NO NEWS OF NEB—A PROPOSAL FROM PENCROFF AND SPILETT—THE REPORTER’S SORTIES—A FRAGMENT OF CLOTH—A MESSAGE—HURRIED DEPARTURE—ARRIVAL AT PROSPECT PLATEAU.
Herbert’s convalescence progressed steadily. Only one thing was left to wish for, to wit, that he would get well enough to be taken to Granite House. However well arranged and provisioned might be the dwelling in the corral, there was nothing like the solid comfort of their abode in the rock. Besides, they were not safe here, and, in spite of their watchfulness, they were always in dread of a shot from the woods. Whereas there in the midst of that unassailable and inaccessible mass of rock there would be nothing to fear. They waited, therefore, with impatience for the moment when Herbert could be carried, without danger to his wound, across the difficult route through Jacamar Woods.
Though without news of Neb, they had no fear for him. The brave negro, occupying a position of such strength, would not let himself be surprised. Top had not been sent back to him, for it seemed useless to expose the faithful dog to some shot which might deprive the colonists of their most useful helper. The engineer regretted to see his forces divided, and thus to play into the hands of the pirates. Since Ayrton’s disappearance, they were only four against five, for Herbert could not be counted. The poor boy knew and lamented the danger of which he was the cause.
One day, November 29, when he was asleep, they discussed their plans of action against the convicts.
“My friends,” said the reporter, after they had talked over the impossibility of communicating with Neb, “I agree with you that to risk ourselves on the path leading from the corral would be a useless exposure. But why should we not beat the woods for these wretches?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” replied Pencroff. “We’re not afraid of a bullet, and for my part, if Mr. Smith approves, I am ready to take to the woods. Surely one man is as good as another!”
“But is he as good as five?” asked the engineer.
“I will go with Pencroff,’ answered the reporter, “and the two of us, well armed, and Top with us—”
“My dear Spilett, and you, Pencroff, let us discuss the matter coolly. If the convicts were in hiding in some place known to us, from which we could drive them by an attack, it would be a different affair. But have we not every reason to fear that they will get the first shot?”
“Well, sir,” cried Pencroff, “a bullet doesn’t always hit its mark!”
“That which pierced Herbert did not go astray,” answered the engineer. “Besides, remember that if you both leave the corral, I shall be left alone to defend it. Can you answer that the convicts will not see you go off, that they will not wait till you are deep in the woods, and then make their attack in your absence upon a man and a sick boy?”
There was nothing to say in answer to this reasoning, which went home to the minds of all.
“If only Ayrton was yet one of the party!” said Spilett. “Poor fellow! his return to a life with his kind was not for long!”
“If he is dead!” added Pencroff, in a peculiar tone.
“Have you any hope that those rascals have spared him, Pencroff?” asked Spilett.
“Yes, if their interest led them to do so.”
“What! do you suppose that Ayrton, among his former companions in guilt, would forget all he owed to us—”
“Nobody can tell,” answered the sailor, with some hesitation.
“Pencroff,” said Smith, laying his hand on the sailor’s arm, “that was an unworthy thought. I will guarantee Ayrton’s fidelity!”
“And I too,” added the reporter, decidedly.
“Yes, yes, Mr. Smith, I am wrong,” answered Pencroff. “But really I am a little out of my mind. This imprisonment in the corral is driving me to distraction.”
“Be patient, Pencroff,” answered the engineer. “How soon, my dear Spilett, do you suppose Herbert can be carried to Granite House?”
“That is hard to say, Cyrus,” answered the reporter, “for a little imprudence might be fatal. But if he goes on as well as he is doing now for another week, why then we will see.”
At that season the spring was two months advanced. The weather was good, and the heat began to be oppressive. The woods were in fall leaf, and it was almost time to reap the accustomed harvest. It can easily be understood how this siege in the corral upset the plans of the colonists.
Once or twice the reporter risked himself outside, and walked around the palisade. Top was with him, and his carbine was loaded.
He met no one and saw nothing suspicious. Top would have warned him of any danger, and so long as the dog did not bark, there was nothing to fear.
But on his second sortie, on the 27th of November, Spilett, who had ventured into the woods for a quarter of a mile to the south of the mountain, noticed that Top smelt something. The dog’s motions were no longer careless; he ran to and fro, ferreting about in the grass and thistles, as if his keen nose had put him on the track of an enemy.
Spilett followed the dog, encouraging and exciting him by his voice; his eye on the alert, his carbine on his shoulder, and availing himself of the shelter of the trees. It was not likely that Top had recognized the presence of a man, for in that case he would have announced it by a half-stifled but angry bark. Since not even a growl was to be heard, the danger was evidently neither near nor approaching.
About five minutes had passed in this way, Top ferreting about and the reporter cautiously following him, when the dog suddenly rushed towards a thicket and tore from it a strip of cloth. It was a piece from a garment, dirty and torn. Spilett went back with it to the corral. There the colonists examined it and recognized it as a piece of Ayrton’s waistcoat, which was made of the felt prepared only in the workshop at Granite House.
“You see, Pencroff,” observed Smith, “Ayrton resisted manfully, and the convicts dragged him off in spite of his efforts. Do you still doubt his good faith?”
“No, Mr. Smith,” replied the sailor; “I have long ago given up that momentary suspicion. But I think we may draw one conclusion from this fact.”
“What is that?”
“That Ayrton was not killed at the corral. They must have dragged him out alive, and perhaps he is still alive.”
“It may be so,” said the engineer, thoughtfully.
The most impatient of them all to get back to Granite House was Herbert. He knew how necessary it was for them all to be there, and felt that it was he who was keeping them at the corral. The one thought which had taken possession of his mind was to leave the corral, and to leave it as soon as possible. He believed that he could bear the journey to Granite House. He was sure that his strength would come back to him sooner in his own room, with the sight and the smell of the sea.
It was now November 29. The colonists were talking together in Herbert’s room, about 7 o’clock in the morning, when they heard Top barking loudly. They seized their guns, always loaded and cocked, and went out of the house.
Top ran to the bottom of the palisade, jumping and barking with joy.
“Some one is coming!”
“Yes.”
“And not an enemy.”
“Neb, perhaps?”
“Or Ayrton?”
These words had scarcely been exchanged between the engineer and his comrade, when something leaped the palisade and fell on the ground inside. It was Jup. Master Jup himself, who was frantically welcomed by Top.
“Neb has sent him!” said the reporter.
“Then he must have some note on him,” said the engineer.
Pencroff rushed to the orang. Neb could not have chosen a better messenger, who could get through obstacles which none of the others could have surmounted. Smith was right. Around Jup’s neck was hung a little bag, and in it was a note in Neb’s handwriting. The dismay of the colonists may be imagined when they read these words:—
“FRIDAY, 6 A. M.”—The convicts are on the plateau. NEB.”
They looked at each other without saying a word, then walked back to the house. What was there to do? The convicts on Prospect Plateau meant disaster, devastation and ruin! Herbert knew at once from their faces that the situation had become grave, and when he saw Jup, he had no more doubt that misfortune was threatening Granite House.
“Mr. Smith,” said he, “I want to go. I can bear the journey. I want to start.”
Spilett came up to Herbert and looked at him intently.
“Let us start then,” said he.
The question of Herbert’s transportation was quickly decided. A litter would be the most comfortable way of travelling, but it would necessitate two porters; that is, two guns would be subtracted from their means of defense. On the other hand, by placing the mattresses on which Herbert lay in the wagon, so as to deaden the motion, and by walking carefully they could escape jolting him, and would leave their arms free.
The wagon was brought out and the onagga harnessed to it; Smith and the reporter lifted the mattresses with Herbert on them, and laid them in the bottom of the wagon between the rails. The weather was fine, and the sun shone brightly between the trees.
“Are the arms ready?” asked Smith.
They were. The engineer and Pencroff, each armed with a double-barrelled gun, and Spilett with his carbine, stood ready to set out.
“How do you feel, Herbert?” asked the engineer.
“Don’t be troubled, Mr. Smith,” answered the boy, “I shall not die on the way.”
They could see that the poor fellow was making a tremendous effort. The engineer felt a grievous pang. He hesitated to give the signal for departure. But to stay would have thrown Herbert into despair.
“Let us start,” said Smith.
The corral door was opened. Jup and Top, who knew how to be quiet on emergency, rushed on ahead. The wagon went out, the gate was shut, and the onagga, under Pencroff’s guidance, walked on with a slow pace.
It was necessary, on account of the wagon, to keep to the direct road from the corral to Granite House, although it was known to the convicts. Smith and Spilett walked on either side of the chariot, ready to meet any attack. Still it was not likely that the convicts had yet abandoned Prospect Plateau. Neb’s note had evidently been sent as soon as they made their appearance. Now this note was dated at 6 o’clock in the morning, and the active orang, who was accustomed to the way, would have got over the five miles from Granite House in three-quarters of an hour. Probably they would have no danger to fear till they approached Granite House.
But they kept on the alert. Top and Jup, the latter armed with his stick, sometimes in front, and sometimes beating the woods on either side, gave no signal of approaching danger. The wagon moved on slowly, and an hour after leaving the corral, they had passed over four of the five miles without any incident.
They drew near the plateau another mile, and they saw the causeway over Glycerine Creek. At last, through an opening in the wood, they saw the horizon of the sea. But the wagon went on slowly, and none of its defenders could leave it for a moment. Just then Pencroff stopped the wagon and cried, fiercely,
“Ah, the wretches!”
And he pointed to a thick smoke which curled up from the mill, the stables, and the buildings of the poultry-yard. In the midst of this smoke a man was running about. It was Neb.
His companions uttered a cry. He heard them and rushed to meet them.
The convicts had abandoned the plateau half an hour before, after having done all the mischief they could.
“And Mr. Herbert?” cried Neb.
Spilett went back to the wagon. Herbert had fainted.
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