Part 5 (1/2)
Some one had entered Granite House--there could be no enerally hung fro, was in its place, but the lower ladder was drawn up and raised to the threshold It was evident that the intruders had wished to guard theain
No reply
”The beggars,” exclai quietly as if they were in their own house Hallo there, you pirates, brigands, robbers, sons of John Bull!”
When Pencroft, being a Yankee, treated any one to the epithet of ”son of John Bull,” he considered he had reached the last limits of insult
The sun had now completely risen, and the whole facade of Granite House became illuminated by his rays; but in the interior as well as on the exterior all was quiet and calm
The settlers asked if Granite House was inhabited or not, and yet the position of the ladder was sufficient to show that it was; it was also certain that the inhabitants, whoever they ht be, had not been able to escape But hoere they to be got at?
Herbert then thought of fastening a cord to an arrow, and shooting the arrow so that it should pass between the first rounds of the ladder which hung from the threshold By means of the cord they would then be able to dran the ladder to the ground, and so re-establish the communication between the beach and Granite House There was evidently nothing else to be done, and, with a little skill, this ht succeed Very fortunately bows and arrows had been left at the Chiht hibiscus cord Pencroft fastened this to a well-feathered arrow Then Herbert fixing it to his bow, took a careful ai, Gideon Spilett, Pencroft, and Neb drew back, so as to see if anything appeared at the s The reporter lifted his gun to his shoulder and covered the door
The boas bent, the arro, taking the cord with it, and passed between the two last rounds
The operation had succeeded
Herbert immediately seized the end of the cord, but, at thatdown the ladder, an arrasped it and dragged it inside Granite House
”The rascals!” shouted the sailor ”If a ball can do anything for you, you shall not have long to wait for it”
”But as it?” asked Neb
”Who was it? Didn't you see?”
”No”
”It was a oin Our dwelling has been invaded byour absence”
And, at this moment, as if to bear witness to the truth of the sailors words, two or three quadrumana showed themselves at the s, from which they had pushed back the shutters, and saluted the real proprietors of the place with a thousand hideous grimaces
”I knew that it was only a joke,” cried Pencroft, ”but one of the jokers shall pay the penalty for the rest”
So saying, the sailor, raising his piece, took a rapid aim at one of the monkeys and fired All disappeared, except one who fell mortally wounded on the beach This ed to the first order of the quadruorilla, he took rank a the anthropoid apes, who are so called from their resemblance to the hu
”What a nificent, if you like,” replied Pencroft; ”but still I do not see hoe are to get into our house”
”Herbert is a good marksain”
”Why, these apes are so cunning,” returned Pencroft, ”they won't show theain at the s and so we can't kill them, and when I think of the mischief they may do in the roo; ”these creatures cannot keep us long at bay”
”I shall not be sure of that till I see them down here,” replied the sailor ”And now, captain, do you kno many dozens of these fellows are up there?”
It was difficult to reply to Pencroft, and as for the young boyanother attempt, that was not easy; for the lower part of the ladder had been drawn again into the door, and when another pull was given, the line broke and the ladder re Pencroft stormed There was a comic side to the situation, but he did not think it funny at all It was certain that the settlers would end by reinstating the out the intruders, but when and how? that is what they were not able to say
[Illustration: THE INVADERS OF GRANITE HOUSE]
Two hours passed, during which the apes took care not to show themselves, but they were still there, and three or four times a nose or a paas poked out at the door or s, and was iun-shot
”Let us hide ourselves,” at last said the engineer ”Perhaps the apes will think we have gone quite away and will show theain Let Spilett and Herbert conceal themselves behind those rocks and fire on all that ineer's orders were obeyed, and whilst the reporter and the lad, the best ood position, but out of the ht, Neb, Pencroft, and Cyrus climbed the plateau and entered the forest in order to kill soame, for it was now ti
In half an hour the hunters returned with a few rock pigeons, which they roasted as well as they could Not an ape had appeared Gideon Spilett and Herbert went to take their share of the breakfast, leaving Top to watch under the s They then, having eaten, returned to their post
Two hours later, their situation was in no degree iht have been supposed that they had disappeared; but what seemed more probable was that, terrified by the death of one of their cohtened by the noise of the firearms, they had retreated to the back part of the house or probably even into the storerooht of the valuables which this storerooineer, fast changed into great irritation, and there certainly was room for it
”Decidedly it is too bad,” said the reporter; ”and the worst of it is, there is no way of putting an end to it”
”But we abonds out soet the better of them, even if there are twenty of the rascals; but for that, we etting at them?”
”Let us try to enter Granite House by the old opening at the lake,” replied the engineer
”Oh!” shouted the sailor, ”and I never thought of that”
This was in reality the only way by which to penetrate into Granite House so as to fight with and drive out the intruders The opening was, it is true, closed up with a wall of cemented stones, which it would be necessary to sacrifice, but that could easily be rebuilt Fortunately, Cyrus Harding had not as yet effected his project of hiding this opening by raising the waters of the lake, for the operation would then have taken some time
It was already past twelve o'clock when the colonists, well armed and provided with picks and spades, left the Chimneys, passed beneath the s of Granite House, after telling Top to rean to ascend the left bank of the Mercy, so as to reach Prospect Heights
But they had notbarking furiously
And all rushed down the bank again
Arrived at the turning, they saw that the situation had changed
In fact, the apes, seized with a sudden panic, fro to escape Two or three ran and claility of acrobats They were not even trying to replace the ladder, by which it would have been easy to descend; perhaps in their terror they had forgotten this way of escape The colonists, now being able to take aim without difficulty, fired So piercing cries The rest, throwing themselves out, were dashed to pieces in their fall, and in a fewquadrumana in Granite House
At this moment the ladder was seen to slip over the threshold, then unroll and fall to the ground
”Hullo!” cried the sailor, ”this is queer!”
”Very strange!”first up the ladder
”Take care, captain!” cried Pencroft, ”perhaps there are still some of these rascals”