the schooner, for a short time only
Five or six of the Falklands sailors did, however, n from the mate silenced them, and they returned at once to their posts
Needless to say, Captain Len Guy, upon hearing the cry of the look-out erly examined this land at ten or twelveabout the secret Dirk Peters had confided toas the secret remained between us two--and neither would betray it--there would be nothing to fear But if ever an unlucky accident were to reveal to Martin Holt that his brother's naed to Parker, that the unfortunate man had not perished in the shi+pwreck of the Grampus, but had been sacrificed to save his coer; that Dirk Peters, to whom Martin Holt himself owed his life, had killed hiht not happen then? This was the reason why the half-breed shrank from any expression of thanks from Martin Holt--why he avoided Martin Holt, the victim's brother
The boatswain had just struck six bells The schooner was sailing with the caution deht be shoals or reefs barely hidden under the surface on which she s stood with the Halbrane, and even adain, an accident would have rendered her return ient need that every chance should be in our favour and not one against us
West had given orders to shorten sail When the boatswain had furled the top-gallant-sail, the top-sail and royal, the Halbrane remained under her mainsail, her fore-sail and her jib: sufficient canvas to cover the distance that separated her from land in a few hours Captain Len Guy immediately heaved the lead, which showed a depth of twenty fathos showed that the coast, which was very steep, was probably prolonged like a wall under the water Nevertheless, as the botto the slope of the coast, we did not venture to proceed out the sounding line in hand
The weather was still beautiful, although the sky was overcast by ato this there was soue outlines which stood out like floating vapour in the sky, disappearing and then reappearing between the breaks of the ard this land as frohest part
No! ould not admit that ere the victiht so!
Is it not natural, after all, for the heart to be assailed by a thousand apprehensions as we near the end of any enterprise? At this thought my mind became confused and dreamy The Halbrane seemed to be reduced to the dimensions of a small boat lost in this boundless space--the contrary of that li body, the shi+p grows larger
When we have charts, or even sailing directions instruct us concerning the hydrography of the coasts, the nature of the landfalls, the bays and the creeks, we ion, the master of a shi+p must not defer the order to cast anchor near the shore until the morrow But, where ere, what an amount of prudence was necessary! And yet, no manifest obstacle was before us Moreover, we had no cause to fear that the light would fail us during the sunny the night At this season the sun did not set so soon under the western horizon, and its rays bathed the vast Antarctic zone in unabated light
Fro recorded that the temperature fell continuously The thermometer in the air and in the shade did not ed into water it only indicated 26A (3A 33aE C below 0A) What could be the cause of this fall, since ere at the height of the southern su, which they had left off abefore the wind, and these first cold blasts were less keenly felt Yet we recognized the necessity of reaching our goal as soon as possible To linger in this region or to expose ourselves to the danger of wintering out would be to tempt Providence!
Captain Len Guy tested the direction of the current by heavy lead lines, and discovered that it was beginning to deviate from its former course