Part 13 (1/2)
”And that's just the point,” added Pencroft, ”I don't knoe have done right to bring hiineer quickly
”But the wretched creature has no sense!”
”That is possible at present,” replied Cyrus Harding; ”but only a few o the wretched creature was a man like you and me And who knoill beco solitude on this island? It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason, since you have found this poor creature in such a state!”
”But, captain,” asked Herbert, ”what leads you to think that the brutishness of the unfortunate an only a few months back?”
”Because the docuineer, ”and the castaway alone can have written it”
”Always supposing,” observed Gideon Spilett, ”that it had not been written by a companion of this man, since dead”
”That is impossible, my dear Spilett”
”Why so?” asked the reporter
”Because the docu, ”and it mentioned only one”
Herbert then in a feords related the incidents of the voyage, and dwelt on the curious fact of the sort of passing gleaht of the storm he had becoineer, ”you are right to attach great importance to this fact The unfortunate man cannot be incurable, and despair has made him what he is; but here he will find his fellow-men, and since there is still a soul in him, this soul we shall save!”
The castaway of Tabor Island, to the great pity of the engineer and the great astonishht from the cabin which he occupied in the fore part of the Bonadventure; when once on land heapproaching, placed his hand on his shoulder with a gesture full of authority, and looked at him with infinite tenderness Iradually became calm, his eyes fell, his head bent, and he ineer
Cyrus Harding had attentively observed hier anything hu, as had the reporter already, observed in his look an indefinable trace of intelligence
It was decided that the castaway, or rather the stranger, as he was thenceforth termed by his companions, should live in one of the rooms of Granite House, from which, however, he could not escape He was led there without difficulty; and with careful attention, it ht, perhaps, be hoped that some day he would be a co, during breakfast, which Neb had hastened to prepare, as the reporter, Herbert, and Pencroft were dying of hunger, heard in detail all the incidents which had reed with his friends on this point, that the strangertheh the bushy beard, and under the shaggy, nise the characteristic features of the Anglo-Saxon
[Illustration: ”POOR FELLOW,” MURMURED THE ENGINEER]
”But, by the bye,” said Gideon Spilett, addressing Herbert, ”you never told us how you , except that you would have been strangled, if we had not happened to come up in time to help you!”
”Upon my word,” answered Herbert, ”it is rather difficult to say how it happened I was, I think, occupied in collectingfrom a very tall tree I scarcely had time to look round This unfortunate man, ithout doubt concealed in a tree, rushed upon me in less time than I take to tell you about it, and unless Mr Spilett and Pencroft--”
”My boy!” said Cyrus Harding, ”you ran a great danger, but, perhaps, without that, the poor creature would have still hidden himself from your search, and we should not have had a new companion”
”You hope, then, Cyrus, to succeed in refor the ineer
Breakfast over, Harding and his companions left Granite House and returned to the beach They there occupied theineer, having exa which could help theer
The capture of pigs,very profitable to Lincoln Island, and the animals were led to the sty, where they soon beca the powder and shot, as well as the box of caps, were very welcoazine, either outside Granite House or in the Upper Cavern, where there would be no fear of explosion However, the use of pyroxyle was to be continued, for this substance giving excellent results, there was no reason for substituting ordinary powder
When the unloading of the vessel was finished,-- ”Captain,” said Pencroft, ”I think it would be prudent to put our Bonadventure in a safe place”
”Is she not safe at the
”No, captain,” replied the sailor ”Half of the time she is stranded on the sand, and that works her She is a fa the squall which struck us on our return”
”Could she not float in the river?”
”No doubt, captain, she could; but there is no shelter there, and in the east winds, I think that the Bonadventure would suffer much from the surf”
”Well, where would you put her, Pencroft?”
”In Port Balloon,” replied the sailor ”That little creek, shut in by rocks, seems to me to be just the harbour ant”
”Is it not rather far?”
”Pooh! it is not more than three ht road to take us there!”
”Do it then, Pencroft, and take your Bonadventure there,” replied the engineer, ”and yet I would rather have her under our more immediate protection When we have time, we must make a little harbour for her”
”Fahthouse, a pier, and a dock! Ah! really with you, captain, everything becoineer, ”but on condition, however, that you help me, for you do as much as three men in all our work”
Herbert and the sailor then re-ehed, the sail hoisted, and the wind drove her rapidly towards Claw Cape Two hours after, she was reposing on the tranquil waters of Port Balloon
During the first days passed by the stranger in Granite House, had he already given the taht burn in the depths of that obscuredto the body?
Yes, to a certainty, and to such a degree, that Cyrus Harding and the reporter wondered if the reason of the unfortunate uished At first, accustomed to the open air, to the unrestrained liberty which he had enjoyed on Tabor Island, the stranger ht throw himself on to the beach, out of one of the s of Granite House But gradually he became calmer, and more freedom was allowed to his movements
They had reason to hope, and to hopehis carnivorous instincts, the stranger accepted a less bestial nourishment than that on which he fed on the islet, and cooked meat did not produce in him the same sentiment of repulsion which he had showed on board the Bonadventure Cyrus Harding had profited by a , to cut his hair and ave hie aspect He had also been clothedwhich covered hier resumed a more human appearance, and it even seemed as if his eyes had becoence, this man's facei some hours in his company He came and worked near his, so as to fix his attention A spark, indeed, would be sufficient to reillu that brain to recall reason That had been seen, during the storlect either to speak aloud, so as to penetrate at the saht the depths of that torpid intelligence Sometimes one of his companions, sometimes another, soing to the navy, which ave soht attention to as said, and the settlers were soon convinced that he partly understood them Sometimes the expression of his countenance was deeply sorrowful, a proof that he suffered mentally, for his face could not be h at different tiht that words were about to issue from his lips At all events, the poor creature was quite quiet and sad!
But was not his calm only apparent? Was not his sadness only the result of his seclusion? Nothing could yet be ascertained Seeing only certain objects and in a limited space, always in contact with the colonists, to who no desires to satisfy, better fed, better clothed, it was natural that his physical nature should gradually improve; but was he penetrated with the sense of a new life? or rather, to employ a word, which would be exactly applicable to hi tamed, like an animal in company with hiswas anxious to answer, and yet he did not wish to treat his invalid roughly! would he ever be a convalescent?
How the engineer observed him every moment! Hoas on the watch for his soul, if one rasp it! The settlers folloith real sy They aided him also in this work of humanity, and all, except perhaps the incredulous Pencroft, soon shared both his hope and his faith
The caler was deep, as has been said, and he even showed a sort of attachineer, whose influence he evidently felt Cyrus Harding resolved then to try hi him to another scene, from that ocean which formerly his eyes had been accustoht perhaps recall those where so many years of his life had been passed!
”But,” said Gideon Spilett, ”can we hope that he will not escape, if once set at liberty?”